Snix doesn't eat much hay like he used to

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bamabunny

bamabunny

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Location
, Alabama, USA
Snickers still loves his pellets and does nibble on a little hay. It used to be the exact opposite a few weeks ago, with hay being the favorite. Should I be concerned? I haven't changed brands or type of hay, and he devours pellets and runs around and plays like normal.
 
He is just shy of 4 months, and he has unlimited pellets and hay. I have not changed hay or pellets (pellets are timothy based).

I removed his food bowl yesterday for about an hour and observed. He hopped over to take a bite and seemed confused. He did not eat the hay I placed in the same spot. Instead, he hopped back over to his litterbox (AKA the hangout) and flopped.
 
bamabunny wrote:
Snickers still loves his pellets and does nibble on a little hay. It used to be the exact opposite a few weeks ago, with hay being the favorite. Should I be concerned? I haven't changed brands or type of hay, and he devours pellets and runs around and plays like normal.
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Bunnies get into moods, and what was a favorite all of a sudden drops off the list. I'd try another sort of hay - try one of the other grass hays, like Orchard Grass or Bermuda or Brome. Scone's current favorites are Orchard Grass and Peter's Meadow Mix from Marshall, but he's gone through Oat and Brome phases at different times. The only constant is that he has never liked timothy.

Snickers is young, so it's to be expected that he'll change his preferences as he matures. At one point Scone MacBunny absolutely loved cilantro, couldn't get enough of it. Then one day I offered him some, he sniffed at it and literally jumped a foot back with an insulted look on his face - "what are you trying to poison me with, Dad???" He's never touched it since. Go figure.
 
this is also asymptom of a dental problem

should have his teeth checked out
rabbits often stop eating hay becaue it hurts to chew it whereas the pellets just dissolve in their mouths.
 
Thank you for the replies. I have noticed that he has started acting like he is chewing something big when he is just sitting still and not eating anything. I'll have his teeth examined ASAP.
 
bamabunny wrote:
He is just shy of 4 months, and he has unlimited pellets and hay. I have not changed hay or pellets (pellets are timothy based).

I removed his food bowl yesterday for about an hour and observed. He hopped over to take a bite and seemed confused. He did not eat the hay I placed in the same spot. Instead, he hopped back over to his litterbox (AKA the hangout) and flopped.
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Like Maureen (anglieluv) said, this sounds a lot like dental issues to me. Looking at the hay, acting confused by it, this is a sign that he wants to eat it but won't because it hurts too much. Hay takes a lot of chewing, so molars that are cutting into the cheeks or gums make it very unpleasant to eat. Sounds like time for his first vet appt! Maybe your vet can do a pre-neuter workup while you're there too. ;)
 
I have a vet appointment scheduled for this afternoon. I will let you guys know what transpires.
 
You guys guessed it: molar spurs.

We had the vet file them down and he is back home recovering from the trauma. Thanks again for the advice! You guys helped make him a happy bun again!
 
So glad Snickers is going to be ok. Good thing you caught it early!

How much did it cost you to file his molars? My vet estimated a whopping $397 if Kirby needed it. Good thing Kirby got over whatever his eating slump was and he's eating hay very well again. Otherwise it would have ben hefty.
 
Awww poor baby! I'm glad he's doing well now. Sounds like this might be a regular event in his little life? did the vet say?
 
Last night he just wanted to lay in his litterbox, occasionally eating pellets and drinking some water.

This morning he was back to his old self. He grabbed a few pieces of hay while I was sitting there but we will see in the next few days. He was doing his morning binkies which was nice to see.

The vet did not say if this is something that we will have to watch for in the future, but we will regardless. The spurs were very minor since we caught it early.
 
I thought it might be a dental problem since Flash doesn't eat hay due to his teeth problems. I'm glad you found out what it was.

Kirbyultra, my vet doesn't charge me for knocking off Flash's spurs, this is without sedation. It was 2 yrs ago he was sedated and that was only $25. Who's your vet, geez, that's way too much.
 
Yeah, it's good that you guys caught it and nipped it in the bud. I hope this is a one-time deal for you guys!
 
Flash wrote:
I thought it might be a dental problem since Flash doesn't eat hay due to his teeth problems. I'm glad you found out what it was.

Kirbyultra, my vet doesn't charge me for knocking off Flash's spurs, this is without sedation. It was 2 yrs ago he was sedated and that was only $25. Who's your vet, geez, that's way too much.
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Yeah I have no idea why it costs SO much. They broke it down like about half was for the actual procedure. The rest was some meds, a "hospital stay" for the day and sedation meds... I thought it was insanely expensive but I take Kirby to one of two or three best rabbit vets in the NYC area that was highly recommended. Hence why I had to buy pet insurance last week.:(
 
well we cleaned his cage today and noticed that about an hour later there were no fecal pellets in the litterbox. The cage was clean too, not one to be found.

So I was concerned again, and watched him. He is grabbing the poo right as it comes out, and eating it. I found this out because he grabbed two fecals at once and couldn't fit both in his mouth, so he dropped one.

He is pretty good about eating his cecotropes, but I have never seen him gorge on poo.

Perhaps this has to do with his hormones? His bunny berries showed up today, so we will have to schedule his neutering.
 
I'm sure your paying NYC prices too but my vet is a great vet (Westchester County)and probably knows the NYC vets thru HRS and their conferences. He usually is the headliner at the conference but still that's alot of money.
 
Eating a few fecals is ok. He should stop it eventually. I'm not sure why they do that--my guys really never do but I've heard of some bunnies that do it a lot. I assume he has hay at all times, so he wasn't hungry or something, right?
 
Yeah he always has hay and pellets available. He has started eating his hay again which is nice to see. I saw plenty of poos in the litterbox this morning so perhaps it was just a weird phase.
 
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