Advice- Selective feeding

LolaBunBun · Jun 3, 2013

I need help
Since we got my rabbit we have fed her on a diet of mixed greens, hay, grass and rabbit muesli. I have been trying for the past few months to change her dry food to pellets because she only eats the coloured bits from the muesli, but nothing seems to have worked. Every time i try, i gradually mix in the new pellets with the rabbit muesli over ten days until there is only pellets in her bowl, but when it gets to this stage she just refuses to eat them. I've tried leaving them in her bowl for a few days but she never touches them and just eats her other food instead. Last time i tried, i cut right down on the greens i was feeding her to the point where i was scared that she was going to start losing weight. people have told me that if she gets hungry enough, she'll eat them but this never seems to be the case. I'm getting really desperate now. When i asked my vet she just said that they don't need a lot of it anyway but i know muesli is quite bad for rabbits especially when they leave the healthy bits like Lola does.

I want my bun to be healthy i just don't know what to do aaahhhh!!!!

Babsie · Jun 3, 2013

When you've been mixing the food, does she eat the pellets then? (I know you said she won't eat them when there are just pellets).
Some rabbits do very well on muesli - but, yes, the selective feeding is the problem.
What pellets are you trying her with?
What quantity of muesli do you give her (normally, not when you're trying to mix)?

LolaBunBun · Jun 3, 2013

She doesn't really touch them when i mix them in with the muesli either. I'm trying her on the burgess excel adult after i managed to get her to eat a couple out of my hand when i first got them. when I'm not mixing her food i give her around 70g per day based on her weighing around 2.2 kilo. i'm starting to think i'm just being too soft on her by giving her what she wants

Thank you!!

nessar · Jun 3, 2013

LolaBunBun said:
She doesn't really touch them when i mix them in with the muesli either. I'm trying her on the burgess excel adult after i managed to get her to eat a couple out of my hand when i first got them. when I'm not mixing her food i give her around 70g per day based on her weighing around 2.2 kilo. i'm starting to think i'm just being too soft on her by giving her what she wants

Thank you!!

You're feeding her too much muesli at the moment, I know the packet says that much, but she would be better off with less. As a guide it should be about a tablespoon per kg of her weight, which for the average rabbit works out as 2 tablespoons which is roughly an eggcup full. Obviously some rabbits need slightly more or less as all are individuals, but I would start with that and monitor her weight to make sure she isn't getting thin.

The reason rabbits should have less concentrate food is because their diet should be mostly hay -at least 80% of their diet should be hay. This is because the rabbit has evolved to eat a very high fibre and low calorie and low protein diet - grass! Their guts are perfectly designed for this and get every ounce of goodness out of their food. Grass and hay also Pellets and muesli are often lower in fibre than grass and high in protein and calories, so too many of these can upset the balance in the rabbit's gut. They also taste yummier than hay/grass and so rabbits will often fill up on these and not eat as much hay, which is bad for their gut and dental health.

So, as you reduce her muesli, you should see her start to eat more hay, which is great! She should be eating a pile about the same size as herself every day. This is also good because you can rest assured that if she refuses to eat her pellets she will at least be eating lots of hay.

I suggest that you start reducing her muesli slowly now, and you should find that she eats more of the different parts as you do. Whilst you are doing that, keep trying to offer the excel, but I'd also buy a small sample bag of this food and see if she likes that: http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/selective-rabbit.html Like you did with the excel, offer them as treats at first. If she likes them, I would continue to hand-feed them, increasing the amount of pellets you feed whilst decreasing the amount of muesli even further. You should be left with just pellets.

Fingers crossed she likes them! She should do, they are fenugreek flavour and bunnies love fenugreek. If not though, there are plenty of other foods she could try. A lot of bunnies like Pets at Home pellets, but I'd avoid them unless you're desperate because they are fairly low in fibre and they are also high in sugar.

LolaBunBun · Jun 3, 2013

nessar said:
You're feeding her too much muesli at the moment, I know the packet says that much, but she would be better off with less. As a guide it should be about a tablespoon per kg of her weight, which for the average rabbit works out as 2 tablespoons which is roughly an eggcup full. Obviously some rabbits need slightly more or less as all are individuals, but I would start with that and monitor her weight to make sure she isn't getting thin.

The reason rabbits should have less concentrate food is because their diet should be mostly hay -at least 80% of their diet should be hay. This is because the rabbit has evolved to eat a very high fibre and low calorie and low protein diet - grass! Their guts are perfectly designed for this and get every ounce of goodness out of their food. Grass and hay also Pellets and muesli are often lower in fibre than grass and high in protein and calories, so too many of these can upset the balance in the rabbit's gut. They also taste yummier than hay/grass and so rabbits will often fill up on these and not eat as much hay, which is bad for their gut and dental health.

So, as you reduce her muesli, you should see her start to eat more hay, which is great! She should be eating a pile about the same size as herself every day. This is also good because you can rest assured that if she refuses to eat her pellets she will at least be eating lots of hay.

I suggest that you start reducing her muesli slowly now, and you should find that she eats more of the different parts as you do. Whilst you are doing that, keep trying to offer the excel, but I'd also buy a small sample bag of this food and see if she likes that: http://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/selective-rabbit.html Like you did with the excel, offer them as treats at first. If she likes them, I would continue to hand-feed them, increasing the amount of pellets you feed whilst decreasing the amount of muesli even further. You should be left with just pellets.

Fingers crossed she likes them! She should do, they are fenugreek flavour and bunnies love fenugreek. If not though, there are plenty of other foods she could try. A lot of bunnies like Pets at Home pellets, but I'd avoid them unless you're desperate because they are fairly low in fibre and they are also high in sugar.

Thank you for this

Lola is my first rabbit and even though we've had her for a bit now, we're still learning. there are so many conflicting opinions on rabbits, it's been hard to find advice that isn't driven by money. i don't know why i didn't think of trying here earlier!!

Advice- Selective feeding

LolaBunBun

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Babsie

Wise Old Thumper

LolaBunBun

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nessar

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LolaBunBun

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