Baby bunny chewing but not eating hay

[littlesouthbridge]

Hi everyone, 

First post on the forum. I want to say you guys are awesome and very informative and I learned a lot from here.

So I got this cute little dwarf bunny from a friend. He’s a 9 week old male and I name him Kenny.

My current diet setup is the following:

• Free feed pellets(alfalfa based), which comes out to 2-3oz / day.
• Unlimited Timothy Hay.
• a small handful of alfalfa hay 2x a day.

I don’t want to free feed him alfalfa because I am afraid that he gets diarrhea (the last bunny I owned died from diarrhea the day after i fed her a bunch of nice quality alfalfa hay .

Anyway, I would say he’s showing more interest in the pellets than hay. Just one thing I notice is that sometimes he is tossing the hay around with his mouth and chewing it like he is eating it, but he is not eating any of it. He would chew on a stem for maybe 1-2 minute and toss it away. Is it normal for baby bunnies? Is the hay too tough for him to bite or he’s having teeth problems? He eats pellets with no problem and sometimes I saw him eating a pretty tough piece of hay no problem. 

Also, how can I get him to eat more hay? He seems to eat hay only when he has no pellets or bored.

I posted a YouTube video link just for you to see. (Not sure if it is allowed)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiVlBoEIZXc

Thank you!

[Sarita]

Usually diarrhea is due to coccidia not the hay. However, I would continue offering grass hay (timothy) – I also recommend you get him to a vet for a checkup and a fecal test to check for coccidia.

I think you just need to continue to offer the hay to get him used to trying it.

[Sarita]

Goodness he’s cute – I’m not sure I would say that the “hay eating” is not normal – give him some time it’s obvious he likes the taste.

[gingerg]

littlesouthbridge, I’ve got a pair of young lops and they always run for the pellets and fresh veggies first. They’ll usually eat 3/4 or all of their morning allotment before they nibble on the hay, so, usually I don’t think a preference for pellets/veggies so much of a problem if he does actually get to his hay after the other food. How is he pooping? Nice amount, fairly dry/fibrous?

[littlesouthbridge]

Posted By Sarita on 8/12/2014 8:23 PM

Goodness he’s cute – I’m not sure I would say that the “hay eating” is not normal – give him some time it’s obvious he likes the taste.

Thanks, I also should note that he’s at my place about 2 days.. so maybe he’s getting used to the new environment. I’ll keep an eye on him.

[littlesouthbridge]

Posted By gingerg on 8/12/2014 8:40 PM

littlesouthbridge, I’ve got a pair of young lops and they always run for the pellets and fresh veggies first. They’ll usually eat 3/4 or all of their morning allotment before they nibble on the hay, so, usually I don’t think a preference for pellets/veggies so much of a problem if he does actually get to his hay after the other food. How is he pooping? Nice amount, fairly dry/fibrous?

Thanks gingerg,

From his poops it seems he’s doing pretty fine.

[gingerg]

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell how much hay my little ones are eating because they throw it all around the cage. However, I figure that so long as they’re still pooping the same amount as usual and it’s nice and dry, they’re good to go. If your bun’s poops stay normal, I’d say keep watching him and offering the hay but don’t panic. The moment that the poops go off or my buns stop eating the other food is the moment I’d worry. I agree with Sarita — it looks like your little guy is trying to figure the hay thing out!

[Author]

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