Eating Habits

amanda74 · May 22, 2012

Do bunnies go off their food when its summer? My little one who normally wolfs his food down currently needs encouragement in the mornings to eat his breakfast. He's only on a limited number of pellets at the moment anyway as he has excess cecels, we give him plenty of hay, a small amount of pellets to keep him happy and a few mint leaves as I've heard its good for his digestion. I've only had him since December so I don't know what his habits are in summer. He's going to be 5 years old in June.
Amanda

tasteofchaos · May 22, 2012

amanda74 said:
Do bunnies go off their food when its summer? My little one who normally wolfs his food down currently needs encouragement in the mornings to eat his breakfast. He's only on a limited number of pellets at the moment anyway as he has excess cecels, we give him plenty of hay, a small amount of pellets to keep him happy and a few mint leaves as I've heard its good for his digestion. I've only had him since December so I don't know what his habits are in summer. He's going to be 5 years old in June.
Amanda

It is possible that it is seasonal, but my first thought would be his teeth. If their teeth have spurs the first thing they usually stop eating are pellets, because they are hard and therefore uncomfortable for them to chew. I would pop him down to the vets to get his teeth checked, just in case.

Sky-O · May 22, 2012

Welcome to the forum

I'd be inclined to take him to see the vet. You do know his habits because you have identified that they are varying, and any variation like that would warrant a vet check- especially of his teeth with an Otoscope.

Jenova · May 22, 2012

Any change in eating habit is very worrying in rabbits.

I definitely recommend getting him to a vet as soon as you can. There are a lot of things it could be, most likely it sounds like dental problems. Rabbit's teeth grow continuously and sometimes they can be worn down unevenly causing spikes which rub against the mouth. This can make it painful to eat and they don't want to eat as much.

Also rabbits are very different to other animals, if they stop eating it's very serious. Their guts slow down and can stop completely.

A good rabbit vet should be able to tell you what's happening with your little bun. If you want any recommendation for vets just start a thread in Rabbit Chat asking for a rabbit savvy vet in [your area].

parsnipbun · May 22, 2012

I do agree in this instance (as you do not know his habits over several years) a vet trip is very important -

but just to say I know my buns will eat fewer pellets in summer . . (but in part thats probably to do with the fact they have barrow loads of fresh weeds)

Eating Habits

amanda74

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tasteofchaos

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Sky-O

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Jenova

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parsnipbun

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