Very picky eater!

[Brookesbuns]

Hey everyone in a quick-ish summary, I had rescued a 1 year old rabbit from a breeder. She is a disabled bunny who has splayed legs. They put her up for “adoption” because she wasn’t worth their money etc. She was poorly taken care of and it’s been rather frustrating. She wasn’t litter trained and given poor rabbit food. She also had a skin condition and a bladder problem (all fixed now and spayed you could imagine the vet bills) I refuse to buy the cheap rabbit pellets she was fed, I tried Oxbow pellets which I’ve always fed my other rabbits. But sadly I’ve had to result in Kaytee pellets, which i’m not a fan of because it has all that mixed junk in it. She’s the same with veggies she just won’t eat them. I don’t want her just eating hay, and want to get her to eat a healthy diet/brand of rabbit pellets. I very recently had to put my 12 year old rabbit to sleep who was my very best friend, so this is very frustrating and overwhelming/new to me with her. I’ve owned a total of seven rabbits in my life, i’m 22 now. I just don’t know what to do. She is a very sweet and happy rabbit she loves being cage free and binkies all the time, i’m just worried she isn’t getting the good nutrition she needs. So any advice would be extremely appreciated. Thank you for anyone who reads this.

– Brooke

[jerseygirl]

Welcome Brooke

It’s great that you took this bunny in. It sounds as if you’ve made great improvements with her.

Posted By Brookesbuns on 1/13/2017 10:03 PM

… But sadly I’ve had to result in Kaytee pellets, which i’m not a fan of because it has all that mixed junk in it. She’s the same with veggies she just won’t eat them.

Are you meaning the pellet mixes with grains and coloured bits? Or what is in the pellets themselves? Im pretty sure Kaytee do a plain Timothy pellet.
Some other brands to try are American Pet Diner or Supreme science selective pellets. I think KMS hayloft may do a pellet too.
Is she liking alfalfa based pellet over Timothy perhaps?

I’m so sorry for your loss of your elderly rabbit.

[Brookesbuns]

Yes the current food she eats has different bits of stuff in it, it’s called kaytee chunky gourmet diet. My problem is that she doesn’t eat the actual pellets, or not that I’ve noticed. She nitpicks what she wants to eat then is done with it.

[jerseygirl]

Yes, that is the main problem with those mixes.

I think it’s a matter of just persisting. Maybe try taking out majority of the extras. She should come around to eating the pellets if she doesn’t have alternatives. If you get her eating the pellet readily enough, you could then try transition her onto Oxbow if that’s the brand you prefer.

I have a girl bun that is somewhat fussy. She used to eat greens when young but then stopped and I never really determined why. I’ve been rationing the pellets more now and seen she is starting to sample greens again.

So it may be a battle of wills. It won’t hurt your bun if she refuses the pellets initially and only eats hay (until she gives in!). It would take quite a while before she’d become nutritionally depleted.

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