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jess8909

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Jul 18, 2012
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massillon , Ohio, USA
Hi im a first time rabbit owner and i won a baby bunny at the local fair, i got her saturday and didnt have rabbit food ( i didnt think i was going to be comming home with one) so i gave her a dish of water and some timothy hay, well i went sunday morning to get her some rabbit pellets, today is wednesday and she still hasnt touched her pellets. I dont know how old she is or what kind she is. I do know that she will eat oats, apples, greens, and grass... is there anything else i can do to try and get her to eat her pellets?? ive contacted 2 of the local vets and asked them and the only thing they told me is she will eat when shes hungry or she will starve herself and i dont want that... please help me..



p.s i have tried mixing things in with the pellets to get her to eat it and she still wont touch them.
 
It's good that she's at least eating something--has she also been eating the hay? Do you know that she's a baby? If she's really young, less than eight weeks, that's really too young to be away from mom, so she may not have gotten the hang of pellets, yet. She may need a bit of extra care, which means you might want to post this in the infirmary section unless someone comes along who knows how to help. Just didn't want to read and run.
 
Depending on how young she is vegetables and certainly fruit is not a good idea and cause runny poo and an upset tummy. If she's under 6 months you will also want to give her alfalfa hay rather than timothy.

What kind of pellets was she eating before and what are you trying to feed her? They should be very plain (all the same) and for youngsters, alfalfa based.

As long as she is eating the hay and drinking water with good looking waste, then she may just be settling in from all the stress. More details might help.
 
jess8909 wrote:
Hi im a first time rabbit owner and i won a baby bunny at the local fair, i got her saturday and didnt have rabbit food ( i didnt think i was going to be comming home with one) so i gave her a dish of water and some timothy hay, well i went sunday morning to get her some rabbit pellets, today is wednesday and she still hasnt touched her pellets. I dont know how old she is or what kind she is. I do know that she will eat oats, apples, greens, and grass... is there anything else i can do to try and get her to eat her pellets?? ive contacted 2 of the local vets and asked them and the only thing they told me is she will eat when shes hungry or she will starve herself and i dont want that... please help me..



p.s i have tried mixing things in with the pellets to get her to eat it and she still wont touch them.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you're trying to be responsible; it's too bad the fair people were not. It's bad enough giving a living thing away as a prize, but to do it without any care instructions plus a week's worth of food is just awful.

It's such a problem you don't know her age, as until they're nearly full-grown rabbits should have alfalfa pellets & adults, timothy pellets. And youngsters should have nothing else until their digestive systems can manage other food without diarrhea.

But she must eat some pellets, regardless of her age. I would cut out everything except water, hay & pellets until she eats them. I guess you could start off with a few drops of apple juice on a tablespoon of pellets, but only once. Hay is needed, but mainly to keep digestion going; pellets are needed for nutrition.

And at some point you'll have to find a vet that will treat her. I hope the forum's regional section will help with this.

I'm so glad she went to a home that cares.
 
I do have lucky ( my bunny) a doc appointment but problem is they cant get her in for about 2 weeks :( He did say that im the 3rd person since monday that has called about their bunny that was won at the fair. He has seen one that was won there and he said that the bunny was only aprox 5-6 weeks old. so im going to presume that my baby is only about 5-6 weeks old. Im waiting on them to call me back about what i can do for her.. ( they said im going to have to supliment milk for her but i dont know what kind so im waiting for them to call me and tell me what is safe..)
 
Good for you that you are doing everything you can to find out what your rabbit needs. I don't know anything to tell you beyond what has been said above but I wanted to tell you your research and work will be worth it. Rabbits are the most wonderful pets!

There are some good books out there, too. There's a list in the Library section of this site.

I've found that some vets don't know enough about rabbits and I've had to take my rabbit care books along with me to help them.

Good Luck and Cheers to You!!!
 
This is making so much extra work for the vet that I hope he has complained to the fair organizers so they won't do this again.

I'm pretty sure the milk supplement is kitten replacement formula, kitten ... something ... anyway. Or in a more rural community it might be goat or sheep or who knows.
 
If the rabbit is 5 or 6 weeks old you do not need to give milk. Babies are eating pellets and hay by 3-4 weeks. What brand or kind of pellets are you feeding? Alot of people here use Oxbow but I use Purina professional(gray) and show(blue) bags. It sounds like your bun would rather eat everything but its pellets. Maybe mix some rolled oats in his feed to entice him to eat but if he is that young he shouldnt be getting any veggies or fruits
 
Don't worry too much, as long as she's eating, she'll be okay. Some rabbits just hate pellets. As long as she's eating hay, that's the most important part of her diet and will keep her digestive system going. If you have access to fresh grass or a few dandelion leaves, they'd be good for her too. I had to try a couple of different foods with my buns before I found one they didn't just ignore while eating my house plants. Processed food's not as good for them as hay anyway. It's just convenient. Give her as much hay as she'll eat and try her with fresh Kale, parsley, cilantro, mint, all in moderation, and leave her a bit of dry food too. She might take to it, but it won't be the end of the world if she doesn't. My Charlie won't eat pellets. At all. He'd rather sulk and then eat the wallpaper when I go to bed. Cardboard to him is Haute Cuisine, but pellets? He'd rather frisbee his bowl across the room than eat them. But honestly, if she's munching hay and she's interested in fruit and veg, then she's healthy and happy. If she has too many greens she'll get runny tummy, then you know to cut back, but a nice little variety of dark green leaves with a little dice sized piece of carrot should do her for now. Avoid lettuce. Never met a rabbit who liked lettuce. Good luck! Shout if you can't cope, but I reckon you're doing fine x
 
"Never met a rabbit who liked lettuce"

buns eat romane lettuce, don't they (mine are not crazy about it but they eat it)? I agree about iceberg lettuce
 
It doesn't matter if a rabbit loves pellets or not. They are virtually essential to health, allergies excepted. This is per Dr Lucile Moore in Rabbit Nutrition and Nutritional Healing, which says that without pellets it would take a combination of over a dozen different veggies daily to provide the same nutrients. I tend to believe an expert in the field who has researched the topic.

Keep trying different brands, if necessary.

And romaine lettuce is one of Honey's favorite foods. Carrot & fruit should be treats only.

A rabbit shouldn't be in charge of choosing what he or she eats, not if long life is a concern. A little deviation from the ideal is inevitable, but should be kept under SOME control.
 
^I couldnt agree more.

Both my my older buns LOVE Romaine!


I wonder though, do rabbits in the wild eat a combination of a dozen different veggies daily to stay alive?
 
When I started off feeding my rabbit ... Grass, apples (without core and seeds), basil, alfalfa, radish, clover, beet greens, broccoli (leaves and stems), brussel sprouts, carrots (treat only), celery, chicory, cilantro, dandelions, dill, tops of dutch carrots, endive, parsley, pea pods, leaf/romaine lettuce, spinach, watercress, wheatgrass, unlimited amounts of hay. Wild rabbits eat mainly grass. So letting your rabbit out into the backyard to nibble grass is a great idea.

Sweetpea just started to eat her pellets now after 7 months of not eating them, dont panic just give what they are allowed and she/he will do the rest.

Congrats btw on winning a Bun!

:happyrabbit:
 
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