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MyBabyBunnies

MyBabyBunnies

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I'm just typing this because I'm a bit worried about Mocha. He hasn't been eating very much.

I feed him and Spice the same amount of hay and pellets, by morningmost of Spice's hay is eaten and by noon almost all of his pellets aregone. But Mocha still has lots of hay even by noon! And even by thenext morning he still has hardly touched his pellets.

I'm wodering if this is bad or if he is just being picky, when he lostall his winter hair I realised how skinny he really is and have beenfeeding him some oats mixed in to help him gain some weight. The onlyproblem is, he eats all the oats, and doesn't touch the rest. Hispersonality hasn't changed, I'm hoping he was just being picky and if Istop feeding the oats he will have to eat the pellets sooner or later.

Laura
 
Hi Laura,

Once Tucker didn't gobble his lunch down and I got worried aswell. It turned out that by dinnertime that night, hisbehavior was back to normal.

There are a few reasons why rabbits may go off their pellets.

1) Their teeth could be causing them trouble. Didyou check them? Sometimes it's the backteeth.They could get a spur. You mightnot be able to see it, but a vet would.

2) Another would be because they have a fur blockage of some sort inthe intestines. You can give him some fresh pineapple ordried pineapple or papaya and see if that helps.

3) Another reason is because their food may not be bad/moldy, which Idoubt to be the case in your house, but sometimes they just get tiredof it.

4) Does he have access to fresh water? If they can't drinkwater, they won't eat. Did you check to be sure the waterbottle is functioning properly?

5) He could be coming down with something.I'dremove the oats and see if you can get him back on thepellets. He mayeven be filling up on the oats andrefusing to eat the pellets.

Is he grinding his teeth?

I have some Nutri-Cal on-hand in my house just in case this happens to Tucker so that he can get some supplementation.

-Carolyn
 
I don't think it's his teeth, just in thepast3 days he's gone off the pellets. My parents won't buyfresh pinapple because no one in my house eats it. The food is notmoldy, I'm careful to check that. He always has fresh water, I can'tuse water bottle because in the winter they freeze and all, the rabbitshave better access to open dishes so they can at least lick the ice. Iremoved the oats today. He doesn't seem to be sick, his personality isas normal as ever, I think he would be a bit off if he wasn't feelinggood. He doesn't grind his teeth except for that soft grinding when Iscratch him in the right spot. I'll see about getting some Nutri-Cal.

Laura
 
He's eating, just not his pellets,right? I'd stop all foods other than pellets and timothyhay. Is he drinking? Are his eyes watery?How do his gums look?

-Carolyn
 
He is eating, and drinking, he eats a few pellets,just not many. His eyes look normal, not watery and as far as I cantell, his gums are fine.
 
Hi Laura,

I'd take him completely off of everything except for the pellets andtimothy hay. Tell your parents and everyone NoTreats. He needs what the pellets provide.

-Carolyn


P.S. The warmer weathercoudeffect his appetite too.
 
My parents don't listen, I think I will just lockup the treats in the hay shed so they can't feed them. Thanks for thehelp, Iwill leave him only pellets and hay, and if he hasn'ttouched much by tomorrow morning or evening, I will take him to the vet.
 
Definitely hide the treats and tell your parentsabout the importance of him eating his pellets and tell them whatyou're trying to do. They should listen, but I'd remove thetemptation and get those treats out of their reach.

Please keep us posted. Since he is eating, I'm confident thismethod will work. If he's getting too many treats all thetime, the little guy might not be feeling well and his digestive systemmay not be functioning properly. Once he's back ona proper pellet diet, it should remedy his problem, but keep an eye onit and make sure he stays hydrated with water.

-Carolyn
 
I'm not sure if this question was asked&answered already... Carolyn you mentioned that thewarmer weather could effect their appetite.. do rabbits generally eatless in the warmer weather?
 
Hi Pamela,

I've heard from people that keep their rabbits say their rabbits areaffected by the weather change in their diets.? The change in appetiteshouldn't be greatly decreased, but a slight change does happen forsome rabbits in the summertime.?

They definitely drink more in the warmer weather so be sure to keep your waterbottle filled.

-Carolyn
 
Ok :)Was just wondering because I triedto give Oreo a treat she usually goes nuts over & she didn'twant it, so offered her something else & she didn't want thateither lol maybe she's just being a picky brat :p

~pam
 
I had to switch pellet brands for my rabbits so Ihave been mixing the two brands to get themused to it. Well,one rabbit gobbles it up and the other picks around the new stuff (Ican tell because the new brand has larger pellets). I'm going to runout of their old pellets soon how can I get her to eat them?

Lissa
 
I told my parents he gets nothing but hay andpellets and explained why. I checked him after school, that's like 8hours after I fed him this morning, and by the looks of it, he hashardly touched anything, he is still drinking though. I'm going toclean up the droppings in and around his cage to ensure that he isstill going to the bathroom, which I am positive he is.

I also thought up another possible reason. I once read a post onanother board I am a part of, and one perosn's rabbit wouldn't eatanything if they had paper in their cage because they ate the paper,just a few days ago I put shredded paper that had very little ink on itinto their little boxes because I didn't think they needed straw inthis temperature. Perhaps I will switch it back to straw and see ifthat helps, the poor little guy is worrying me, though he still wantsas much attention from me as always.

Laura
 
Hi BunnyLover,

Give her no choice, no treats, and just timothy hay. She'll eat it because she'll be hungry and will have to get used to it.

:)

Sounds mean, but it's not. She certainly won't starve. Sometimes myparents made me eat things that I would've preferred not to, but I hadto to grow strong and healthy. I look at it the same way. I wouldn'tgive children an overabundance of junk food, and the same goes forrabbits and treats. If they can be choosey, they will.
 
Hi Laura,

Definitely a point with the paper. Some rabbits will eat it. See if hisstool is lighter in color. Good move to get rid of it from the nestbox.

Try to monitor how much food you've put in there so that you can see if he's really eating it or not.

Since he's pooping and peeing and eating a bit, drinking water, doesn'thave any of the above symptoms and is acting normally, I wouldn't worrytoo much. I'm sure your parents will abide by your wishes by not givinghim treats. You were wise to tell them what you're up to.

He might've been feeling under the weather, or had a bellyful of paper, or just just full from all the treats.

-Carolyn
 
I do moniter how much I feed him.:)Thanks for the help, was a typical mom and was panicing,lol. He's also used to being able to run around for almost 3 hours aday, and I just haven't had time to let him with all the soccer I aminvloved in, he might need a good run to feel better, we will see, fornow I'll just cuddle with him and get lots of kisses from him.
 
Just one more quick question, what are the signsof over grown teeth? Mocha won't let me check and I doubt I'd know howlong they are supposed to be. But Mocha was eating some pellets when Iput him back in his cage, but most of the times he tried to eat, theyfell out of his mouth. I know this is a sign with horses, so yeah, justchecking.
 


M&SMom,

The teeth in the front should be aligned, straight across on both top and bottom.

Sometimes a rabbit will crack or break a tooth. It's nothing to getterribly alarmed about because they will grow back, but it's certainlysomething you want to watch for. One of the ways they can break a toothis biting their cages to get out. I'm sure you're all familiar with thetemper tantrum.

You can check the four front teeth by holding the rabbit as a baby onits back, or wrapping it with a towel burrito style as some do whencutting their nails. With the ears tucked into the bend of your elbow,elevate the rabbit's feet a bit. Not much, just a bit, and they relaxeven more. Life the skin of the mouth up a bit and you can see thefirst four teeth. They should be straight up and down, and even on thebottom.

One of the things that makes a rabbit not a rodent is the amount ofteeth they have compared to a rodent. Rabbit have back teeth that youwon't be able to view. Sometimes their teeth can develop a spur and therabbit will go off its feed if its in pain. I'm not saying that wasMocha has, I'm just rambling on at this point. (Sorry.)

Pamnock wrote an excellent piece on this issue and it's called 'TheTooth About Lagamorphs'. I'd highly recommend you to read it.

http://www.geocities.com/billynock/TEETH.html


* * * * * * * * * *

BunnyLover,

Keep us posted as to how it works out on the new feed.

-Carolyn
 
Carolyn,

Thanks so much for your help! We checked Mocha's teeth, they appear tobe perfectly fine. By this morning he had eaten almost all of hispellets and half of his hay. Not his normal but he's still eating. Mydad agreed to get pineapple this weekend so we can give some to him andmake sure it's not a hairball. Since he is eating and going to thebathroom still my dad doesn't think it's necessary to go to the vetyet, but if he doesn't start eating more or loses too much weight hesaid we can take him. Thanks for your help!

Laura
 
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