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Rabbit getting left out in a Trio - Food

Finn.The.Mini.Lop.Bun

Finn.The.Mini.Lop.Bun

Warren Scout
Hello -

Since becoming a trio with my other 2 rabbits - one of my rabbits, Myrtle, has not been eating as much as she should. She is more of a 'Follower' and defiantly on the lower end of the pecking order. However, she tends to sit back during feeding times and watch the other two eat. Then other days she will join the other 2 and eat her food. However, lately, she hasn't been eating anywhere near enough. Normally giving her her own bowl away from the other 2 has helped get her weight back up - however now even this isn't working. She will pick at her food and hardly touch it. Then she will try and pick things up off the floor, or eat cardboard instead. They have always been on Excel and liked it, and nothing has changed lately.

What makes things even harder is that she is extremely timid, and will not what humans within a meter of her. So you have to put the food down and move out of the way quickly otherwise she will just stay back. She has always been like this. Another thing is that she is a very slooooow eater. She like to take her time and take breaks - but the other 2 are pigs and will eat everything until its gone in one go. So I can't separate her for eating as she likes to eat in her own time. They have unlimited access to HayBox hay which they like, but I haven't see her eat much of that either. Putting food inside toys doesn't work as she is afraid of them.

She has been to the vets (as she regularly is to check her weight which is constantly up and down), but she appears healthy if not slightly underweight. She has some very small spurs but nothing that would effect her eating.

Its almost like she's just choosing not to eat as she's not 'sick', that I can see or that the vets can see. But she can become fairly skinny. Although she's happier in a trio - I don't think she's right for a trio. She tends to get left out.
 
Last edited:
Finn.The.Mini.Lop.Bun said:
Hello -

Since becoming a trio with my other 2 rabbits - one of my rabbits, Myrtle, has not been eating as much as she should. She is more of a 'Follower' and defiantly on the lower end of the pecking order. However, she tends to sit back during feeding times and watch the other two eat. Then other days she will join the other 2 and eat her food. However, lately, she hasn't been eating anywhere near enough. Normally giving her her own bowl away from the other 2 has helped get her weight back up - however now even this isn't working. She will pick at her food and hardly touch it. Then she will try and pick things up off the floor, or eat cardboard instead. They have always been on Excel and liked it, and nothing has changed lately.

What makes things even harder is that she is extremely timid, and will not what humans within a meter of her. So you have to put the food down and move out of the way quickly otherwise she will just stay back. She has always been like this. Another thing is that she is a very slooooow eater. She like to take her time and take breaks - but the other 2 are pigs and will eat everything until its gone in one go. So I can't separate her for eating as she likes to eat in her own time. They have unlimited access to HayBox hay which they like, but I haven't see her eat much of that either. Putting food inside toys doesn't work as she is afraid of them.

She has been to the vets (as she regularly is to check her weight which is constantly up and down), but she appears healthy if not slightly underweight. She has some very small spurs but nothing that would effect her eating.

Its almost like she's just choosing not to eat as she's not 'sick', that I can see or that the vets can see. But she can become fairly skinny. Although she's happier in a trio - I don't think she's right for a trio. She tends to get left out.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear Myrtle's struggling. Of course there could be an undiagnosed health issue causing her to have poor appetite but more likely is that as you say in your last sentence, trio life doesn't suit her. More obvious in groups is the "under bun" but they should feel comfortable enough to eat. I can only see 2 possible solutions sadly. One would be to split her for a few periods over the day to allow her to graze but I think that could upset the dynamic further. The second would be to take Myrtle out of the trio altogether. For me it would be useful to know f her weigh stabilises when she is more settled / out of the situation . How are they together outside of feeding times? They were quite a difficult bond weren't they? Has it improved over time?
 
Finn.The.Mini.Lop.Bun said:
Hello -

Since becoming a trio with my other 2 rabbits - one of my rabbits, Myrtle, has not been eating as much as she should. She is more of a 'Follower' and defiantly on the lower end of the pecking order. However, she tends to sit back during feeding times and watch the other two eat. Then other days she will join the other 2 and eat her food. However, lately, she hasn't been eating anywhere near enough. Normally giving her her own bowl away from the other 2 has helped get her weight back up - however now even this isn't working. She will pick at her food and hardly touch it. Then she will try and pick things up off the floor, or eat cardboard instead. They have always been on Excel and liked it, and nothing has changed lately.

What makes things even harder is that she is extremely timid, and will not what humans within a meter of her. So you have to put the food down and move out of the way quickly otherwise she will just stay back. She has always been like this. Another thing is that she is a very slooooow eater. She like to take her time and take breaks - but the other 2 are pigs and will eat everything until its gone in one go. So I can't separate her for eating as she likes to eat in her own time. They have unlimited access to HayBox hay which they like, but I haven't see her eat much of that either. Putting food inside toys doesn't work as she is afraid of them.

She has been to the vets (as she regularly is to check her weight which is constantly up and down), but she appears healthy if not slightly underweight. She has some very small spurs but nothing that would effect her eating.

Its almost like she's just choosing not to eat as she's not 'sick', that I can see or that the vets can see. But she can become fairly skinny. Although she's happier in a trio - I don't think she's right for a trio. She tends to get left out.
Click to expand...

Poor Myrtle :( I can understand that you don't think she's right for a trio as she gets left out, but what makes you say that she's happier in a trio? Are you comparing that with her being a single bunny or in a pair?
 
Finn.The.Mini.Lop.Bun said:
Hello -

Since becoming a trio with my other 2 rabbits - one of my rabbits, Myrtle, has not been eating as much as she should. She is more of a 'Follower' and defiantly on the lower end of the pecking order. However, she tends to sit back during feeding times and watch the other two eat. Then other days she will join the other 2 and eat her food. However, lately, she hasn't been eating anywhere near enough. Normally giving her her own bowl away from the other 2 has helped get her weight back up - however now even this isn't working. She will pick at her food and hardly touch it. Then she will try and pick things up off the floor, or eat cardboard instead. They have always been on Excel and liked it, and nothing has changed lately.

What makes things even harder is that she is extremely timid, and will not what humans within a meter of her. So you have to put the food down and move out of the way quickly otherwise she will just stay back. She has always been like this. Another thing is that she is a very slooooow eater. She like to take her time and take breaks - but the other 2 are pigs and will eat everything until its gone in one go. So I can't separate her for eating as she likes to eat in her own time. They have unlimited access to HayBox hay which they like, but I haven't see her eat much of that either. Putting food inside toys doesn't work as she is afraid of them.

She has been to the vets (as she regularly is to check her weight which is constantly up and down), but she appears healthy if not slightly underweight. She has some very small spurs but nothing that would effect her eating.

Its almost like she's just choosing not to eat as she's not 'sick', that I can see or that the vets can see. But she can become fairly skinny. Although she's happier in a trio - I don't think she's right for a trio. She tends to get left out.
Click to expand...
Not saying this is necessarily the case for Myrtle, but some bunnies will have difficulty eating even with tiny spurs. Sophie's previous friend, Tom, would have trouble eating even when most vets would say that the spurs couldn't be causing him any discomfort yet because they were so small, but a dental always solved his eating issues. Also, the vet won't be able to see all the molars while the bunny is conscious, so there might be bigger spurs at the back.
 
Omi said:
Poor Myrtle :( I can understand that you don't think she's right for a trio as she gets left out, but what makes you say that she's happier in a trio? Are you comparing that with her being a single bunny or in a pair?
Click to expand...

Obviously its hard to tell with Rabbits - however she enjoying grooming both and laying near each rabbit. She hates being alone. It could be that she preferred to be in a couple, however she has been fine up until this point. I haven't seen any bullying. Mylo her original partner sometimes tried to mount her but he did that anyway. maybe the odd small chase from summer but this isn't very often. Obvisuly I can't see what is happening at night - but when i have gotten up to check on them just randomly they have been calm.
 
a reader of books said:
Not saying this is necessarily the case for Myrtle, but some bunnies will have difficulty eating even with tiny spurs. Sophie's previous friend, Tom, would have trouble eating even when most vets would say that the spurs couldn't be causing him any discomfort yet because they were so small, but a dental always solved his eating issues. Also, the vet won't be able to see all the molars while the bunny is conscious, so there might be bigger spurs at the back.
Click to expand...

He checks the back teeth by taking her into surgery and putting something inside her mouth I believe. He says they are to small to shave down. I will go back and get he to check again, however I have seen her teaching with no food droppage.
 
joey&boo said:
I'm sorry to hear Myrtle's struggling. Of course there could be an undiagnosed health issue causing her to have poor appetite but more likely is that as you say in your last sentence, trio life doesn't suit her. More obvious in groups is the "under bun" but they should feel comfortable enough to eat. I can only see 2 possible solutions sadly. One would be to split her for a few periods over the day to allow her to graze but I think that could upset the dynamic further. The second would be to take Myrtle out of the trio altogether. For me it would be useful to know f her weigh stabilises when she is more settled / out of the situation . How are they together outside of feeding times? They were quite a difficult bond weren't they? Has it improved over time?
Click to expand...

She hasn't eaten at all this morning so I have kept one bowl back, should she want to eat later. I couldn't keep her separate all of the time as i do not have the space, especially now that I am working from home. But its like as you say - this would stress her out even more. I have tried it before at eating times and she just wants to get back to the others. So I am not quite sure what to do. I was wondering weather to have someone look after her for a week to see how she gets on. It would be a good way to tell if its the trio or not.
 
Rabbits do like their own close partner so maybe she isn't really happy with sharing. I wouldn't send her away for a week as it will be very unsettling and wouldn't prove anything. Do they all sit together?
 
tonibun said:
Rabbits do like their own close partner so maybe she isn't really happy with sharing. I wouldn't send her away for a week as it will be very unsettling and wouldn't prove anything. Do they all sit together?
Click to expand...


I would say it would be more nerves then dominance - myrtle has been the most lenient bun in the trio and is the one that tends to keep the peace. Summer is the dominant lady, and the friction was between Mylo and Summer - Myrtle was the easy one. I have allowed myrtle to have some time on her own by taking her out of the pen and just spending time on her own with a food bowl. Summer isn't to pleased with this and she wants to know what she isn't out, and has tried taking it out on Mylo with a bit of chasing. This has happened before - whenever i tell summer off she will take it out on Mylo, but she never bothers Myrtle, and this is fairly rare. Yes they do sit together - normally its in twos (with each other, all involved), but they all sit together and groom each other.
 
Finn.The.Mini.Lop.Bun said:
He checks the back teeth by taking her into surgery and putting something inside her mouth I believe. He says they are to small to shave down. I will go back and get he to check again, however I have seen her teaching with no food droppage.
Click to expand...

yeah, this is fairly standard. they use a scope which essentially lights up the mouth & allows them to look inside. that being said, a vet can never get a true idea of a rabbits teeth when they're conscious, moving around it can be difficult to get an accurate viewing. hence why its always much better if they're out (no chewing or wriggling), but ofc it is not practical to put a rabbit under to check their teeth every time

I can attest to what reader of books said - my bridge bunny Snoopy was terrible. his spurs were so tiny and should not have been causing a problem yet he refused to eat. he was needing a dental every 2-3 weeks as his teeth would get teeny spurs and he'd point blank refuse. some rabbits can be quite "dramatic" when it comes to dental spurs, honestly. Snoop wouldn't eat anything, hay, pellet, veggies. he'd starve himself :S

obviously trust your vet, but spurs may be contributing quite possibly if she's more of a dramatic rabbit
 
Update:

So I have had Myrtle away from the other 2 all morning. She eaten a bit of hay and some food.

I have noticed that she:

A: Like to eat in her own time
B: Take about 20 minute breaks in-between eating (and by that I mean several mouthfuls).
C: Takes her time.

The problem I have is being in a Trio and the other 2 are pigs, I am not sure how to balance this out. I could in the mornings keep her separate and then put them all together at lunch. But evenings (2nd feeding time) could be an issue as they are 50% free roam and once they are out - I can't them :lol:
Mornings is easy as they are already penned.

I suppose because she's not eating as much the other two follow me with the food bowl and not her, so i may have to pen the other 2 for an hour in the evening while she eats. I just don't want them penned while we wait all day for her to eat something.

I will get the vet to re access her spurs when I go in next.
 
Last edited:
binkyCodie said:
yeah, this is fairly standard. they use a scope which essentially lights up the mouth & allows them to look inside. that being said, a vet can never get a true idea of a rabbits teeth when they're conscious, moving around it can be difficult to get an accurate viewing. hence why its always much better if they're out (no chewing or wriggling), but ofc it is not practical to put a rabbit under to check their teeth every time

I can attest to what reader of books said - my bridge bunny Snoopy was terrible. his spurs were so tiny and should not have been causing a problem yet he refused to eat. he was needing a dental every 2-3 weeks as his teeth would get teeny spurs and he'd point blank refuse. some rabbits can be quite "dramatic" when it comes to dental spurs, honestly. Snoop wouldn't eat anything, hay, pellet, veggies. he'd starve himself :S

obviously trust your vet, but spurs may be contributing quite possibly if she's more of a dramatic rabbit
Click to expand...

Oh no i am sorry to hear that about your buns :(

I am going to go back and get them rechecked - we are checking them everything month anyway so i will update him on this situation.
 
Echoing what others have said, my vet sees rabbits with practically microscopic spurs who won't eat and some who'll still be pigging away with slight ulcers :roll: Mine are thankfully somewhere on the upper end of this (small static spurs). But yeah, even the most adept vet isn't going to be able to see the whle picture. Someone, can't remember who, had a finger examination of their bun's teeth wich is a, uhm, risky but effective alternative to scoping!

Both my girls buns have been more.... lax about food. But they soon learned to be pigs when Lopsy came into their lives :lol: Chibbs still isn't as food-oriented as Lopsy (or Aboleth), she'll eat kale before pellets when presented with both, the weirdo! But Myrtle does sound like she's much more reluctant to eat, maybe she's worried about the others shoving her out of the way (you'll have seen this in the other two?) or doesn't like the ruckus.
 
keletkezes said:
Echoing what others have said, my vet sees rabbits with practically microscopic spurs who won't eat and some who'll still be pigging away with slight ulcers :roll: Mine are thankfully somewhere on the upper end of this (small static spurs). But yeah, even the most adept vet isn't going to be able to see the whle picture. Someone, can't remember who, had a finger examination of their bun's teeth wich is a, uhm, risky but effective alternative to scoping!

Both my girls buns have been more.... lax about food. But they soon learned to be pigs when Lopsy came into their lives :lol: Chibbs still isn't as food-oriented as Lopsy (or Aboleth), she'll eat kale before pellets when presented with both, the weirdo! But Myrtle does sound like she's much more reluctant to eat, maybe she's worried about the others shoving her out of the way (you'll have seen this in the other two?) or doesn't like the ruckus.
Click to expand...

my vet had a rabbit who's bottom teeth grew out the other side of her jaw and her rabbit acted like nothing happened!! she was petting her rabbit one morning & felt something very odd on the underside of the jaw. checked. and it was teeth. rabbit never, ever, stopped eating or showed signs of pain or any indication of what went wrong.

meanwhile I was seeing her every 2-3 weeks, "yep. Snoopy is starving himself again. yep. microscopic spurs." :lol:
 
Finn.The.Mini.Lop.Bun said:
Update:

So I have had Myrtle away from the other 2 all morning. She eaten a bit of hay and some food.

I have noticed that she:

A: Like to eat in her own time
B: Take about 20 minute breaks in-between eating (and by that I mean several mouthfuls).
C: Takes her time.

The problem I have is being in a Trio and the other 2 are pigs, I am not sure how to balance this out. I could in the mornings keep her separate and then put them all together at lunch. But evenings (2nd feeding time) could be an issue as they are 50% free roam and once they are out - I can't them :lol:
Mornings is easy as they are already penned.

I suppose because she's not eating as much the other two follow me with the food bowl and not her, so i may have to pen the other 2 for an hour in the evening while she eats. I just don't want them penned while we wait all day for her to eat something.

I will get the vet to re access her spurs when I go in next.
Click to expand...

hmm yeah its quite difficult :( for Luna, I had to split her off from Orion for pellet & veggies as she ate much slower than he did. old age for her, honestly. that being said, we had very little issue with hay, just pellet & veg. that and Orion got fat from taking hers :lol: but she ate hay perfectly fine with him otherwise. granted, slower than Orion, but there was enough hay to go around / she was never put off by him eating also.
 
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