refusing to eat “new food”

[Teresa and Rory]

Ok so this seems to be a recurring issue with my little guy Rory. He is a rescue and a lone bun since he is pasteurella positive but don’t worry he’s spoiled rotten.

 About every 9 months is time for mommy (me) to go get Rory a new bag of Blue Bonnet Bunny Feed (Its the only thing he will eat, trust me) I buy the exact same brand and I even gradually mix it into the old food so he gets use to it. But Rory being my special little guy decides he’s not going to touch it at all until he wants pellets so bad that he gives in and eats or we end up on mommy is force feeding him and giving some benebac and a little simethicone to prevent gi stasis.  We are currently having one of the latter weeks. He is eating leafy greens and hay; and passing gas and little poops but he worries me every time we do this.

I’m trying to figure out how to make the transition smoother so that we stop having this issue and I have a healthy happy bun. Does anyone have any recomendations?

 

Note: Rory’s Doctor has been notified and is on stand by if he stops eating/pooping but right now it seems like his usual gas issue.
He is also getting tummy rubs and still running around like a crazed rabbit.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Sounds like he is really fussy! My buns eat Oxbow pellets and there is the odd bag I buy that my fussiest bun won’t eat. I’ve e-mailed the company about it and they said every batch of hay is different and some batches have a different taste and smell resulting in the pellets being different.

I’ve never heard of Blue Bonnet pellets. As long as it’s a good quality pellet (not dusty or moldy), I suggest just keep trying to mix it gradually. Maybe try a bit shorter time between buying new bags.

[Teresa and Rory]

Blue Bonnet is a local brand(Oklahoma) that is an alfalfa based pellet( I cant get him to eat anything else). It was the stuff he was started on at a very young age and refuses to eat anything else. He goes on periods of liking something and then not. His dad suggested that I buy two bags at a time and let it get “stale” whenever its too aromatic he wont go near it until it sits for an indeterminate amount of time and whatever treats I put in there to coax him to eat it go untouched. I just worry about my little guy and the reoccurring week watching him for stasis symptoms/ preventative measures stresses us both out.

Thank you for your incite, I appreciate any thing I can learn to better take care of him. I hadn’t had rabbits any many years until I got him and I’ve never seen one so stubborn that he would actually stop eating altogether

[LittlePuffyTail]

How old is your bunny? An adult bunny should be eating Timothy Pellets. Alfalfa pellets should only be given to baby buns.

[LBJ10]

You said he’s eating greens and hay well? I guess I wouldn’t be too worried if he is at least eating that.

[JackRabbit]

Can you get timothy pellets (maybe order online)? Like LPT said, only baby bunnies should get alfalfa pellets. If you can, get some timothy pellets and gradually start mixing them in to transition. Use the timothy pellets as hand fed treats too. Anything hand-fed is “special”!

[tobyluv]

There is one company I know of that offers a pellet that is a blend of timothy and alfalfa. If Rory will only eat alfalfa based pellets, I wonder if he would like Sweet Meadow Timothy/Alfalfa Blend Rabbit Pellets? Those would be healthier for him than a straight alfalfa based pellet. I don’t know what the percentage of timothy vs alfalfa is. Timothy is listed as the first ingredient. Alfalfa meal is listed second. I have never tried any of their pellets, but I did order some hay from Sweet Meadow once in the past, and it was nice. I’m not sure how rabbit savvy the company is, they may know more about horses than rabbits. I see that one of their treats is Yogurt Nibbles. Rabbit savvy people know that yogurt should not be given to rabbits.

Here is the page that shows the pellet blend. If you click on the small picture of the back of the package, you can see the ingredients.

http://www.sweetmeadowfarm.com/animal-food-and-hay/rabbit-blend.html

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