Stewie seems a bit off food

This is odd, cos I've not seen it before, but Stewie seems a bit reluctant to eat his meals at his set times. Normally in the morning, he'll bound in and get stuck straight in. The past few days he bounds in, looks at the food, has a nibble, then does the bunny 500, comes back has a nibble, then leaves it for a while. After he's been to the loo, he'll eat a bit more, and then about 1/2 an hour later, he'll finish it.
He is absolutely fit and bursting with energy, as usual, but just has this reticence to meal times.

He went for his Myxo jab yesterday and had a full check, and the vet spent a long time on his tummy and said there was nothing, it all felt very good and he was in no pain at all there. He's still eating plenty of hay and everything he normally does.

Things that have changed recently: I changed his pellets from SS to Burgess light over the last 2 weeks, he has no problem with the new ones, and was on Burgess when he came to us. He's been eating a bit of carpet and armchair recently, and he's been eating a lot of grass and wild forage too. I've cut back on the grass etc for now, just to see if that's causing it, but it's made no difference.

He had 3 of us at home for 2 weeks, all day, now we're back to work routine, and this does affect him, I saw it after the Christmas break, he gets quite grumpy .

I could easily be reading too much into this, because he does actually eat it all, just not with the gusto he always does.

Any thoughts?

Hmm,
I have found quite often that single buns do do this, maybe he just feels comfortable enough to leave his food and then come back and get some more? I remember when Peanut and Jelly were single buns and they would eat like that, and then as soon as they were bonded they became little guzzlers.

or he is punishing you for leaving him

Daisy does this Jay as you know, but then he is an odd'un.

I find any change in routine does affect him though, and it takes him a little while to get back into the swing of things again. Perhaps thats it?

Could he have any teeth issues going on? Im sure the vet would have checked these anyway.

Hope he is okay.

Kx

PS. Love the way you mention he is eating plenty of carpet and sofa, like this is part of his diet.....pmsl

I was gonna say 'He's doing a Daisy' but it's not quite that severe....
Yeah, he's deffo not happy about us going back to work, although he only ever spends max 2 hours on his own, as I'm in & out all day.

I don't think it's his teeth, because he is eating everything, just over a longer period.

Thanks for replies so far

Jelly sometimes has phases where if shes in a mood she wont eat. and its not stasis, shes just being moody. and then shes normal again.

how do these buns have such a hold over us?

Do you think his Myxo jab yesterday has upset him I know with a few of our's they don't don't seem to eat much at after their jabs and are a little off.

Hope Stewie is not poorly and just having an off day xxxx

When Luna was super moody a couple of days ago she was not really interested in eating hay...would eat like two bits and then wander off...but was still very energetic ...she just seemed a bit fed up of everything..is back to normal now though. Perhaps it does just go hand in hand with being a bit of a grump

First thought is teeth, as always. Second, has there been a change in temperature in the house with the good weather? Mine tend to nibble when the ambient temperature increases rather than gobble.

I do think its more likely that it's a grump, but as we haven't had a grump before, I thought it best to check

Tuckerbunnies wrote:Do you think his Myxo jab yesterday has upset him I know with a few of our's they don't don't seem to eat much at after their jabs and are a little off.

Normally I'd think this, but the jab was yesterday, and this grump thing has been going on for 3 days now - sorry, I should have made that clearer, but thank-you

Sooz wrote:First thought is teeth, as always. Second, has there been a change in temperature in the house with the good weather? Mine tend to nibble when the ambient temperature increases rather than gobble.

Yeah I did think teeth, but would that mean there'd be certain things he wouldn't eat? I've not had any dental issues, so wouldn't know how that starts. He certainly isn't showing any signs of pain, and is eating everything he normally would, but just not as quickly.

He's outdoors most days, and the temperature has been fluctuating. I've just brought him some grass, dande's & plaintain & he gobbled them down - is it possible that he just prefers wild food, and is not so happy with veg now that he's got used to it? (the wild food)

I found my bunnies go through *hunger phases* Missy and Timmy were the worst, but I find it happens with the in door bunnies too. There are weeks where they scoff the lot as fast as possible, and the the next few weeks they arn't too bothered, then they go back to scoffing, I often reduce their food slightly if they don't scoff it, when they do start scoffing, I increase it back up. I've quit worrying about eating habbits unless they refuse to take the first bite, thats the que that something is up for my lot.

Marshall has done this recently too, used to guzzle his pellets then started eating a few and then coming to watch me and eating the rest later. He may just feel comfortable that no one is going to steal his food, or as others have said hes having a bunny strop. Im sure as hes still eating/drinking/toileting and happy in himself nothing is wrong and you should probably just keep an eye on him to make sure he is still finishing everything, no matter how long it takes.

Are some of the pellets being left half eaten? Like bitten in half or in pieces?

Thumper never eats her food all in one go. I think she likes to keep some for later in case she gets peckish!

Could this be spring making him feel 'different'?

I think it does some funny things to Thumper. She's always a bit strange at the start of spring.

How is he today? Is he still doing the same??

He's back to normal this morning...but I just ave this strange feeling that we're not out of the woods yet. Yesterday he was making some odd movements, really skittish, as if he could see something that was frightening him, and he was shaking his head a fair bit

Have you checked his ears in case he could have got mites? It has been so warm recently.

Yeah i did check them this morning, got a halogen in them, and sniffed them to see if there was infection, but couldn't see/smell anything. I'm gonna monitor him over the next few days, if we have a repeat of this, I'll prob take him to John. Thanks

How is he today Jay? If it is any consolation, Mr Snuffles doesn't eat at set times either and never has, he eats a little and then keeps going back.

Please let us know how he gets on.

Hugs

Jo xx

Thanks Jo, he's been fine since Friday, back to normal self. I found a patch of carpet missing in the office, hidden behind a chair, and suspect that he's digested some of it..

I am so glad he is better Jay and you are very welcome, I love to hear about friends' bunnies. He is a naughty boy; Mr Snuffles devastated a few carpets when he was younger so now we have vinyl, which I don't think is as cosy, but I would rather have bunnies than carpets.

Do you think that is why he was off his food, or had he chewed the carpet since feeling better?

Hugs

Jo xx

Glad to hear Stewie is feeling much better