Thumps not eating pellets. Is it a concern and what should I do?

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

Concerned about Thumper AKA Thumps not
Eating his Pellets. They r the same kind as he
Was on before, before I got him.
Do I need to worry about this? He DOES get reg
Lettuce, carrots and parsley. Was giving twice a day
And a whole big pan full. I cut back to once a day a just have
A pan and not as much to see if he would eat
His pellets. So far no luck. I have noticed as well he
Isn't drinking a lot. Previous owners also said that he was a huge
Drinker for them either. After I noticed Thumps
Did drink a little while I was feeding and doing chores with
His cage. I did give him a little veggies tonight
Now as I was afraid of him not drinking a lot. I
Know lettuce has a high water content so that's
Why I decided to give him a little tonight. Also notices
He hasn't been eating that as mush as he
Did a few days ago. It has been 95 with a heat index
Of 125 so that could also decrease his appatite. ( it
Does with me anyways) ooo, Thumps isn't a crassy
Hay eater as well. His previous owners fed him alfalfa
And he LOVED that I guess but I just give him regular
Timothy hay.

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

I do inderstand that I just got him and he needs
Time to adjust but dust want it to go to long
Before it became hazardous to him without
Water. I forgot to mention that I do have lowmein lettuce
But haven't introduced that to him yet.

I did notice his poo different as well. It's little oddball
Shaped peices in a little pile other wise there normal
Little round dry (sorta) looking poo. Is this a concern as well?
Only noticed this in the past day or so and just a few times.
It's not oddball looking every time he poos.

 

[Azerane]

What type of lettuce are you currently feeding him? And how much carrot are you giving? Carrots are high in sugar and should only be given as a small slice every day. Iceberg lettuce is also bad. Both could be contributing to the abnormal poops.

By all means continue with the parsley, you don't have to worry about him going hungry because he'll probably just make up the amount with hay, which should be most of their diet anyway. Is he eating hay, you didn't mention it? Keep giving him pellets, make sure you give him fresh ones, if you've had the same ones sitting in the bowl for a while it's likely he won't eat them. As for the water consumption, because he seems to be getting a lot of lettuce as well as parsley and carrot, he's probably getting much of his water from those. And I would agree that the decreased appetite is due to the heat. How are you giving him water, from a bottle or a bowl? And do you know how he was getting it before? Some rabbits don't adapt well to drinking out of bottles and you may need to provide a bowl if you haven't already.

Hope that helps

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

I'm pretty sure I'm ok either the amout of veggies and WHAT IM GIVING Thumps.
As I follow a link that was Provided here for me. It
Says carrots OK as long as u make t 15% of there diet and
75% lettuce/LEAFY greens.
He's getting REGULAR lettuce not sure
If its iceberg or not if it is PLEASE SOMEONE LET ME KNOW
and I WILL SWITCH HIM RIGHT AWAY.

Yes, Thumps is eating hay. Not a lot but he does nibble.
On the hay.
Same pellets as well that he was getting before.

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

Again I did follow the link that was provided here and it didn't
Say NOT TO GIVE ICEBERG LETTUCE. As far as that link it just says lettuce
If there was a certain kind it probably would have said to give or NOT TO GIVE

 

[Zeroshero]

I think anything other than ice burg is good. I waste a lot of hay, because that is all Zero will eat, I am constantly throwing out and putting fresh hay in. Do you find that when you put fresh hay in Thumps is more apt to eat it? Zero certainly does. It might help to encourage him to eat more hay by adding smaller amounts throughout the day if it is feasible. I am away from home 14 hours a day so I just load him up with hay to make sure he doesn't run out and deal with wasting hay/money for some peace of mind. His fecal pellets are considerably larger than my sisters adult pellet fed rabbit because of the amount of long fibers he consumes in relation to her concentrated feed. I have also read that the alfalfa to Timothy transition is not easily made in some buns especially when it is sudden, alfalfa is so much more palatable. He might be getting the extra water he needs from the veggies he is getting, and you have noticed he is drinking. 125 heat index is really miserable! Have you checked the temperature of his water? Perhaps it is too hot for his liking. Are you doing anything to try to keep him cool? Mister system? Frozen jugs? I don't have an outside rabbit anymore but when we were kids living in AZ We had outside rabbits they did fine in the heat with a mist system, ample shade, and frozen milk jugs. Does he use a bowl for water or a bottle? I have read where some members have frozen their rabbits water bottle, I imagine you might want to fill it half full to freeze, then fill up the rest with regular water. Nothing is more annyoing than being thirsty and waiting for a frozen water bottle to thaw! (Spoken from personal experience) I found some stainless bowls also that are ingenious but pricey, I am going to order one for my barn cat http://frostybowlz.com/. I hope everything works out okay for Thumps

 

[Zeroshero]

Hello again, included is a link explaining why iceburg lettuce probably isn't the best choice for rabbit food. Regards

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/Lettuce-1.htm

 

[missyscove]

I'm not sure which link you're referring to.

Carrots and fruits should be considered as treats. You want leafy greens to make up a portion of his diet, but if he wasn't getting them before you don't want to offer too many right away as that may overwhelm his GI tract.

Rabbits should ideally have unlimited access to grass hay.

How much pellets are you offering him? If he's fully grown he probably only needs about 1/4 cup per 5 lbs of body weight. My two small rabbits split 1/4 cup of pellets and abut 4 cups of leafy greens every day as well as an unlimited supply of various grass hays.

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

Thumps has a bitter bottle. And frozen water bottles
In his cage. He was getting everything I'm doing before. There is
Nothing new for him other then us and his cage. Food wise there isn't
Any change. This like I will try and get that says carrots are ok as one of the members
Provided on here.

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

Water bottle not bitter bottle lol

Here is the link.
http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/
Not sure why its not highlighted.

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

Sorry I was wrong. Thumps WAS GETTING ALFALFA
and switched him to Timothy Hay. I have heard that alfalfa can make
Them gassy and I wasn't aware web I got him that's what they were
Feeding him. I will get some alfalfa and mix with his regular hay.

 

[Azerane]

I forget how old Thumps is? Timothy hay is what you want to be feeding him, alfalfa hay is really only given to rabbits less than six months of age, but beyond that it can have too much calcium (I think) that can cause problems for adult rabbits. So if he's still young you can feed him alfalfa, but it won't matter or make him sick if you continue on timothy.

As for the lettuce, this is what iceberg lettuce looks like: http://img.21food.com/20110609/product/1305279151984.jpg
The type of lettuce that many people feed is romaine/cos lettuce which looks like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Romaine.jpg
Or you can feed him those mixed bags of salad lettuce which tend to have other varieties like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Lettuce_in_salad_spinner.jpg

 

[ams1786]

Hi - just had a similar incident and hoping I can help. It sounds like your rabbit's showing early signs of stasis. Pellets are usually the first to go when they stop eating. I had a similar experience this past week and couldn't figure out what was causing it, but talked to vet and I think it was caused by the heat. We have AC but rabbits really can't tolerate above 80 degrees very well, so in this weather the heat can actually cause them to get sick. Focus on cooling him down. You can either set up fans near him or freeze water jugs or ice packs and wrap them in a tshirt or thin fabric and put them in his cage. In our case, within a few hours of setting up fans she calmed down and was back on her food. It's unusual but sounds like that might be the case so you might want to give it a shot - these things can get very serious in a matter of hours if not treated. Good luck!

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

I have frozen water bottles in his cage. I try
And lay them by him. It has been cooler the
Last few days. He has been eating just not great
On the pellets.

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

I forget how old Thumps is? Timothy hay is what you want to be feeding him, alfalfa hay is really only given to rabbits less than six months of age, but beyond that it can have too much calcium (I think) that can cause problems for adult rabbits. So if he's still young you can feed him alfalfa, but it won't matter or make him sick if you continue on timothy.

As for the lettuce, this is what iceberg lettuce looks like: http://img.21food.com/20110609/product/1305279151984.jpg
The type of lettuce that many people feed is romaine/cos lettuce which looks like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Romaine.jpg
Or you can feed him those mixed bags of salad lettuce which tend to have other varieties like this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Lettuce_in_salad_spinner.jpg

Thank u for sharing this.

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

Hi - just had a similar incident and hoping I can help. It sounds like your rabbit's showing early signs of stasis. Pellets are usually the first to go when they stop eating. I had a similar experience this past week and couldn't figure out what was causing it, but talked to vet and I think it was caused by the heat. We have AC but rabbits really can't tolerate above 80 degrees very well, so in this weather the heat can actually cause them to get sick. Focus on cooling him down. You can either set up fans near him or freeze water jugs or ice packs and wrap them in a tshirt or thin fabric and put them in his cage. In our case, within a few hours of setting up fans she calmed down and was back on her food. It's unusual but sounds like that might be the case so you might want to give it a shot - these things can get very serious in a matter of hours if not treated. Good luck!

I just found out as well that he was getting
The same things that I'm giving but they
Gave him one carrot one day and then lettuce the
Other with pellets available all the time. I'm doing
The same but I give him lettuce and parsley everyday
Plus pellets available. So this could be why. Thumps
Does LOVE the veggies so maybe I should cut back
On the veggies.

 

[Azerane]

You welcome for the links

If it was me, I would cut back on the carrot.