bunny REFUSES to eat rabbit food

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miamiabunbun

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I would like to start of by saying that i have tried EVERYTHING, from different hays to different salad combinations, but i can not get my bunny to eat the foods he should be eating. He loves to eat dog food and he’s always trying to eat our human foods. I have obviously taken the dog food away but it’s difficult because he is a free roam bunny and i have small dogs so the food needs to be on the floor for them to eat it. I’m very worried for him because his poops are not as big as they should be and he does not poop enough. He doesn’t act sick at all i just want to get him to eat the foods he should be eating but he refuses to. His teeth also grow out super fast but he doesn’t like to chew on anything and i’m just overall very worried for his health.
 
The only way to get him transitioned onto hay and rabbit food is to find a way to restrict access to the dog food. As long as he can get to it he will continue to try and eat it. Could you maybe only feed the dogs at certain times of the day then remove the food until the next feeding?
 
Does he not like hay or the pellets?

What type of hay are you giving? any specific brand?

Same with pellets, what brand are you giving?

Usually bunnies go crazy for pellets regardless of the brand but of course we have to give them the one that meets the required nutrition :)

As for hay, have you tried the tips here:
 
he does like pellets but i’m worried that he should eat more greens because his teeth grow so fast
 
How old is your rabbit and how long is he with you, can you post some photo?
What rabbit food you tried to feed him, what hay and what else was offered, how much food was offered, what greens etc.

If you see his teeth already growing so fast he really needs that hay, otherwise he won't be able to eat anything pretty soon.

I think you need to learn some basics, my rabbits don't have access to human food or to anything that could harm them, it is your responsibility to protect him and it can be simply done. Just restrict his area and make sure he has his hay his toilet his toys and his safe rabbit food.

It is nice to have a free roam bunny but if he's new to you it's a long way and some training and rabbit-proofing your house.

Please read basic information about rabbit diet


https://www.sandiegorabbits.org/diet.php
 
A good diet to feed him would be Oxbow pellets (doesn’t have to be Oxbow, but they’re my personal favorite choice lol. My rabbits go crazy for them.), any sort of hay, and greens. There’s many lists of safe greens for rabbits that you can find. If you’d like, I can provide some of said lists for you. As treats, you can give him fruit (I can give you a list of safe fruits too). Hay should be 85% of his diet, and he should eat his body size in hay per day. It not only helps with digesting food, it also grinds his teeth down and prevents them from growing too long.

I understand it’s easier said than done to get him to eat this, especially if he’s so used to not eating it. The only thing I can recommend is to keep him in a smaller area in order to restrict him from the dog and human food. When he’s in the smaller space, you can “force” him to start eating the rabbit food, as it’s the only thing he’ll be able to eat. If he’s not litter trained, it’d also be a good opportunity to try litter training him, especially since the hay should be in the litter box anyway. Maybe start with an exercise pen, put the litter box in the pen (with the hay), give him 1/4 cup of Oxbow (like I said, doesn’t have to be Oxbow. If you’d like, I can also give you a list of nutritional pellets similar to Oxbow) pellets, and maybe a little bit of lettuce. He’ll have nothing else to eat, and he’ll get curious enough to poke at the food you’re providing him in that exercise pen. I really hope he becomes a healthy boy :) I wish you the best of luck because I know it can be very difficult having picky rabbits.
 
After you successfully get him to start eating the food in the exercise pen (or whatever restricted area you put him in), then you can start transitioning him to fully free-roaming him.
 
A good diet to feed him would be Oxbow pellets (doesn’t have to be Oxbow, but they’re my personal favorite choice lol. My rabbits go crazy for them.), any sort of hay, and greens. There’s many lists of safe greens for rabbits that you can find. If you’d like, I can provide some of said lists for you. As treats, you can give him fruit (I can give you a list of safe fruits too). Hay should be 85% of his diet, and he should eat his body size in hay per day. It not only helps with digesting food, it also grinds his teeth down and prevents them from growing too long.

I understand it’s easier said than done to get him to eat this, especially if he’s so used to not eating it. The only thing I can recommend is to keep him in a smaller area in order to restrict him from the dog and human food. When he’s in the smaller space, you can “force” him to start eating the rabbit food, as it’s the only thing he’ll be able to eat. If he’s not litter trained, it’d also be a good opportunity to try litter training him, especially since the hay should be in the litter box anyway. Maybe start with an exercise pen, put the litter box in the pen (with the hay), give him 1/4 cup of Oxbow (like I said, doesn’t have to be Oxbow. If you’d like, I can also give you a list of nutritional pellets similar to Oxbow) pellets, and maybe a little bit of lettuce. He’ll have nothing else to eat, and he’ll get curious enough to poke at the food you’re providing him in that exercise pen. I really hope he becomes a healthy boy :) I wish you the best of luck because I know it can be very difficult having picky rabbits.
thank you very much
 

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