Rabbit won’t eat his veggies

[Mochismommy]

Our bunny is 8 months old and we’ve tried introducing many veggies and fruits but the only veggies he will eat is romaine. I found out he needs at least 3 veggies a day but he won’t eat anything else I give him! Any advice on how to get him to be less picky?

 

[JBun]

A wide variety of veggies isn't necessarily essential, depending on a rabbits diet of other foods(eg. pellets and hay), the quality of those foods(good brand, green color, age and storage conditions, etc), and a rabbits overall health.

What type and brand of pellets do you feed, amount, and general weight of your bun? What type of hay, is it good quality and green, unlimited/free fed amounts, and does your rabbit eat a pile of it the size of his body per day? Does he drink water from a dish well? Are his fecal poop balls a good big size, golden, and crumbly, or are they small hard and dark?

https://bunssb.org/bunnies/guide-bunny-poops/

 

[Moonshadow]

I have an extremely picky bun too for trying new foods. What I usually do is leave the vegetable out for him to try at his own pace since he’ll literally turn his face and nose away if I try to give him a new food normally i.e. hand feed it.

This usually means I’ll try giving him the veggie in the afternoon and he’ll reject it. So I leave it on the mat in front his cage for him (he’s freeroam). In about 4-6 hours or at night when is most active, he’ll usually try it again himself when he’s bored with eating pellets or hay (it’s usually somewhat withered by then). If he likes it, it’ll be gone by morning and if he doesn’t it will be completely shriveled and dead on the mat

 

[Mochismommy]

A wide variety of veggies isn't necessarily essential, depending on a rabbits diet of other foods(eg. pellets and hay), the quality of those foods(good brand, green color, age and storage conditions, etc), and a rabbits overall health.

What type and brand of pellets do you feed, amount, and general weight of your bun? What type of hay, is it good quality and green, unlimited/free fed amounts, and does your rabbit eat a pile of it the size of his body per day? Does he drink water from a dish well? Are his fecal poop balls a good big size, golden, and crumbly, or are they small hard and dark?

https://bunssb.org/bunnies/guide-bunny-poops/

Golden? His poops have always been brown/dark he eats kaytee brand Timothy hay and small world brand rabbit pellets he probably eats like 3 tablespoons a day and hay is unlimited but he doesn’t seem to eat a whole lot of hay probably not the size of his body. And he drinks water from his dish well. No idea on his weight as he doesn’t let us handle him

 

[Mochismommy]

I have an extremely picky bun too for trying new foods. What I usually do is leave the vegetable out for him to try at his own pace since he’ll literally turn his face and nose away if I try to give him a new food normally i.e. hand feed it.

This usually means I’ll try giving him the veggie in the afternoon and he’ll reject it. So I leave it on the mat in front his cage for him (he’s freeroam). In about 4-6 hours or at night when is most active, he’ll usually try it again himself when he’s bored with eating pellets or hay (it’s usually somewhat withered by then). If he likes it, it’ll be gone by morning and if he doesn’t it will be completely shriveled and dead on the mat

That’s what I do too I leave it in his enclosure but he normally won’t eat it anyway and if he does eat it over the night if I try to offer it again he won’t eat it

 

[JBun]

Does he seem to have good body condition, doesn't feel bony and skinny along the spine, ribs, and hips? An average size rabbit is 4-5 lbs, about half the size of a normal grown cat. Does that seem to be about his size?

Small World is a pretty low quality pellet. If it's possible for you, I would recommend a better quality brand like oxbow, science select, or sherwood. Low quality pellets can have quality control issues and will usually be lower in fiber and higher in carbs, which is the opposite of what you want for good gut health with rabbits. With a good quality pellet and good green hay, I would be less concerned about a rabbit being picky about eating veggies. At least until you can get this pickiness figured out.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/pellet-food.html
One other possibility to consider when you have a rabbit selectively eating, especially one less inclined to eat veggies and hay but is fine with pellets, is the possibility of it being caused by dental issues causing mouth pain and sores when chewing certain foods, and not actually from being picky.

https://rabbit.org/dental-disorders-in-rabbits/
(LINK CONTAINS MEDICAL RELATED PHOTOS)
https://lbah.com/rabbit/rabbit-teeth-conditions/
https://rabbit.org/veterinarians/
Since your rabbit will eat romaine, maybe try different types of leafy greens and herbs. That's primarily what I fed my rabbits, romaine or green/red leaf lettuce, then some herbs and other leafy greens.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html

 

[Mochismommy]

Does he seem to have good body condition, doesn't feel bony and skinny along the spine, ribs, and hips? An average size rabbit is 4-5 lbs, about half the size of a normal grown cat. Does that seem to be about his size?

Small World is a pretty low quality pellet. If it's possible for you, I would recommend a better quality brand like oxbow, science select, or sherwood. Low quality pellets can have quality control issues and will usually be lower in fiber and higher in carbs, which is the opposite of what you want for good gut health with rabbits. With a good quality pellet and good green hay, I would be less concerned about a rabbit being picky about eating veggies. At least until you can get this pickiness figured out.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/pellet-food.html
One other possibility to consider when you have a rabbit selectively eating, especially one less inclined to eat veggies and hay but is fine with pellets, is the possibility of it being caused by dental issues causing mouth pain and sores when chewing certain foods, and not actually from being picky.

https://rabbit.org/dental-disorders-in-rabbits/
(LINK CONTAINS MEDICAL RELATED PHOTOS)
https://lbah.com/rabbit/rabbit-teeth-conditions/
https://rabbit.org/veterinarians/
Since your rabbit will eat romaine, maybe try different types of leafy greens and herbs. That's primarily what I fed my rabbits, romaine or green/red leaf lettuce, then some herbs and other leafy greens.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/greens--veggies.html

He’s a good size maybe a little bigger than half the size of a cat but he’s a mix we’re unsure of. Thanks for the info I’ll look into better quality pellets and try giving him more leafy greens!

 

[Moonshadow]

He might just need to mature more. My bun has been more tolerant of trying new foods as he’s gotten older. He’s slightly more than 1.5 years old now. When he was 6-7 months he didn’t want anything accept pellets, hay, or an apple slice. He finally began eating more than one salad leaf around 8-9 months

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We introduced our buns slowly to veggies--all were rescues and some had never even had any hay. One of the favorites is Cilantro. Time and patience are the keys.

 

[W1ghtn1ght]

Our bunny is 8 months old and we’ve tried introducing many veggies and fruits but the only veggies he will eat is romaine. I found out he needs at least 3 veggies a day but he won’t eat anything else I give him! Any advice on how to get him to be less picky?

If you are feeding a complete pellet ( many rabbit pellets on the market today are complete meaning they are specially formulated to provide everything a rabbit needs for optimal health) he may not want or need the vegetables. Some rabbits never eat veggies. I wouldn't stress over it. Just make sure he has pellets, fresh water and some hay. I rarely feed anything other than that for my Flemish Giants. He's a cutie though!

 

[user 35459]

Kinda sounds like my tortoise. Jokes aside, I can’t really relate. Olaf eats whatever I put in front of him. I would definitely recommend Oxbow rabbit pellets. Another thing you can look into are Oxbow’s natural vitamin supplements. They have a neat multivitamin that I like to give my rabbit, just to make sure he gets everything he needs. As long as your rabbit is getting all the necessary nutrients and such, it should be fine