Won't Eat New Pellets

[feather78]

I posted a very similar topic, but didn't get replies, so I'll focus on the main problem now. After I posted that I wanted to add more vegetables and get him to actually eat his hay, I learned more about the negative effects of calcium and cornand realized that his pellets were alfalfa based with corn. I have tried to switch his pellets before and always wound up throwing them out because he won't eat them.

Now I got himthe Oxbow kind, and I really want him to switch to the timothy-based. I am adding it in gradually, following the plan on the big, but he will not touch the Oxbow pellets, only his LM pellets. What should I do if I get to the point where it's 3/4 or even completely Oxbow pellets and he still refuses to eat them? If he is not getting his body used to them now, how can I change the pellets without hurting him?

 

[slavetoabunny]

I recently had to change over a bunny from alfalfa to timothy pellets. For about a week Pancake would not touch the timothy pellets, but eventually she got used to them and started eating the timothy pellets. She has always been a big hay eater and has loved her timmy hay (it helps that Kleenmama's 3rd cut is especially tasty to the buns!).

 

[BethM]

One of my bunnies was used to a Timothy pellet, and he had a hard time getting used to Timothy pellets. I got him from the shelter, and didn't have the food he had been eating. It was two or three weeks before he would eat all his pellets. The first week he barely touched them. Now, he waits at his food dish fo feeding time.

 

[feather78]

These stories are reassuring, thank you! I hope Houdini will start eating them too.

 

[Flash Gordon]

i mix alfalfa based and timmy based pellets together and i have a bun that picks thru every pellet and just eats the alfalfa...hehe..thats some serious love for alfalfa....

 

[feather78]

That's exactly what my rabbit does- picks through and only eats the alfalfa. He had a quarter of a cup of timothy left, and my stepdaughter gave him three alfalfa pellets. He ate those three pellets, and none of the timothy. Darn rabbit.