Baby diet

katkot1 · Nov 4, 2016

Hello everyone,

Could you please advise? My little mini lop boy is 10 weeks old and doing great, the only one thing that worries me is that he doesn't seem to eat much hay? how much is enough for a little one like him? He gets a handfull of pellets in the evening, eats them all, he drinks plenty of water, just doesn't seem to eat as much hay as I expected him to eat

We have tried two different ones: dandelion hay and hay with merigolds but he will only eat maybe a small bowl worth of it? Yesterday I got him some "snacky" hay from Wilko (pic1) and gave him a bit and he ate it within seconds, I then tried mixing it with his regular hay but he only ate "good stuff" and left his regular hay, cheeky rascal

he also gets 3 pieces of his carrot snack (pic2) a day and loves it.
I guess I am just worried he is not eating enough?

Thank you for taking your time to read my mini essay x

Katy

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Omi · Nov 4, 2016

A rabbit should ideally have an amount of hay as large as itself per day, less obviously if the rabbit is eating grass or Readigrass.

Where are you making the hay available for your boy? Rabbits generally like to nibble hay whilst using their litter tray. This can be used within the litter tray and/or within a hay basket which can be reached from the litter tray. It can also be stuffed into things like cardboard loo rolls.

Rabbits are generally quite fussy about their hay and it is certainly not unusual for them to prefer one type or several types over others. The trick is finding which hay this is

I personally don't give any treats to my rabbits, other than forage, herbs, tree leaves and bark to nibble. The carrot treats you are feeding are healthier than some, but will still be filling the rabbit up and so possibly making him less keen on eating his hay.

I'm sure you're well aware of the impoortance of hay for both healthy teeth and healthy digestion. Hay should form around 85-90% of the adult rabbit's diet.

katkot1 · Nov 4, 2016

Omi said:
A rabbit should ideally have an amount of hay as large as itself per day, less obviously if the rabbit is eating grass or Readigrass.

Where are you making the hay available for your boy? Rabbits generally like to nibble hay whilst using their litter tray. This can be used within the litter tray and/or within a hay basket which can be reached from the litter tray. It can also be stuffed into things like cardboard loo rolls.

Rabbits are generally quite fussy about their hay and it is certainly not unusual for them to prefer one type or several types over others. The trick is finding which hay this is

I personally don't give any treats to my rabbits, other than forage, herbs, tree leaves and bark to nibble. The carrot treats you are feeding are healthier than some, but will still be filling the rabbit up and so possibly making him less keen on eating his hay.

I'm sure you're well aware of the impoortance of hay for both healthy teeth and healthy digestion. Hay should form around 85-90% of the adult rabbit's diet.

Omi thank you for your reply! So after I posted this guess what...he has eaten all his hay lol typical

He has got a hay rack just where his litter tray is, and also hay in his litter tray (I put the old hay that he has not eaten in his litter tray), and a bit of hay in the plastic bowl)

Regarding carrot treats, I know it is not ideal but we just use them as a treat when he comes to us), he only gets 2-3 little pieces a day and its only temporary - till he gets to eat veggies and fruit but we are still waiting as tried a bit of carrot greens but he had a runny poo so I think it is a bit too early

have a nice evening

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MightyMax · Nov 5, 2016

katkot1 said:
Hello everyone,

Could you please advise? My little mini lop boy is 10 weeks old and doing great, the only one thing that worries me is that he doesn't seem to eat much hay? how much is enough for a little one like him? He gets a handfull of pellets in the evening, eats them all, he drinks plenty of water, just doesn't seem to eat as much hay as I expected him to eat We have tried two different ones: dandelion hay and hay with merigolds but he will only eat maybe a small bowl worth of it? Yesterday I got him some "snacky" hay from Wilko (pic1) and gave him a bit and he ate it within seconds, I then tried mixing it with his regular hay but he only ate "good stuff" and left his regular hay, cheeky rascal he also gets 3 pieces of his carrot snack (pic2) a day and loves it.
I guess I am just worried he is not eating enough?

Thank you for taking your time to read my mini essay x

Katy

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi there!

I am pleased to read from your latest post that he's eaten up his hay

Rabbits often like readigrass too - and for baby rabbits this is good for teeth and digestion - perhaps you could get a bag if you haven't tried it yet?

You could also - when you take him for his vaccinations if you haven't already - get the vet to have a good look at the teeth. It's unlikely, but not impossible, that there may be some reason preventing hay eating and it's good to know now. You can also sound the vet out about neutering at the same time

Sorry if I'm telling you stuff you already know, or already done

mariposa · Nov 5, 2016

Glad he's eaten his hay

As MM says, a teeth check is a good idea when he has his vaccinations. Just wanted to highlight that the first vets we took our little guy to "checked his teeth" by looking at the front ones only and pulling his lips into a smile. It was only when I went to a more rabbit savvy vet that I realised they could check some of the back teeth with an otoscope too. Sorry if you already know this

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