Picky buck...

[Jessykah]

Mini rex buck... Has always eaten whatever brand of pellets I buy. I switched to a least expensive brand, from TSC.... Now he won't eat them, but devours the hay. I gave him a more expensive brand for a few days and he ate them all up. Then I switched him back to the cheap ones and he won't eat them again but loves his hay.
Everybunny else is fine with the cheaper pellets and are growing/nursing well with them. It's just him (and I am not wanting to part with him)....
So what would you do?
a) make him put up with it and just feed him lots of hay (I don't like this option)
b) switch everybunny to the more expensive pellets?
c) just have a separate bag of the pellets he likes on hand
d) give him more exercise so his appetite is increased so that he'll want to eat them

I guess c) would work the best, but that would mean driving 1/2 hour out of my way to get his pellets, and I am not sure it is worth it.
What do you think?

 

[akane]

Mini rex are known for being a little picky about pellets. Personally I just ignore them. I prefer they eat mostly hay anyway and they'll eat the pellets eventually or just give them a little less than unlimited hay and they'll eat them all i the couple hours they run out of hay. It helps prevent fat mini rex which is what you get when they really like the pellets. Hay is much healthier for them than pellets. They only need pellets to get the vitamins and minerals that are not in a dried item like hay. Some replace the pellets with fresh foods. We actually use either whole grains or a horse pellet because we don't need to spend money on the fiber in rabbit pellets when they are eating mostly hay and then we give them horse mineral blocks which they love.

 

[KatzNetherlands]

I am not a good one to ask... I would go with B or C. BUT, that being said, I have to drive an hour both ways(2 hours total) just to get food for them anyway....
My rabbits get a mix of Purina Show and Purina Professional... plus Black Oil Sunflower Seeds and Quaker Oats.... Unlimited Timothy Hay, Throw in treats(dried fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts), flavored blocks of wood chews, toys, etc.... So, buying an extra bag or 'special' food wouldn't be a big deal to me. But remember, I only have 9 rabbits, so I am not buying in huge bulk either(I buy food in 50lb bags - one of each and mix together)

 

[hoodat]

Rabbits are pretty good judges of feed quality. I had some of their regular pellets go stale and my rabbits just dug them out of the feeder and dumped them. I'd go back to what he will eat even if it does cost more. Wasted feed is even more expensive.

 

[fuzzy9]

Our main buck can be picky too, but he prefers the cheaper feed over the expensive pellets. He really LOVES his hay though, and will eat more hay than pellets. I keep a separate bag of feed for him in a separate tub, it's no biggy, and Dave can pick it up on his way home from work.

 

[JueLee]

You could try transitioning him slowly. Start with the expensive pellets and mix in just a little of the cheaper stuff. At each feeding thereafter, mix in just a little more of the cheaper pellets and a little less of the expensive stuff until he's eating all cheap pellets.

-- Jue

 

[akane]

That only works if the animal has a limit amount of food. Otherwise they'll just ignore the food they don't like as much in order to eat what they like better which could be a 100% diet of hay in this case. I found all but one of my MR do love their hay even over the brands of pellets they prefer. Given a new bale of clover hay they'll sometimes not eat grain, sunflower seeds, or pellets for days unless I let them run out of hay between feedings.

 

[Jessykah]

You could try transitioning him slowly. Start with the expensive pellets and mix in just a little of the cheaper stuff. At each feeding thereafter, mix in just a little more of the cheaper pellets and a little less of the expensive stuff until he's eating all cheap pellets.

-- Jue

I did try the transition slowly before, but it didn't work...
I only ever give him 1/2 cup of feed per day. I decided to just keep him on the cheap stuff. So some days he eats it all, and some days he doesn't eat much of it. I give him plenty of hay and he always cleans it up. He is still in great shape, coat and weight are great, so I guess I will continue like this for now...
Thanks for the advise all.