My bun suddenly hates his pellets?

[MsBunBun]

Has anyone had an issue with their bunny suddenly hating their pellets? My bun used to go crazy for Ecotrition Essential Blends pellets, and I was feeding those pellets to him since he was 6-7 weeks old.

But as of yesterday, he doesn't seem to want to eat them anymore?


Don't get me wrong, he loves eating his hay and fresh veggies still! In fact, he pigs out on both of those (and still does as I type this).

Should I buy him a different bag of pellets? Any suggestions would be great.

 

[hillrise]

Honestly, if he's still eating his hay and veggies without issue, I wouldn't worry.

Maybe it was a bad batch of pellets that smell funny to him?

Sometimes rabbits eat less on some days (especially hot days), so maybe he just doesn't feel AS hungry today as yesterday.

 

[MsBunBun]

Youre right, maybe it is weird to him, and coincidentally this is a brand new bag of pellets. Might be a slightly bad batch...though it doesnt seem like it. But then again, I'm not the one eating them lol.
He hasnt really eaten them since....Tuesday night or so. Or Wednesday morning.

I even mixed a bit of fresh rosemary in his food bowl to entice him to eat them a bit. It barely worked.

Should I try a new brand of pellets anyway? And once I get them, maybe I should mix them in with his older pellets?

Or should I just buy a new bag of the same pellets?

 

[Watermelons]

Rabbits can be picky little critters.
if anything is remotley different in the batch they might not like it. Not necessarily anything bad.

Maybe return that bag, and get another bag of the same food from a different store, odds are it will be a different batch. Most pet stores are really good about allowing you to return food if your animal doesn't like it, especially if its still pretty full.

Or what I do for my rat to get her to eat her oxbow.... She goes APE for salmon dog kibble, so i take about 1cup of dog kibble and a good handfull of her food, and put them in a container together and she gets her oxbow from there and goes nuts because it smells and sort of tastes like the yummy dog food now.

But dont worry too much about it hes still eating so it really does sound like hes being a picky bunny

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Yep I pretty much agree. I would say to get the teeth checked, but if he's still eating other things (esp. hay) then I wouldn't think the teeth are as likely an issue. Probably just being picky!

 

[MsBunBun]

Watermelons wrote:

Rabbits can be picky little critters.
if anything is remotley different in the batch they might not like it. Not necessarily anything bad.

Maybe return that bag, and get another bag of the same food from a different store, odds are it will be a different batch. Most pet stores are really good about allowing you to return food if your animal doesn't like it, especially if its still pretty full.

Or what I do for my rat to get her to eat her oxbow.... She goes APE for salmon dog kibble, so i take about 1cup of dog kibble and a good handfull of her food, and put them in a container together and she gets her oxbow from there and goes nuts because it smells and sort of tastes like the yummy dog food now.

But dont worry too much about it hes still eating so it really does sound like hes being a picky bunny

Yeah he was totally being picky! lol

I got some Bunny Basics T for him today, and I mixed it with some of his older pellets, and he's digging right in (so far anyway)!

 

[Dustiechick]

That happened to me once I just mixed in some oats and she ate the whole thing! I think it was just a bad bag.

 

[Pipp]

Always keep an eye on any change of eating habits, even stopping pellets could signal a tooth issue in spite of continuing to eat hay and veggies, but as many here noted, first try a fresh bag (pellets lose some important nutrients as they age, rabbits seem to know this, and some batches may not turn out the same at the factory level) or mix in another brand (always a good idea in my book).


sas :bunnydance:

 

[MsBunBun]

Pipp wrote:

Always keep an eye on any change of eating habits, even stopping pellets could signal a tooth issue in spite of continuing to eat hay and veggies, but as many here noted, first try a fresh bag (pellets lose some important nutrients as they age, rabbits seem to know this, and some batches may not turn out the same at the factory level) or mix in another brand (always a good idea in my book).


sas :bunnydance:

In response to your last sentence, I have been mixing together two brands right now and he's been eating it every time I feed it to him.
I now feed him a mixture of Ecotrition and Bunny Basics T. He loves it and eats it all whenever its in his bowl.

I always pay attention to his eating habits :innocent I check his behavior too in regards to his eating habits. :big wink:

 

[TheBladedRoden]

My bunny doesn't really care for pellets. She'll pick out all of the goodies out of her food until there's nothing left but a bowl half full of plain ol pellets. Then she'll start ringing her bell demanding her butler bring her more food.