Don't know what to do

Hey,

I think I posted before about Nora not eating. She does it occasionally and usually at the end of the day. She'll have her fresh hay at about 6 when OH gets home and cleans them out, but when we go to give them tea before bed she doesn't want anything. Usually she's fine by the morning, but she did this last night and still wouldn't eat her breakfast this morning My OH said she was sat hunched and looked like she wasn't comfortable.

So we got an appointment at the vets and I was running around trying to get ready as I'd just got out of the shower. Then I looked out the window and saw her binkying around. Went down to check and she was fine - back to normal and eating fine. I rang the vets but they said if she was fine they weren't likely to find anything. And she hates going to the vets, so we just kept her at home.

The only thing that is constant is their diet, but she eats it for 6 months at a time and is fine, so I don't even know if it is that. They do eat spring greens/broccoli/brussel sprouts though which are probably bad for wind? I don't know what to change them to though. I like the idea of foraging but I worry that I'd pick the wrong thing or it has weed killer on it or something

I just don't know what to do

Something doesn't seem right with her, does it.
What amount of pellets do you feed?

How much Veg do you feed and do you rinse it well first ?

I would try cutting out the broccoli and brussels to start with

Apart from hay what else do you feed them and how much ?

They get a handful of veg (celery, sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and something leafy like watercress rocket or spinach) on a morning to share. We usually buy the pre cut, pre washed stuff as it's cheaper than buying a whole broccoli etc as they don't eat a whole one in a week. They also get about 10 excel pellets.

Before I go to work they get a couple of pieces of carrot and a few big handfuls of Burns green oat hay.

When my OH gets home he cleans them out so they get fresh hay in their litter tray (from a farm bale) and about 10 more pellets.

Before bed they get a handful of spring greens and a few more handfuls of burns green oat hay.

Sometimes they have sticks off the apple tree to chew, and they get some leaves off it as well.


I was wondering if I could get some seeds and grow them something in some pots? I grew them some carrots last year, but they never really grew lol

Joh619 said:

They get a handful of veg (celery, sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and something leafy like watercress rocket or spinach) on a morning to share. We usually buy the pre cut, pre washed stuff as it's cheaper than buying a whole broccoli etc as they don't eat a whole one in a week. They also get about 10 excel pellets.

Before I go to work they get a couple of pieces of carrot and a few big handfuls of Burns green oat hay.

When my OH gets home he cleans them out so they get fresh hay in their litter tray (from a farm bale) and about 10 more pellets.

Before bed they get a handful of spring greens and a few more handfuls of burns green oat hay.

Sometimes they have sticks off the apple tree to chew, and they get some leaves off it as well.


I was wondering if I could get some seeds and grow them something in some pots? I grew them some carrots last year, but they never really grew lol

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I would suggest cutting down on the carrots (very sugary), broccoli and spinach (high in calcium) and perhaps replacing with spring greens and lots of herbs (mine love all herbs, but particularly basil, thyme and mint). They are very easy to grow yourself (apart from basil, which I buy as a supermarket plant)

As hay should form 80-90% of a rabbit's diet, you could try increasing their hay and perhaps introduce a variety to encourage them to eat it. Hay4Pets (on-line) do a sample pack (free, just pay postage). Mine love the timothy and rye and meadow hay, but hate the ings!

I feed an eggcupful of pellets each once a day.

Hope you find this helpful.

Don't be too discouraged if they don't take to herbs at first - the stronger flavours can take a bit of getting used to. My Spenser won't touch basil, but it is generally popular. He is very fond of parsley, and will also take coriander and mint.

Do they like dried dandelions and plantain? You could also check out the forage threads in the 'for sale section' here.

We've really reduced the amount of brassica/windy type veg we give to the buns and now everyday they have celery (chopped up small so they dont get the strings caught in their throats) and fresh herbs. We supplement this with a veg of another type but vary it around.

My buns love thyme, mint, coriander, dill and basil - but it took them a while to take to the basil

I usually give them any medication they need with fresh basil, so I think they're a bit suspicious of it now :lol: The only problem I find is that if you buy the plants from a supermarket they never seem to last a week. It's probably just me with my inability to keep a plant alive (except for my bean plant, but they can't have that apparently!)

I'll try and cut down on the gassy veg. Celery is their least faviourite though. They always leave that until last lol.

I've tried them on pretty much every different type of hay. They had samples form Animal Magic Pet Supplies (I think) where they were donating to rescues if you bought them, so they had one of each. The only one they liked was the burns green oat hay They do eat the Burgess Herbage hay occasionally too, but they seem to get bored of it halfway through the bag. They actually love the farm hay I get, but as you say, I'm trying to give them some variety. I'll try them on some Hay4Pets stuff.

They usually get half a chantenay carrot each, is that still too much sugary food? Sometimes they get apple or banana if I've got some leftover instead, but rarely. It's just a treat before I go to work.

They love dandelions but I'm not sure what plantain is I'll have a look

Thanks for all the helpful replies :wave:

For the time being I would cut out the carrot, apple and banana completely.

My basil doesn't last a week, either, but I get through most of the plant before it dies.

You can buy plants of mint and the other herbs from a garden centre.

The other hay mine love is Western Timothy.

I'm sure someone here is selling dried plantain and other forage.

Joh619 said:

We usually buy the pre cut, pre washed stuff

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Pre washed ready to eat salad and veg are soaked in a chlorine solution prior to being packed, this solution is way stronger than you would find in a swimming pool.

This may be the cause? If you want to feed this veg, please wash it thoroughly before use even though it says 'washed and ready to use'

Sorry,I don't know Nora's history, but is she spayed?

Yeah, she was spayed a couple of years ago. Although she was probably about 2-3 when she did get spayed as the rescue I got her from didn't spay and then she had a reaction to Cylap when I got her. Then Walter got his head tilt so there wasn't a safe time to do it for ages. She's about 5 1/2 years old now.

I was just wondering because ine of my girls routinely went off her food in the spring, she wasn't spayed and she did this for about 4 years unr the vets suggested it may be hormonal. It as her last bout and when admitted and x-rated it showed she had uterine cancer which had spread to her lungs, so there was nothing we could do but put her to sleep. I just wondered if it was a hormonal thing.