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Bunny not eating vegs

C

christelle

Young Bun
Hi everyone

I have a lovely 1 1/2 yr old Netherland dwarf called Twitch, and I am getting a little concerned as he does not seem to like any vegetables at all. The only thing he will tolerate is pears and apples, probably because they're very sweet, and I therefore only give him a little bit a couple of times a week.
I am reading things that say it is crucial that rabbits eat veggies, so do you have any advise at all? is it something I'm doing wrong? i have given him a lot of choice over the alst year, but he always leave the fresh food and just enjoys his rabbit food and hay!
 
what have you tried him on so far? If he has a sweeter tooth then he may well like a little carrot?

Spring greens? brocolli?

As he is having and eating lots of hay, I do not think you have to start worrying too much about his health. Hay is the really important part of the diet
 
The diet should consist of at least 90% hay and if he's eating some rabbit food(as long as he's not selective eating if he's on a mix as opposed to pellets) that should provide any minerals he may be missing out on if he's not keen on the veg. Does he eat fresh grass?
 
Thanks for all the replies! Well I have taken him out in the garden a few times (we live in a flat and he 'owns' the balcony, which he loves as he is out of his cage all day) but he never got interested in grass.
I have tried carrots, broccoli, all herbs (tried again basil at lunch), but he always leaves it! Like I said, the only things he gets excited about are pears which he eats very quickly!
He eats at least 2-3 big handfuls of hay per week and about 1 cup of rabbit selective food (he used to only eat some bits and leave others so I tried a special 'selective food', so all the bits are the same and he loves it) per day.
He does seem to be healthy and just got vaccinated last week. He's never had any health problems apart from a couple of runny eyes due to draughts when he was living indoors, and one tooth problem which got taken care of in ac ouple of days.
I guess it;'s just all the stuff you read that says rabbits have to eat all these greens, and he never has any at all!
 
My bunny loves celery, bananas (small quantities), radishes, carrot tops, watermelon, grapes.

But whenever I give him something new, he "says" no first (shakes his head very vigorously) and I have to "insist" (i.e. keep it there) and then he tries it again.

As it was said thought bunnies need they hay and pellets. Fresh fruit/veggies might give them a bad tummy if they have too much.
 
what is carrot tops? and also, do you give him the actual celeri of just the leaves? it seems on a lot of vegs they advise you to give the leaves...
 
christelle said:
what is carrot tops? and also, do you give him the actual celeri of just the leaves? it seems on a lot of vegs they advise you to give the leaves...
Click to expand...


carrot tops are the green leaves you get when you buy a bunch of carrots, or at least that is what i call them. in the market they usually take them off but i tell them to leave them on. nice and fresh.

with celery i just buy a bunch (as they sell them) and get a piece from the bunch and Hugo gets munching on it.

of course they need to be washed first just in case there is pesticide and chemicals to keep them fresh.
 
Anyway from what I was told, the bunnies get their nutrients from the pellets food and hay. Fresh veggies and fruits are more like a treat for them.

So if he only likes pears just give him pears :) He will grow tired of them and want to try something new :)
 
yes mine too! I remember those endless nights when I kept running to the hall cos I could hear him chew on sthg!!! Twitch was living indoors at first (my fiance and I both developped allergy to the hay and bedding so we moved him outside, which he seems very happy with) and he used to chew the walls! And not the corners! He would just pick one nice bit right in the middle and start chewing the paint off! No matter how many times you try to tell them, they do have a mind of their own, and it proobably makes them laugh to see you run towards them every time they do sthg wrong!
 
christelle said:
yes mine too! I remember those endless nights when I kept running to the hall cos I could hear him chew on sthg!!! Twitch was living indoors at first (my fiance and I both developped allergy to the hay and bedding so we moved him outside, which he seems very happy with) and he used to chew the walls! And not the corners! He would just pick one nice bit right in the middle and start chewing the paint off! No matter how many times you try to tell them, they do have a mind of their own, and it proobably makes them laugh to see you run towards them every time they do sthg wrong!
Click to expand...

The wallpaper in our hallway is gone. Like you say, picks a bit and pulls :lol: Loads of fun. It was old wallpaper that we want out anyway so we didn't mind.Just have to be carefull and on a watch so he does not eat it. But it was the best toy ever.

I have to agree. I also think that Hugo knows when he does something wrong and he just does it to get attention and say "hello, i am bored, play with me, I am the man, I need attention!!!"
 
It sounds like they;re all a bit weird! we have wooden floors on our flat on which Twitch could not walk (he;d just slip) so we bought bits of carpet and just moved them around depending on where we wanted him to play! So we moved them away from the wall... but as soon as he'd find a way to get there, even by using a toy to walk on it, he'd do it!!
I have to say now that he's outside, he never does anything bad as he's never bored! He walks around and then sits looking dowan at people and cars....there's always something going on!
 
christelle said:
Thanks for all the replies! Well I have taken him out in the garden a few times (we live in a flat and he 'owns' the balcony, which he loves as he is out of his cage all day) but he never got interested in grass.
I have tried carrots, broccoli, all herbs (tried again basil at lunch), but he always leaves it! Like I said, the only things he gets excited about are pears which he eats very quickly!
*He eats at least 2-3 big handfuls of hay per week* and about 1 cup of rabbit selective food (he used to only eat some bits and leave others so I tried a special 'selective food', so all the bits are the same and he loves it) per day.
He does seem to be healthy and just got vaccinated last week. He's never had any health problems apart from a couple of runny eyes due to draughts when he was living indoors, and one tooth problem which got taken care of in ac ouple of days.
I guess it;'s just all the stuff you read that says rabbits have to eat all these greens, and he never has any at all!
Click to expand...
Hi Christelle. Did you mean to say * or should it say .."per day"?
 
Molly doesn't eat any veg or fruit either. Milly adores it so if I try Molly with a new veg, Milly quickly pushes her out the way and snoffs it down. Molly loves grass and eats tons of hay so I'd say (fingers crossed) she's quite healthy. I wouldn't worry too much. As long as they are healthy, eating, pooing, weeing and drinking, he should be fine.
 
I do mean 2-3 big handfuls of hay per week.... is that not enough? he does finish it but he rarely eats more than that.....
getting worried now...
although i;m glad to see Twitch isn;t the only bunny that snubs veggies! just like kids!!
 
christelle said:
I do mean 2-3 big handfuls of hay per week.... is that not enough? he does finish it but he rarely eats more than that.....
getting worried now...
Click to expand...

He should be eating a lot more hay than that. My girls get about 4 small handfuls a day and they do finish them. It does depend how big you mean in your handfuls?
 
they are very large handfuls, but I will give him more from now on. And srprising news, I gave him basil, parsley and a bit of carrot in the alst couple of days and he has actually eaten EVERYTHING!!! I can;t believe it!!
 
oh, congratulations!! :D

if he likes basil, try mint :)

with the hay, try and have some available all the time and then he can have as much as he likes.
 
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