Swapping from mix to pellets for an older bun

Well my older bun (7 years old) has been on a selective food all her life. We've used this since before i was born with buns and they've never had any problems. I read a while ago about pellets so tried swapping her onto excel (only one avaiable in my area at the time) with no luck, she just left the pellets. I tried this a few times.

So i gave in and left her on the food she was on, i wasnt too worried as she always ate it all so i knew she was getting a balanced diet.

But now shes become all selective on me, eating the tasty bits and leaving the rest. Shes had a few health problems since january, and has started to lose weight, most dramatically since she had cystitus about 2 months ago, down from 3kg to 2.5kg. She doesnt eat hay which is another problem!

Iv tried swapping her onto pellets again so i know her diets balanced, but no luck. She's clearly hungry as as soon as i put veg/treats/top up her food shes straight there eating it. At the moment, im giving in and feeding her as much as she wants, as i want the weight back on her and shes also just being spayed (i know she should have been done years before!).

Once shes put on a bit of weight id be more happy to swap her over, but has anyone got any advise on swapping a difficult bunny over?

My two young minis are on excel junior and dwarf, and they swapped over very easily, in fact they chose that over their own food to eat first each day! So i tried the junior excel and adult excel with no luck with her. So what other brands would you say are especially tasty for buns? I'll probably have to order it online as around here there are lots of mixes but only really excel pellets, so right now any brand that i could get online would be ideal.

Sorry for the long post, im just worried about her weight and health! Thanks

Have her teeth been checked? If not, it may well be that she is eating the softer or "easier" pieces from the mix and leaving the harder bits due to difficulty eating?

I was thinking the same thing. I feed mine a mix, as they eat it all, if they start to leave bits I get their teeth checked.

Yes, she's just recently had her teeth done. She's a dental bun on her back teeth, but has never had a problem eating all her food before, even when her teeth have got bad.

She actually eats some of the harder parts of the mix too, and some of the softer parts, but has started leaving the pelleted part and another part i cant really describe.

As i said, she's always been on a mix and ate it all up, which is why i never pushed the pellets, but now she's being fussy.

Im going to go back to the vets on monday, iv mentioned the weight a few times to the vet shes recently being seeing, but she didnt seem that bothered, but my regular vet weighed her and was worried and said after spaying they normally can put weight on, and if she doesnt to bring her back.

Unless it is a health problem then leaving some bits of food is the only thing i can think of to cause her weight loss, which is why i want a good pellet, which is easy to swap the fussy monster onto!

Hmm not sure then :?

I changed Sooty from a mix to pellets when she was about 7yrs old, she has Science Selective and I had no problems changing her over.

I had trouble changing one of mine over, but luckily all my rabbits have adored hay.

Have you tried offering her a pellet as a treat - I used this tactic for a few days, gradually building up the amount given, then when she gets it in her bowl she'll be like: "Wow, I think someone's made a big mistake" :lol:

vicki267 said:

Have you tried offering her a pellet as a treat - I used this tactic for a few days, gradually building up the amount given, then when she gets it in her bowl she'll be like: "Wow, I think someone's made a big mistake" :lol:

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:lol: i like that idea...but she is fussy. She's fine eating out of my hand but only if she knows what it is. Any new veg or treats she wont touch from me, i have to leave it in her cage and if she eats it and likes it, she'll start eating it out of my hand after a few weeks. She's always been fussy, a few new veg she mustn't have like the look of smell of as she woulnt touch them at all.

None of my other buns have been as fussy as her, they loved trying new things so that tactic would have worked brilliantly. My two younger mini lops were swapped onto a pellet no problem, one from a different pellet and one from the same mix that my older buns on, they loved it straight away and even chose to eat the pellet before their origional food when i swapped them over. Another bun i had was 5 when i swapped her over, again with no problems.

Shes had a few health problems since this january, one vet said its just old age, but iv had far older rabbits than her with no health problems! Im going to try get my regular vet tomorrow as she seems to know the most about bunnies and actually listens to what i say! It just seems to me that its her diet causing the weight loss due to the fact shes leaving particular parts. Im worrying about her nutrition too though as she doesnt eat all the nutrients, and refuses hay! I hope the veg and herbs are giving her enough vitamins at least!

Have you tried her with the Alfalfa King hays? Mine never refuse the oat wheat and barley

I'm feeding the babies lots of it at the mo as their poops were smelly from their mostly GP pellet diet :roll: I love seeing tiny golden poops now :lol:

email Science selective and ask for a free sample of the normal and mature rabbit pellets, then try breaking them up so she can smell them better. I mix 5 parts normal SS with 1 part mature SS and my buns love it