Not returning to cage to eat or drink

[mashpotato]

We've only had our british giant since tuesday so she's still settling in, but i don't think she eats or drinks enough. The breeder said he gave her a bowl of food in the morning and showed us how much, he gave us a weeks worth so we could gradually change brand if we wanted.

During the day we leave the downstairs open to her but after leaving her cage in the morning she only returns when i put her back in to do the school run. This morning i gave her her breakfast in the dining room as i knew she wouldn't go back, she tipped most of it out of the bowl and we gave her an apple later on. But not returning means she also isn't drinking, she doesn't wee anywhere in the day, only in the litter tray in the cage when she's put back.

Is this normal?
How often do you feed your rabbits

 

[louise1]

i feed honey a small bowl in the morning and at night before bed with a few bits of fruit/veg a few times a week. She always hops back into her cage to do the toilet etc

 

[Tamsin]

How far away is her cage from where she spends her time?

Is she eating/toileting/drinking as normal overnight?

 

[mashpotato]

her cage is just inside the kitchen and shes in the next room mostly hiding under the dining table.

She seems to toilet fine at night and last night ate most of a carrot/cereal rabbit block we gave her. She doesn't seem to eat all her dried food as she tips it out of the bowl.

She does odd poo's around the house in the day but maybe only 6 but doesn't wee anywhere.

 

[Tamsin]

It might just be routine then. Rabbits can often be quite inactive during the middle of the day, they'd naturally been resting in their warrens then, so getting up going to the loo and eating at night time can be quite a normal rabbit day plan.

Rabbits main diet should be hay as that's full of fibre for her guts and wears down the teeth. If it's not to messy some of this in a box under the table might encourage her to nibble during the day if she wants and of course plenty available at night.

Some rabbits are more comfortable with drinking from a bowl so you could leave one of those around outside her cage. If she has fresh foods like apple she'll also drink less water as she gets part of her water intake from the food.

What sort of floors do you have? Sometimes they can be more reluctant to move about if they are slippy eg laminate/lion. So a rug can help.

A treat ball might make food time more fun and encourage her to exercise. It might be the brand of pellets isn't that yummy. It's not a bad thing if she eats less pellets and more hay though.

If you worried, weigh her today and again in a week. She should have maintained the weight, of if she's still growing, gained.

I feed my outdoor bunnies once a day in the evening but my house rabbit has breakfast early, then sleeps most of the day then a supper in the evening. Small meals rather than lots at once.


Tamsin

 

[mashpotato]

thanks Tamsin

I'll try two smaller meals. I wanted to find a large box for her to hide in so when i've got one i'll put some hay in there.

she's just hopped back to her bed now, so maybe its a settling in thing, i've gave her a hand full of food as she'd tipped the rest out, so at least i've seen her eat something.

I'll do the weighing thing too

 

[Becky86]

Aww, bless her I think tasmin has covered it all I'd too put a box of hay under the table where she is, or maybe move her cage into the room which she prefers? I guess she feels more secure under the table at the minute, especially as its a new place for her

Maybe you should weigh the pellets so you know exactly how much shes eating? Ronnie is a giant and has around 80-100g a day

 

[tincan]

We've had our new bunny about 2 weeks now. He is an outside bun, but we saw the same thing with food to start with. I was so used to my other bunnies eating as much as possible as often as possible that I was quite surprised by him. To start with he didn't touch his pellets all day. I feed them pellets in the morning and veggies/herbs on an evening (hay available all day). When I came to give him his tea his pellets would still be there and he would eat all of it over night. He has just started eating properly during the day and is munching lustily like the others now.

So hang on in there, it is probably just a settling in thing.