This Is My Theory, Am I Right??

when animals are born they learn from their parents and other animals in their herd (what is a group of rabbits called?). There is an imprinting period where they learn survival behaviour, what to eat, and what is poisonous.

My reason for pondering this is because my rabbits came to me at six months old, they had never been outside, the had only been on news paper, they had never had hay or straw and had never eaten anything fresh.

Ive had them now for about three years, i fill their house up with hay and straw and they drag it outside and tread it into a big slushy mess, they use their house as a toilet and sleep outside next to it! (i have tried many houses than i care to mention, they've got a plastic 'mr snugs' one now, expensive toilet!). I pick fresh dandilion they turn their nose up. cauliflower, brocoli, cabbage is given regularly, just gets stomped on. they will eat the odd carrot.

Do you think that because they were never given these things when they were babies that they think they are not edible or are all rabbits this barmy.

i would love to know because obviously they should have these things in there diet. it must sound a bit cruel but sometimes i withdraw their dried food hoping hunger will take over, but sometimes i think they would rather starve than tuck into a big handful of fresh fruit and veg. they will eat the hay out of the manger if its all there is. just out of interest, they'll only drink out of one specific drinking bottle. maybe rabbits are just like this i don't know, maybe they're playing me like a fiddle.

please help

I don't know if this will help you but i have two rabbits, bugs a dwarf lop i've had from a baby, and joey a rex i recently got from a rescue.

Bugs is VERY fussy, she sleeps on top of her house and only goes in it to dig! She will only eat certain types of hay and is always changing her mind about what she wants. The only fresh veg/greens she will eat all the time is parsley.

However joey who got left at a rescue loves all his veg! He eats any type of hay i put in their cage and goes inside the house. Some rabbits are just fussy about how like things done and what they eat.

Hope this helps to know your not the only one with a fussy rabbit!

you could just feed hay and veg and cut out dry food altogether. I have fed my rabbits this diet and it's very good for them. The only reason i started them back on pellets was because it was cheaper.

I think it's true to a certain extent, but when I got my bunnies they were at least 18 months old. They had clearly never seen hay before (or were so stuffed on dried mix that they weren't interested), but changing their diets gradually meant that they started to appreciate hay - they eat stacks now.

have you tried switching to a more tasty hay? Excel superforage, timothy hay, oat hay, reddi grass and loads of others might appeal more than what they currently get - The hay experts and bunny basics do lots of different sorts (although you might have to cut down the pellets to encourage more hay and veg eating).

If they're not used to eating a particular type of veg you shouldn't give them more than a mouthful anyway, or they'll get wind.

If they have a dish of mix constantly full they probably prefer that - mine just get a handful of science selective pellets morning and evening - the rest of the time they eat hay, with a bit of veg at tea time.

Some hay is dire though - try shopping around if there are farm shops near you, or sometimes greengrocers or market stalls have nice hay.

i am in agreement with you on some of this

we got gus from a petshop when he was 6 months old. he'd never been outside and i suspect he didnt come from the best of backgrounds

he wouldnt eat hay, wasnt keen on most veg & even the basic things like washing himself seemed beyond him

we noticed the first change in him when he went to bunny camp at 10 months and he seemed to pick up some bunny habits - he started using both his paws to wash himself without falling over

since then, as we've got more rabbits he's picked up more an dmore bunny habits and he loves hay & veg

i dont really know what to suggest for you - for us, having Gus round other rabbits was easy as he's a single bun and you have 2 but i certainly find that he likes expensive hay a lot now - he still doesnt bother with cheaper stuff. try timothy hay or something with dried herbs in it. you could also try little herb pots from the supermarket. mine find the novelty of digging the herbs out a treat in itself. if they will eat hay when there is nothing else, then cutting back on the dried food isnt really too harsh.

It's the whole nature Vs nurture thing...

To some extent i think baby rabbits do learn a lot from between the ages of like 3 - 8 weeks (and beyond but possibly away from mother).

I think if different foods (very small amounts remembering their sensitive digestive system at this age) are introduced at an early age then they are much more likely to eat and accept them as adults.

However i do think a lot of it is just by nature and they know what is good and bad for them anyway. I guess some people might say that the domestic rabbit has lost this capability somewhat and so we need to sort of get them into good habbits young...