Stopped Eating Pellets

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Bill Jesse

Bill Jesse

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I have a year old mixed Himmie/California who for some reason has stopped eating her food pellets. She always devoured them but now is ignoring her regular brand and a different brand. She is eating lots of hay and has readily eaten her carrot and apple slice but totally ignores the pellets.

Normally she gets one-quarter cup twice a day.

She is very active and her feces are normal and she plays as always soI am wondering what is up.
 
No its not Sedgewick. Its Cassie. She has been eating Marten's pellets all her life and I tried another brand, the type Sedgewick eats. No luck. She is eating hay okay but seems to be shying away from her vegetables. Usually she is eager to eat them.
 
ive heard of teeth issues causing buns to stop eating a particular food cuz it hurts them...
or ur bun might be going into stasis..either one needs a vet trip.
 
It definately could be a dental issue. She may just have a molar spur causing pain when she chews. You should have Cassie's vet take a look at her teeth.
 
Probably tooth issues as others have said. they usually start as a food preference and progress to not eating at all. Take her in for a vet check. They can look at the molars with a scope, colonoscopy-type camera, or x-rays.
 
It can occur in young rabbits if it is due to genetics. Is she younger than 6 mo? Very young bunnies often get tummy upsets due to slight changes in their environment because their GI flora are not stable.
 
She is just under a year but as I found her I have no idea. When I found her she just fit in my hand she was very young.

AnywayI saw a vet and she checked the teeth. There may be the start of some teeth spurs on one side but there is no inflamation anywhere in the jaw area. One ear was slightly red but that may have been the light shining through a blood vessel. Heart and lungs are good and the tummy is soft with no impacting. The one thing that did bother me was her temperature was 37.7C which equates to about 100F. The vet says anything under 36C is to her, a concern.

The rabbit is very active, runs and jumps and was in the outdoor pen today grazing a bit. She ate a short carrot stick and two slices of apple and drank some. She is munching hay but will not touch her lettuce nor her carrot tops.

Her fecal pellets are normal consistency, a bit darker and some were joined together by either a hair or a piece of hay. Not many however.
 
Prince had molar spurs. Had them trimmed and always feed him hay, lots of hay. Never had the issue again.

Below 100 degrees F, is a concern, but 100 degrees to 103 degrees is a good temp for a rabbit. Make sure that she stays warm. If you have to, you can warm her up with your body heat and/or put a blanket over her while you are holding her. Keeping her warm will help her temperature stay in the normal range.

The teeth trimming that Prince needed cost me $130 and I had to go to Kirkland, WA to have his teeth trimmed.

After you have her teeth trimmed, make sure she has lots of hay at all times. Hay will help keep the teeth normal length.
 
She spent a good night. Very active and chewing lots of hay.
Doesn't seem bothered by anything now. She lives in an unheated shed and it would be very difficult as she cannot be held. Ironically two of my other rabbits won't eat pellets all of a sudden either. And its not a new bag.
 
Could be and it would be nice. I would prefer a hay/veggie diet but they are not always keen on veggies. Of my 4 rabbits on Marten's pellets 3 are now refusing to eat them. They do not eat much as a rule but are always happy to see me fill the bowl. I wondered about the product itself but its a fresh bag and about one-third used. I may still buy another bag and see.
 
I use Martin brand (the ones for less active adults) for my bunnies also and recently had some issues with it. I opened a new bag and while I was feeding the bunnies, I noticed one pellet was a different colour than the others. The bag was nowhere near the expiry date so I just threw out that one pellet and fed them their lunch.

When I sniffed the bag of pellets I noticed the smell was off, too. We have been using this brand for about 3 or 4 years so I'm somewhat familiar with the smell. I dug around in the bag and found that a lot of the pellets had white stuff on it. Maybe mold?

I took it back to the store and asked for another bag, which was fine and it had the same expiry date as the original bag. Maybe you can try inspecting your bag more closely to see if there is something there. Just a thought! Hope your bunnies feel better soon!
 
Good point thank you. I plan to inspect the contents ASAP but as she would not eat the other brand I think it is just her. But now that I think about it she would not eat the other brand ever. So that does warrant an inspection.

I mentioned that 3 of my 4 were not eating the Martens (Martins) and now another one has started eating them. It could have been many issues with her like a tummy ache or even shedding. I am noticing there are the odd hairs linking her fecal pellets together.
 
Right after your post I was going to ask if you had check the bags for unusual dusting or mold. Hope you find an answer to your problem
 
The pellets might have gotten old. I know the bag is only 1/3 used but some bunnies are picky and exposure to high humidity or something could cause them to go bad quickly.
 
It is strange. They are kept in the bag which is well sealed. The bag is in the bunny barn, a cedar building with no insulation or heat. It is not in a very cold climate but there has been a lot of rain. The bag was delivered to the pet shop the morning I bought it so it had not been on the shelf for long. But before that...........!
 
It is strange. They are kept in the bag which is well sealed. The bag is in the bunny barn, a cedar building with no insulation or heat. It is not in a very cold climate but there has been a lot of rain. The bag was delivered to the pet shop the morning I bought it so it had not been on the shelf for long. But before that...........!
 
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