# Rabbit has stopped eating her pellets.



## Scotie (Aug 15, 2017)

My little rabbit Emily has stopped eating her pellets suddenly. She eats her hey and her treats but she lets her pellets sit in the bowl and turn to dirt. She also poops in them. Nothing has changed about the pellets, the only thing different in her diet is there was like three weeks where we were out of hey and mom couldn't stop to buy more on her way home. Is this something we should be worried about?


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## Blue eyes (Aug 15, 2017)

Suddenly going 3 weeks without hay could have caused major GI issues. You are very fortunate that she did not have a worse reaction from suddenly being deprived of hay. In the future, please keep in mind that hay is the _one_ thing that you never ever want to run out of. 

If you run out of pellets or treats, that won't matter. She can be fine as long as she has hay. Hay is the one thing to be extra sure that you always have plenty of. She really shouldn't go even half of a day without hay. She should eat her body size in hay every day.

Concerning her pellets, what kind is she getting? You mentioned that they are crumbling to dirt. That sounds like the pellets are sitting in a bowl for a very long time. If she doesn't eat her pellets for a few days or she is pooping in the bowl, then the bowl should be emptied and fresh pellets put in. Don't expect her to eat old or soiled pellets. You may want to try a bowl that attaches to the side of the cage. That should prevent her from pooping there. 

What treats are you offering and how many? Too many treats or the wrong kind could also prevent her from being interested in her pellets. 

If her treats are stopped altogether and the pellets are refreshed, that may be enough to get her to eat a few pellets. Remember, pellets are not the primary part of her diet. However, if she still refuses her pellets, another possible cause would be dental issues. She may be having a difficult time eating pellets because of some dental problem. But I'd first see if the other solutions get her eating pellets again. 

There was no mention of greens. How old is she? Does she get any greens? (don't know if she is too young for that)


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## Aki (Aug 15, 2017)

Yes, exactly, to all of the above. You don't run out of hay, that's just not something you can do. Think about it like running out of water for yourself during three weeks. The best way to avoid this is to buy a lot of it at the same time or to find an other way of getting hay. I order mine online, as I live in a small town where you can't find anything decent for pets. I order a LOT of it everytime, about 8 packages of 2,5 kilos and I order while I still have at least one and a half of them left to be sure the new hay will come before I run out. I have a cupboard dedicated to hay (no, seriously). 
To explain it simply, rabbits' stomach don't have muscles to efficiently push the waste toward the exit. That's why they constantly need to eat long fibers (hay) which do the pushing. You stop the pushing, the movement slows, you go towards stasis and then it stops and you've got a blockage. Then the rabbit dies. Hay is also the only thing which can wear your rabbit's teeth correctly. Those grow constantly, if they are not worn they will overgrow, bend out of shape and your rabbit won't be able to eat anymore.
What happened is that your rabbit's gut slowed. Eating her hay is the most important thing. It's good. Stop giving treats. If they are store bought, they probably are not good for her anyway. Also, pellets shouldn't be sitting in the rabbit's cage all day - I give pellets around 8h30 am, at 9h30 the bowl is out of the cage until the next morning and that's it. What is not eaten, be it hay, pellets or vegetables is thrown out. Rabbits don't eat old food, even if it's only been there for a day. Also pellets are NOT a staple food for rabbits, it's a complement. You don't mention vegetables either...
It sounds like you didn't receive much informations from where you bought your bunny (I'm gonna guess he's from a petshop...) and I think you should read up a bit about rabbit's diet. A correct diet is what will keep your rabbit in good health for many years so the best thing to do is to get the correct infos, a good brand of pellets, and once you know what to do it's easy to maintain. This website is very good and has all the basis about what to give and in which quantities: http://rabbit.org/category/care/diet/


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## Scotie (Aug 16, 2017)

I don't really know how old my rabbit is, we got her in June so only a few months.
I give both my bunnies about cup of pellets every morning, and normally they always have hay and a bowl of water in their cages and they get about two treats per day. 
I don't know what kind of pellets they are really, the bag says country lane 16% pellets. The treats vary but at the the moment they these little bake shop treat pretzel things. 
Thank you for all the information you're giving me, I really have no idea what I'm doing. They aren't really my rabbits, they're my brother's, but he won't take care of them.


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## Aki (Aug 16, 2017)

A cup of pellets is a lot too much (a baby eat more until around 5-6 months old as long as it doesn't hinder the hay consumption but an adult only eats about 2% of their weight in pellets, so about one or two tbspoon in most cases) and rabbits don't eat pretzel. Or baked goods. At all, ever. Rabbits are strict herbivors, which means they shoudn't be eating anything outside out grass (hay), herbs and vegetables (eventually the occasional piece fruit but that's really not necessary). No grains, no animal products, no salt, no sugar, no molasses... I'm sure the rabbits find those things tasty but they are no good for them (my dog would totally eat chocolate if you let him, he just doesn't know it could kill him ^^').
I think I remember reading another thread where you explained your situation. Read the articles from the diet section of the HRS which I linked - they are short and explain everything well. Those rabbits really need to eat hay first, a few pellets and to have vegetables carefully introduced (it's normally the second thing they should be eating, about 8% of their body weight each day).


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## Blue eyes (Aug 16, 2017)

Knowing a rabbit's age is really important for knowing what and how much to feed. From your past posts, it appears that your first rabbit is about 6 months of age (got her in March but had been weaned early). That is just about an adult. The 2nd rabbit looks like it is barely over 2 months (got her in June but her eyes were still closed). 

This means that both rabbits should be on different diets. 

The older one can be on an adult diet:
unlimited hay (not alfalfa)
greens (gradually introduced)
1/4 cup of pellets

The younger one should be on a juvenile diet:
unlimited hay (alfalfa is ok, or any other hay)
daily pellets
no greens yet if she hasn't had them before. Wait until she's 3 months of age before introducing greens. 

Their pellets can be different also. The pellets you have, are they plain or do they have colorful bits or seeds in them?
Take a click *here* to see a diet overview. You said you have no idea what you're doing, so that should help immensely.

There are also suggestions for healthy brands of pellets. The good brands will have a juvenile version and an adult version. 

Aki is correct. No "store bought" treats. They are just crap. The older one, once he's used to greens, can have small treats as suggested at the link. I wouldn't give the baby any treats. They can only mess with her GI system.


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## RavenousDragon (Aug 17, 2017)

:yeahthat:

The only minor disagreement I have is that the oxbow baked treats (which probably should be broken into 1/4 their actual size) are not that bad for rabbits (not required, but if you have to give a treat for enrichment- we hide ours around the apartment for the rabbits to find) they are the ones to choose.


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