"Baby" rabbit not eating much

Popcorn's a 4 month old lionhead. He's our second rabbit and is not yet fixed. A few days ago I saw that he now has testicles and that I can only assume that he's now a full fledged adolescent. My question: is it possible that a rabbit becomes more tame with adolescence? He's letting me pet him more and and snuggle him. However, he seems to eat less during the day. His hay tray is never close to being empty and his pellets stay in his bowl longer. He does eat hay and his poops are fine and he is peeing too. Should I be worried? Could he be stressed because there is another male nearby (the other is fixed) and that's why he's not eating much?

Peaches almost always has a near empty hay tray and he scarfs down his pellets (he gets both twice a day and eats plenty of hay) - he,s also a poop machine, so I'm not worried about him but Popcorn seems to eat very little - he doesn't do much in his cage and I can usually find him just laying or sitting about. After christmas he'll be going for his pre-spay wellness appointment. Like I said, he's still pooping but he's not a poop machine. He's got alfalfa pellets but will eat the Oxbow timothy pellets and I've been alternating with the timothy hay and the alfalfa hay too. Should I be worried about his not eating much or do some bunnies need less nourishment?

It could be that there is another male there, but I cannot be certain. Sweetie, my female lionhead mix used to take two days to eat her food, now she has it eaten by the time I get up every morning, I feed her and Prince at night.

With adolescence, rabbits are not as tame I don't think, because of the hormones kicking in right about now. After Popcorn is neutered he should be more tame because the hormones will go down.

Stay on top of Popcorn, meaning watch him when he and Peaches are out together and if/when Popcorn starts going after Peaches you will have to stop it right away. If you help Popcorn stay calm through the hormones going whacko, he will most likely be a very calm and tame bunny after he is neutered.

I did that with Sweetie and after she was spayed, she was as sweet and tame as ever.

It could be molar problems. When I first got Hannah she was a very slow eater and would never finish her hay. At the first doctor's visit we found out she had molar spurs and she needed to have them filed down. When you take him to the vet they'll look at his teeth and let you know.

Generally young bunnies will eat a lot since they're still growing, so a 4 month old eating less than an adult isn't really the norm.

Thing is, he does nibble throughout the day I guess, but I rarely see him- as opposed to Peaches who I can see & hear in his hay bin. If I feed some pieces of hay to Popcorn he'll take & eat them. It's like he's being a diva and wants to be hand fed - he doesn't seem in pain when he's nibbling on either food or hay. He is a really slow eater. After the holidays I'll take him for a vet visit and they can check

That sounds exactly like how Hannah was when she had molar spurs - she didn't seem to be in pain at all and still ate, but was slow and didn't always eat everything. The majority of bunnies will be excited to eat and chow down with enthusiasm.

Not saying he has them, but the symptoms are the same so it's possible. Most rabbits who develop them get them at a young age (Hannah was odd for being 3 her first time).

elrohwen wrote:

That sounds exactly like how Hannah was when she had molar spurs - she didn't seem to be in pain at all and still ate, but was slow and didn't always eat everything. The majority of bunnies will be excited to eat and chow down with enthusiasm.

Not saying he has them, but the symptoms are the same so it's possible. Most rabbits who develop them get them at a young age (Hannah was odd for being 3 her first time).

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What's the treatment for this and is it something that is recurring and will need more than one treatment?



I called the vet clinic and they're out until Jan 3 - as long as he's eating something, I guess he should be okay until then right?

Prince had molar spurs and he quit eating and drinking, I had to syringe him food and water. He did nibble some greens but not very many. I was afraid that he would not make it. I went to the vet in Kirkland, because my vet recommended them and they filed Prince's teeth down. Now I make sure that he always has hay in his cage.

Prince's molar spur treatment cost $130.00, I had that at the time. It will recur if Popcorn has malcoclusion(sp).

When you do have the vet trim/file Popcorn's teeth, make sure you get pain meds. Popcorn's mouth will be sore for a few days.

I hope Popcorn feels better and I hope that he doesn't have anything wrong with his teeth.

I would get some feeding syringes and 1 cc syringes just in case he does quit eating and drinking.

What exactly is molar spurs?

Is it something that I can see?

Well I think I found the problem. Baby doesn't like the alfalfa pellets or hay. I switched him over to Timothy and the Oxbow Basic T pellets (he was getting a bit of both for a while now anyways) and he's eating all his food & emptying his hay tray twice a day. Good bunny.

He'll still be going to the vet soon anyways, but it's one less worry for me

What a relief to know it was just a preference issue. He even likes the good stuff so that is even better. Good luck with the neuter.

What a relief! I guess he was just a picky guy!

For future bunny-slave reference, molar spurs are when their back teeth wear unevenly and cause discomfort. It's not something we can see - a vet needs to use a special instrument to open their mouths and look back there. Typically when it occurs in young rabbits it is recurring - usually it's a problem with the way the jaw is aligned and their teeth never wear properly. It's fairly common in dwarf breeds I think, because their faces are small and smushed in. It can also happen sporadically in older buns, especially if they aren't fed correctly (no hay, for example) but it doesn't necessarily come back once treated.

Typical symptoms are not eating and drooling, though, like my bun, it's possible for the symptoms to be very mild. I might have noticed a change in my girl if I had owned her a long time, but since I just got her I figured that was just her eating style or that she didn't like the new pellets I was feeding.

The treatment is to put them mildly under anesthesia and clip the sharp parts off the back of the teeth. It's not a difficult thing to do, but can be costly if you need to do it every few months.