Gizmo's diet!

My new little grandbun has never had much of an appetite. He is on a rabbit mix but eats very little. I tried mixing some exell in with it and I think he has a bit but not much. He has only started having unlimited hay since being with me for the last month and doesnt seem to eat much of it. His poops are quite small but then he is no bigger than Nethie!
Any suggestions as to what I can try him on? :?

Hi Sarah.
Does Gizmo eat any Veg?
What about 'natural food' ie grass/dandelion leaves etc?
If you can get his guts a bit more active maybe his appetite will perk up.
Also has he had his teeth checked as if he has never been a good hay eater he may have molar spurs even if he is a young Bun.
If he were mine I would get his teeth checked by your Vet (along with the rest of him!!). If all is OK I would just try to tempt him to eat some Veg/grass and allow him lots of exercise as moving his body about will get his tum working better too!!
Hope Grand-Bun Gizmo gets eating more soon

Janex

Parsley is great for getting an appetitie going if you've had him checked by the vet and teeth etc are ok.

yes you could have his teeth checked.

On the other hand, Tia, my nethie didn't eat much - Angie who I adopted her from said she'd never eaten much - and when I got her she went off her food for a few days due to stress. Angie fed her a mix, but I didn't have any when I adopted her - so I had to put her straight onto Science Selective, which is what I feed my bunnies. I just gave her a few pellets - even now she only has a desertspoon level of pellets, not much at all.

She soon decided she loved them, and is very enthusiastic about food now! (she's the only one that bites at mealtimes, with impatience!) I only gave her a tiny bit of veg when I first got her - she'd only eat dandelions in fact - But now she even eats a bit of brocolli! I don't give her as much as the bigger bunnies though.

The other thing I had to do to make her eat hay was keep her shut in her crate for an hour after putting in fresh hay for her litter tray - otherwise she'd just spend the day out of her crate and eat nothing, which in turn would reduce her appetite further - she would eat the hay if shut in, just from boredom I think. Anyway she loves the stuff now - her poops are small but so is she - she seems to do twice as many

Well. thats what I was wondering about - size of poops matching size of bun? Giz will only eat cauli and romaine lettuce in the way of veg but he does LOVE dandelion leaves so praps I'll give him a few of those a bit more often He is in a run ( albeit a small one) all day - much more space than he was used to :roll: When ww bond him and Moll tog (hopsfully) they will have a des res like the others
Will check tom if his teeth were checked when he was neutered 2 weeks ago - if not, Ill get them checked I havent any parsley growing yet (just planted the seed) but will get him some if all else fails. Thanks guys, for the advice

In my experience I would say buns more keenly eat grass than hay, for some reason. Don't know what it is, the fresh smell I guess.

Thats a key, make sure its cut and presented fresh, you can wash it I guess, just make sure its not come into contact with any chemical or treatment, or anything else that could cause problems (e.g. animal faeces).

Ours is 100% fresh natural, untreated (and daresay uncut!) grasses from our garden.
I haven't seen a bunny that we have had,
of our existing 2 plus new family member, plus rescue bunnies we recently had, not eat grasses. They love it. A staple diet for them and probably one of the best for them.
Dandies are popular too but apparently shouldnt be overfed, for some reason or other.

my nethie speckle doesn't eat much but pellets

she is blind so i dont know if its to do with that. if i poke hay or parsley under her nose she will take it, but if its just laying in her cage she wont try and get any. i have never seen her eat any grass or hay or veg on her own.

maybe i should take away the pellets and see what happens???

Have you tried hand feeding hay/grass, coaxing to some degree? What about perhaps sweetening it up or introducing it with other foods to make it associated as a more interesting combination ?

I think weve turned a corner - Giz seems to now like hay!!! :roll: So now Im not so worried if he doesnt eat very much of anything else

PS Shouldve realised, the reverse phychology approach usually works with men :roll: :wink:

Thanks very much for all your help and suggestions