throwing around and kicking out his food pellets

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atjurhs

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Hi guys,

ok, so in Mr. Kato's hutch I have put a small bowl that will hold about 2/3cup of pellets. The bowl is set in a corner and afixed to the floor, so it will not move.

I only fill the bowl about half full, but Mr. Kato still kicks/digs them out with much of them falling through the wire floor. This is supposed to be his main food source.

His secondary food source is a wire ball filled with Timothy Hay. He gets checked on several times a day so I know he's not going hungry, but still I need to figure out how to keep the pellets in the bowl or some other pellet holding type thingamajig

Thanks for your ideas!

Todd
 
Could you remind us how old bunny is? (Ones over 6 months get limited pellets.)

Remember that the hay ball is not sufficient enough for feeding hay. It takes too much effort for him to get it out, so he will eat much less hay. He needs to have hay more accessible. (He should be eating his body size in hay every day.)
 
yes he is under 6months.

should I put hay on the floor for him ?

I've never fed a bunny hay before, only pellets, so it's wierd to me that he would kick/throw it out of the bowl and onto the floor.

tonight he scarfed down dandelion leaves like he was hungry.

I bought the Sherwood pellets, they are super green and smell really good why would he not be eating them like crazy
 
From the photo you showed before, you have the litter box on the other side of that wall with the two doorways. Put the hay directly into the litter box. If he mostly potties on one end of that box, put the hay on the other end of that box. If you put the hay on the floor, that risks encouraging him to pee there, so don't put the hay on the floor.

Are the Sherwood pellets new? How did you transition him to the pellets? Few rabbits will easily switch to a new type of pellet without them being transitioned. The old needs to be mixed with the new. If you didn't do this, I can explain how to do so.

Is he over 12 weeks?
 
It sounds like he is bored and restless. Does he get a few hours to come out and run around daily? The restlessness could also be due to the start of puberty, so you might want to start looking around for a good rabbit vet for his neuter. Another possibility is that Kato is simply a digger, and really really wants to dig around in something.

Typically we put some extra hay in the litterbox, but you can put a little stack on the grate if the holes aren't too big that most of it falls through. Hay is a bunny's primary intake, not pellets - hay should make up 70% of a bunny's total diet. The roughage keeps their guts moving. So the more hay, the better!

However, it is unusual if a young growing bun is refusing to eat much pellets. How much does he actually eat daily? Does he show enthusiasm for the pellets when you pour them into his bowl? I agree with BlueEyes that if he was previously on a different pellet, he would need to be gradually transitioned over for maximum new pellet acceptance.
 
Hopefully I'll answer all the questions:

I'm really not sure of his age, 12weeks maybe, he is young (maybe like a young teenager, idk) and he does have an appt next week with the snipper vet.

where I got Mr. Kato they told me that they only fed him pellets, and did not offer me any of theirs, so that's why I bought the Sherwoods online (they are very fresh). So there is really no pellet transitioning possible.

Mr. Kato does get to get out and run/hop around the kitchen when I get home from work, and he gets held alot, but is otherwise in his hutch

hey and thanks so much for your guy's help, Mr. Kato and I appreciate it

Todd
 
Perhaps you could contact them and ask for the brand of pellets they used, so you can buy a small pack of the same brand for teh transition? If not, there was a member who actually got her bun to start eating the pellets he was rejecting by soaking them in water first. An unusual idea, but it worked for her. Other members have had their buns just flat out refuse to eat certain brands, so they had to shop around till they found a brand the bunny would eat.

You didn't say how enthusiastic he is for the pellets. Is he digging most of them out, not eating any? If Kato IS consuming some pellets, say 1/4 to 1/2 cup per day, then that's reasonably good, even if he doesn't finish it all. Remember that fruit/greens are to bunnies what desserts are to kids - they always have room in their bellies for it! It doesn't mean he's starving. If he's eating a decent amount of hay and pellets, he's fine.

A bunny should have at least 3-4 hours a day to run around freely and stretch their legs.
 
If the vet is willing to neuter him, then Kato is probably at least 4 months of age. They typically won't neuter before then. (unless the appt is his first visit, in which case the vet will determine if he seems old enough. I would also ask the vet to give his best estimate of Kato's age.)

I agree with Whiskey that it would be worth a call to the prior owner to ask what pellets they fed. Many rabbits reject a new brand because it is unfamiliar. It is pretty standard for someone selling a bunny to send them off with some of their pellets. The seller either forgot or doesn't know better.

Your bun is still growing and it is important to get him on a healthy pellet along with plenty of hay. I actually wouldn't feel comfortable letting him go into surgery until/unless he is eating regularly. Can you tell how much of the pellets he is actually consuming?

Another RO member had a difficult time transitioning her bunnies to Sherwood forest food. (I believe it was Imbrium) She did eventually get them to eat it, it just took a while with the transitioning phase. My rabbits, on the other hand, took to it right away.
 
here's the latest...

I went out to get some of Mr. Kato's previous chow, and the pellets looked old and "mealy" I said thanks, but no thanks.

I went to the local feed store and bought 5lbs. of theirs (hoping it's more like the PO pellets) and intermixed with the Sherwood.

Mr. Kato is eating maybe half the pellets I put in the bowl. The rest end up in the litter tray.

As you can see I spread the Timothy Hay all over the bedroom and into the living room a bit (the pic caught him in his favorite pee/poop place). He is eating the Timothy Hay no problem. So I think he will be get enough food.

As to his age/snip/vet stuff, Mr. Kato has never been to the vet, so the vet may not snip him if he's not old enough, idk.

He does get out of his hutch for an hour or so at a time, but he usually doesn't explore too far. I set up a little hiding place for him in the pantry cupboard floor and he like to hop over to that...

anyways, that's the latest....

Todd

IMG_3692.jpg
 
If you don't want to have the food dropping through the grate and getting wasted, you can put a board to cover the whole grate. It really is serving no purpose since he is clearly using the litterbox. It would also be easier to clean since a little broom will just sweep up that area in no time.

Sherwood Forest food is not cheap (I know since I also use it), so putting a solid floor down would be a way of ensuring it doesn't get wasted. Mixing it as you are is the best way for him to transition -- so good job on that. Gradually you will increase the proportion of Sherwood while decreasing the proportion of the other pellet.

You could also start looking at the thread with the "2014 cages you've made" photos. There are nice roomy cages that would be easy and cheap to make that you could start considering. Kato doesn't appear full grown yet and that cage is awfully small for him. A good size cage should allow him to take 3 to 4 full hops. The current cage is only almost large enough for 1 full hop.

Will be curious to see what the vet has to say concerning his age...
 
well Mr. Kato has taken to the pellets and munches through them :)

however now he doesn't eat much of the Timothy Hay, I've got a huge box out in the garage of Timothy Hay (that I've sealed up from air as best I can).

when I take him out of his hutch to scamper about then he'll eat the hay, but not very much at all while he is in his hutch.

now what?

actually it's kind of fun trying to figure out what makes this little guy tick (meaning I'm not frustrated by it all).

thanks for your thoughts!

Todd
 
well I don't think the hay is too moist or anything like that, it comes from smallpetselct.

I'm thinking about letting him go without pellets for a few days but offer hims all the Timothy Hay he could possibly want.

good idea or not?
 
Yeah well there was another poster recently with the same issue as you describe and after ruling out everything else discovered they were storing the hay incorrectly. As soon as they changed that the rabbit started eating more hay. I'd consider it. What's the harm.
 
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