At what point should I be worried?

[JessicaK]

I was gone for 5 days for Thanksgiving. I had a bunny sitter come by my house twice a day to take care of my pets. She left notes after every visit and from what she said everything seems fine.

Last night, when I got home I fed them and they ate everything like normal (pellets and lettuce, plus a cranberry as a treat... they also have free access to hay)

However, this morning, they didn't finish their pellets :? which is very uncharacteristic. I saw them both eating, they just didn't finish.

I have pumpkin thawing to give to them.

I don't see anything that has been chewed up.

I just noticed the water level in their bottle seemed high (their bottle broke yesterday morning, so the sitter got them a new one). So I put a bowl of water out for them and they both drank.

They seem to be acting normal

Anything else I should do?

 

[DrSki]

Sydney doesn't always eat her pellets up on occasion. Usually it is just a random occurrence at times and nothings wrong. It might be that even though you had a great sitter, the routine was just off enough to throw their schedule. I'd just keep an eye out for any other signs of distress, but not worry yet.

 

[Apebull]

It must be in the air or something, I was just about to post the same thing for Twigs. He ALWAYS eats all his pellets and a bunch of hay everyday. But yesterday all he did was lay around and sleep. He was dead bunny flop and stretched out so I know he felt fine. And was peeing and pooping ok and ate his greens and attached us for treats if we got near them. BUT he didn't eat his pellets or hay at all yesterday. He still had pellets left this morning which has never happened. He acts like he feels fine so I'm with you. When should I worry.:?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Some of ours gobble down their food always while others show little interest at any given time but will eat some if not all. It varies from bunny to bunny. Mostly we monitor output for signs of distress and feel that everyone can have an off day.

 

[whitelop]

Sometimes my bun has off days. She doesn't get pellets, only greens and hay. Some days she'll only pick at her greens and eat more hay, and some days she'll eat more greens than hay. Those days I keep an eye on her and make sure her poop is normal and her water intake is normal. Most of the time by the next day she is back to her normal eating.

Sometimes when they get more of something, they don't want to eat the other things. Like, if they got more greens, they may not want to eat as many pellets. Or if they were eating more hay than usual, they maybe wouldn't want as many pellets. So maybe your bun-sitter was feeding more greens/hay than usual and they didn't want/need to eat as many pellets. :?

 

[JBun]

If your buns start sitting alot, hunched up, or laying down and then getting right back up repeatedly trying to find a position of comfort, or seems to be laying down alot pressing the belly to the floor like they are feeling uncomfortable. Also hiding out alot, when it isn't normal behavior for your bun, or teeth grinding, as well as changes in poop like it being soft, or irregular, or a dramatic decrease in output. Any of these can be a sign that your bun isn't feeling well and a vet visit might be in order at some point.

 

[JessicaK]

It looks like it was a lack of water/stress from the sitter.

They're still not drinking from that new bottle. But they've had a dish of water that they are drinking from, and they're eating like normal again.

 

[Lifted07Duramax]

Mine sometimes eats everything i throw infront of him but the one thing he will not eat every once in awhile is his pellets.
He'll actually pick through his bowl and eat everything but the pellets.

 

[JBun]

Glad they're doing good

If you still have the old water bottle, and the nozzle part isn't broken, you could try putting the old nozzle on the new bottle. Sometimes some nozzles don't have a very good water output. If you can't use the old bottle, then you may want to get another bottle just like their old one... And sometimes buns are just picky