Rabbits stopped eating pellets

:wave: Apologies if this is in the wrong section:

I usually give Oreo and Geoffrey around 2 egg cup fulls of pellets between them both split over breakfast and tea time. The pair of them are usually waiting by their food bowls but the past few days they haven't done this and when I've dished out the pellets, Oreo kind of dips in out of eating them but Geoffrey just doesn't eat them at all.

I give them their usual veg as well (broccoli, little gem lettuce, cauliflower) and, of course, an unlimited amount of hay.
The pair of them still eat the veg and hay and some little treats, they're just not bothered by the pellets. I've given them both, Geoffrey in particular, some crunchy treats just to see if he's having trouble chomping but he seems fine with those. They both appear to be toileting as normal.

I've just bought some fresh hay from timothyhay.co.uk (I usually buy Wilko's timothy hay) and I'm wondering if because of the better quality of hay they're feeling satiated enough with that?

I'm going to ring the vet shortly for advice, but was wondering if anyone else has experienced the same.

Many thanks in advance

Have you started a new bag? Sometimes I find companies randomly change the formula and it takes them a few days to get used to the new taste.

No, it's not a new bag - they're about half way through one bag :?

what pellets is it they have if you don't mind me asking?

hmm might also be wise to try and cut down the amount of veg slightly... if they are eating plenty of hay xxx

I would halve the amount of veg but it might not be that. Hope they return to normal soon.

Ruthyjones89 said:

what pellets is it they have if you don't mind me asking?

hmm might also be wise to try and cut down the amount of veg slightly... if they are eating plenty of hay xxx

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They're Asda Nuggets.

I'll try them with less veg and see if that will sort them out, but I'll still 'phone the vet for advice aswell.

Thank you for your help ladies xxx

I personally would get their teeth checked as one of my bunnies, in the past, stopped eating pellets and had the beginning of an abscess.

She was still eating everything else just fine.

*lily* said:

I personally would get their teeth checked as one of my bunnies, in the past, stopped eating pellets and had the beginning of an abscess.

She was still eating everything else just fine.

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My suggestion too.

Often they'll stop eating harder foods such as pellets when there is dental/jaw pain.

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I've phoned the vets and the lady on reception didn't seem overly concerned about them going off the pellets but she's going to get the vet that specialises in rabbits to call me back today with more in depth advice.
I'll try and get them both in for a check up anyway just to err on the side of caution. If something was 'wrong' I'd rather it be caught now than later.

Is it a new bag of pellets, or could they have got contaminated with anything? It seems odd both of them have gone off them :?

The bag of pellets is only about half full.

I know, it is strange which is why I thought it might be something to do with the hay - they're eating that like it's going out of fashion which is something they don't normally do.

I agree with the others:
- get their teeth checked (properly, with an otoscope to see the back ones)
- try a brand new bag of the same pellets - the open bag may have something wrong / different about it.

As long as they are eating everything else and other hard treats, poo is OK, etc - I would be less worried. Get them weighed and teeth checked just in case, and monitor all input and output. Hay eating is good and the veg is OK, so just keep going. They don't actually need the pellets, but suddenly not eating them indicates that something isn't right somewhere - good on you for spotting it and acting on it quickly.

I've just had a call back from the vet, who has mentioned she has rabbits herself, and she's said not to worry at the moment. As long as they're eating the hay/veg, drinking and toileting as normal then they're fine. She did say if there's any other problems though, or if anything else changes with them to give her a call back.

For now, I'll take her word that my two are alright and it is down to them preferring the new hay and filling their bellies on that but I will carry on keeping an eye on them. I'll give them a check over tonight as well to see if they feel underweight/butt check/ear check/mouth check.

Thank you very much everyone for your replies and advice, I'm very grateful