5 wk old not eating pellets

[Moonika]

I have a five week old Netherland Dwarf doe that just doesn’t want to eat rabbit pellets. I see her eating hay from time to time, but not pellets. Her littermates are all eating them and are very healthy.

I feed pellets that I buy in bulk and all the other bunnies I have had and do have eat them with no problems.
I am slightly concerned because she’s smaller than her littermates and she seems a bit thin, I can feel her hip bones while on her littermates I cannot.
She seems active and friendly enough, I just don’t know what the issue is.
I heard I can feed her oats? Is there anything else I can do to encourage her to eat her pellets?

 

[JBun]

There's going to be a reason why she's not eating solid foods well. Have you checked her teeth? You can check the incisors to make sure they are lined up correctly and not overgrown, but if it's a molar issue that would require a vet to check(unless you have an otoscope and know how to check molars). Dental problems are going to be the most likely cause for a rabbit that is reluctant to eat solid food.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/D_problems1.htm
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Treatment/Clipping.htm

If she will eat hay really well, I would free feed her hay. If it's grass hay, I would also supplement with some good quality leafy alfalfa(gradually introduced). You could also try soaking the pellets in warm water to make a mush or use oxbow critical care mix, and see if she will eat the mush mixture(you may have to syringe feed to get her started, carefully so it's not aspirated). Just make sure it doesn't sit out too long as bacteria will start to grow in it. So it needs to be made up fresh or the excess refrigerated. If she eagerly eats the mush mixture, I would most certainly guess there is some sort of dental issue causing the reluctance to eat hard pellets.

If she won't eat much hay or mushy pellets, I would start supplementing her nursing with separate milk feedings. I would use powdered kmr or goats milk with some plain heavy cream added to boost the fat content so it's more like a mother rabbits milk. I think the mixture amount is 3 parts dry powder, 3 parts water, 1 part cream. If you syringe feed, I would syringe slowly to minimize the aspiration risk. She may just lap it up from a dish though, which would be the best way if she will drink it on her own.

If you can get her eating the pellet mush or the milk supplement, then it's going to be a matter of determining why she is having problems eating solid food. Like I mentioned, most likely cause is dental issues, though there could be something else going on.

 

[Moonika]

@JBun thanks for the info! I will definitely try the pellet mush. For the past couple days, I have been syringe feeding her powdered goats esbilac, but she doesn’t seem to like it too much. She has also nibbled on grass, strawberry, apple and celery when I have given it to her dam.

 

[Moonika]

She will also nibble on banana. I tried the pellet/water mush and she seemed to like it more than the goat milk esbilac I have fed her.
She is almost half the size of her siblings, and I’m thinking she may be a runt? She’s not a peanut because her sire is a false Dwarf and her body is correctly proportionate.
I just really want her to fill out and gain some weight.