Hello,
I have a 23 week old bunny named Fiona. She is a Dutch bunny and a rescue. She had malocclusion and teeth problems but had surgery to file down her molars and she got her front teeth trimmed and three molars on the lower left size pulled. She still has teeth on top and bottom both sides, just less on the bottom left of her mouth. Vet just cleared her a few days ago for hay, and I was thrilled- but she doesn’t eat it. She licks it up, waves it around, and then proceeds to ignore it except as bedding. I tried different brands, different types, and then I realized- it’s not just hay. Gave her an apple slice and she sucks at it. Gave her lettuce and carrots and herbs and she picks it up, sort of gums at it, and then it drops from her mouth. The only way to get her to eat lettuce and carrots is to chop it up so tiny so that she can pick it up, gum it, and kinda just swallow, which I’m sure isn’t great for her either. I need to get her chewing on something and need her chewing hay so her teeth don’t regrow and I’m at a loss. She chews nothing, and she is such a great bunny and so smart and curious but can’t seem to figure out how to chew. She is currently eating pellet food and critical care, and some of the apple or banana that I mush, or tiny shavings of carrots I prepare for her. She is clearly interested in the hay and smells it but she gets frustrated when I try to put it in her mouth to have her eat it, as was suggested by the vet- and she won’t pick it up on her own. A piece of apple, as I’m typing this, fell out of her mouth (the size of a pinky nail) and she picked it up and ‘chewed’ it again only to have it fall out of her mouth again. She’s relying purely on gumming food, and sort of shaving at it I guess. Please help.

Summary: have tried every hay and chew toy I can find, she just had surgery and fixed teeth, how can I get her to chew and eat hay??