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My Rabbit Won’t Eat A New Food. Help!

Rabbit Won't Eat New Food

Small pets benefit from variety in their diet, so it can be tough when your rabbit won't eat a new food. Introducing anything new can be tricky. "Try it, you'll like it!" Yeah... that rarely works with little kids, much less with little critters. (Rabbits can be so darn picky.)

Small animals aren’t big on adventure... we get that. The world is a big place, and they're tiny; they worry. And they're super cautious about what they eat, since anything they swallow has to go through the whole system and come out the other end. We don't blame them one bit. 

Small animals lack a gag reflex. Food only goes one way, even if it upsets their tummies. This means any new food or snack or supplement has to be introduced patiently.

Convincing Your Rabbit To Try Something New

Start out by giving them a tablespoon per day of the new stuff. Likely, your rabbit won't eat a new food excitedly right away. They'll probably be hesitant or totally uninterested the first few days, but don't get discouraged. It's common. Avoid putting their new snacks or supplements on top of greens, pellets, or mixing in to hay at first... we don't want them to stop eating the things they already trust because new food is all over it.

Make A Fuss About The New Stuff

Tell your rabbit how good it is. Seriously, tell them out loud. You might not want to sample it yourself... but we absolutely wouldn't judge you if you did. Give the experience a catchword or phrase, and repeat that each time: “Do you want yummies?” Do a little snack dance (and be sure to put it on YouTube!). 

Your rabbit will get the idea, work up their confidence, and soon, they’ll try it. And then? There's no looking back. They will scurry up to you when they hear the bag, and look forward to their herbs and flowers with great anticipation. Trust us. There will be leaping and begging and zooming.... maybe even some happy squeaking or chattering.

rabbit jumping

We encourage you to keep up the snack dancing, though, just because it's great to think of everyone out there dancing around with bags of herbs. 
(If it makes you less embarrassed, we do the snack dance on the daily. No shame in our game.)

Hint: once your rabbits have fallen in love with the new food, use it to encourage foraging activity - hide some around their play area so they can find it.  They'll be delighted when come across the tasty hidden treasure!

small pet select herbal sampler

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