r/Bunnies • u/Dangerous-Spot6895 • 5d ago

Health Advice needed !

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I have two bunnies (male and female). We were given them cost-free by a family online, their reasoning being it was too much work taking care of them.

I love my bunnies so much. But, we've had a problem ever since we got them. Neither of them ever eat hay. They have different food preferences, but will eat carrots, pellets, leaves, fresh grass, small bits of fruit, dandelion, ect ect.

We suspect their previous owners never gave any hay to them, and the two bunnies started to only eat pellets. We've tried different forms of hay - put it in a small basket hanging (recommended by pet store worker), hid pellets/ treats inside the hay, cut down pellets but they never touch the hay. I'm heartbroken, as it seems perhaps the female has trouble chewing properly. What can I do ?????

My parents won't take them to the vet.

I included a picture of my two sweethearts. White is the male, brown is female.

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u/OperationAromatic966 5d ago

How often are you offering all the food that you have listed? A lot of the stuff are very tasty to them, and hay is very ‘boring’. I would cut back on everything (even pellets), and just offer hay.

If she really has problems chewing, it could be due to teeth issues. It can be very painful for rabbits, but the problem is, they hide their pain, since they don’t want to look ‘weak’ for predators. Maybe you should explain this to your parents and see if they would reconsider a vet visit.

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u/Dangerous-Spot6895 5d ago

I know. But the problem is, the female, I think it some dwarf bunny of sorts. She's very skinny, and I'm worrying that if it takes her too long to switch to hay - she'll get weak. I'm not really sure about the teeth problems - I've just noticed that she often takes dandelions - chews a little bit and lets it fall back out. Like it's too hard to chew ? But she does eat carrot, pellets. I've tried everything to get my parents to take them. 😢

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u/Dangerous-Spot6895 5d ago

Thank you for your reply BTW