🐰will not eat hay, but she is not in pain, she binkies and flops.

[Emelia7124]

My rabbit will not eat hay.

I think it’s because she swallowed some of her fur, she was always quite a difficult rabbit. She’s impossible to brush and cut fur. Today took me and my dad to hold her down just to cut her fur a little.

She eats pellets, and just now I fed fer some carrots. She eats them just fine.

She always gets excited to eat hay, but for a week she ate and pooped really less. About maybe 50 a day.

Sometimes if I practically slap her face with a handful of hay she might munch one in anger,  but that’s it.

What should I do? Should I feed her some papaya? If she’s not in pain, then she’s probably fine, right? She’s active.

[Bam]

You can feed a tiny bit of papaya, that won’t harm. Is this refusal to eat hay a new thing with her? Have you changed hay recently (bought a new bag)? Hay is a variable food type, palatability depends on many things such as when in the season the hay was harvested. Rabbits can be quite particular about what hay they like.

If you cut back on the carrot, will that make her eat more hay? Do not withold all food, that can cause a bun to lose its appetite completely before it becomes hungry enough to try the hay, but you can reduce the other food types a  little bit for a few days and see if that makes her eat the hay.

Is your bun molting currently? Many buns get a bit of stomach upset when they molt, and they can also become more grumpy. How old is your bun?

[tobyluv]

Sometimes, when a rabbit is not eating a certain food, it could be due to having problems with their teeth.  It can be easier to eat some foods than other foods.  If she continues to refuse the hay, or doesn’t want any other food she normally eats,  you may want to have her teeth looked at by the vet.  Carrots are high in sugar and should only be given in very small amounts, as a treat.  Carrot tops are great for rabbits, though, if you can find some good fresh ones. There are a couple of lists here of good greens and veggies for rabbits, under the Rabbit Info tab.  Go slowly if she isn’t used to eating a variety of greens, but greens would be a lot better for her than the carrots.

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