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Newly adopted bun- he’s used to eating a full bowl of nuggets. Advice please.

Hi there! Happy new year. It’s been quite a long time since I was on here, I haven’t had a bun for the past year or so. I decided to adopt a bun who needed rehoming. I collect him yesterday, he’s called smudge. I’ll try and add a pic, no idea of breed but he looks part mini lop. He’s used to eating a bowl full of nuggets( Russell rabbit) a day, apparently grazes on them all day. Has hay but apparently doesn’t like it, he has veg. I have no idea on how to get him eating hay, do I gradually just reduce his nuggets? Picture below, he’s living in my conservatory, I’m leaving him alone too settle in.Thanks in advance for your help x
 
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He is gorgeous :love: I would take him to the vets to get his teeth checked out, as if he’s not eating hay that could be because he needs a dental, or it could cause him to need a dental as they aren’t wearing down enough. Is he fully vaccinated?

I would gradually reduce his nuggets, until he is on an egg cup sized amount daily at most, and try him on different hays to find one he hopefully likes. Timothy hay from Timothy hay.co.uk always seems to go down well, and they will send samples out too. You can buy a sample pack from the hay experts too.
 
I forgot to add, he’s 6 moths old today apparently. Aww thank you, he is pretty cute! He’s not vaccinated, no. I will be getting him vaccinated next week, and neutered next month. They can check his teeth as well. I’ve given him some dandelion hay, hopefully he’ll try it. I’ll try gradually reducing his nuggets. I’ve never seen a nugget bowl as full as his if I’m honest x
 
Hi and welcome back. Good on you for taking this bunny under your wing! The previous owners obviously didn't realise they were feeding him too many pellets but now you can get him sorted out. It might take a while before he starts eating hay as he is just used to "grazing" on pellets but as said before, if you gradually reduce the pellets there will come a time when he starts tucking into his hay. Do you have any idea as to how old he is? Is he neutered?
 
Aww Smudge is very cute.

I agree with Zoobec that he may have a problem with his teeth so it would be good to get them checked out by the vet. I think it would also be worth getting the vet to check the very back teeth while he's under for the neuter as they're very difficult to check through a conscious examination.

It can be difficult to get a bun into good hay eating habits when they're used to pigging out on pellet feed all the time. Gradually reducing the pellets should help. But I also think getting them to like hay is the key. Once his teeth have been checked and any issues have been sorted, it would be a good idea to get as many different samples of hay as you can for him to try and you should hopefully find one he likes.

As Zoobec mentions, timothyhay.co.uk do very popular hays. They have the Timothy, orchard grass and green oat.

The ings hay from hayandstraw.co.uk is also very popular. Nature's Own do a sweet green hay. It's quite short strands which could help him "ease" his way into eating hay. Likewise readigrass should be easier for him to manage.

Another thing you try is grating his veg and mixing it in with his hay. Grating it should make it harder to pick out the veg, so if he wants the veg he'll have eat the hay too. That should start getting him into the habit of eating hay.

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He is very handsome.
Are his nuggets timothy or alfalfa based?
While there is no denying hay is good for dental and gi reasons, nuggets made with timothy are better for most adult bunnies.
He is undergoing a lot of changes with a new family, home, neuter, and vaccinations. Dietary changes should be slow to minimize stress.
Sending you and your handsome boy positive thoughts for many, many years of happy togetherness
 
My boy also doesn’t like Hay and that’s a great tip about grating his veg and putting them through the hay. Worth a try!
 
I agree with several others here. Have his teeth looked at. You could try the hay bale nuggets to get him interested in hay to begin with. Rosewood calls theirs Meadow Hay Cookies. I would also recommend trying different hay. Rabbits are like humans they all have different tastes. My rabbits never liked Oxbow hay for example but they loved the Chamomile Hay from pets at home. Since he is so young you can still get away with giving him some Alfapha Hay as a treat. Longterm though the Alpha is not good as it's high in Calcium. Try putting some of his food mixed in the grass. Nottcotts has good meadow hay. Good Luck!
 
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