Baby Bunny Won’t Eat Hay or Use Litter Box

[Hadley the Bunny <3]

 I have just gotten a bunny last night!! She is a 4 month old Netherland Dwarf bunny named Hadley and her coloring is called “Himalayan.” She is not spayed yet (she is only 4 months old).

The problem that I’m having is she won’t use her litter box. Normally, they would pick a corner and use it but she doesn’t. Whenever never she poops, I scoop it into her litter box. I noticed she peed in her litter box…. I’ve noticed wherever she eats is where she poops (which is normal). I have a hayrack next to her litter box which leads me to my next problem.

She won’t eat hay. We feed her Vitakraft Timothy Hay. I asked the breeder who had her before me if she ate hay, orchard grass, etc., if she ate hay when she was with her, and what brand she fed her, etc. She said she received her hay from a local farmer (but orchard grass was better for baby bunnies) and Hadley really didn’t eat hay or have a craving for it… I know hay is an essential part of the rabbit’s diet and I’m getting very worried. I’m going to give orchard grass a try but in the mean time, what are your suggestions? Am I feeding her the wrong brand? What are some tips to litter train bunnies?

 

[Brandi Lynn]

At 4 months, she really should be eating alfalfa hay, not timothy.
Also, does she eat anything at all? If she’s not eating anything, that is a medical emergency that needs attention asap.

[Valisa]

What else is a part of her diet? Because it may be that she is filling herself up on pellets or other foods. Also it could be because you just got her that she’s a too nervous/scared too want to eat. As with litterbox training, I wouldn’t expect her to have mastered it in a day or so. Some rabbits catch onto the idea immediately, while others take longer. Do you have bedding in your cage? This can confuse a rabbit, leading it believe the entire area is its litterbox. 

[manic_muncher]

I got my new bunny a week ago and I knew he was eating hay before I setup his new cage. I also put hay in the hayrack and he would not touch it. However, he WOULD eat hay off the floor. So after looking around, I found that a lot of people were recommending putting hay inside the litterpan to help with litterbox training. So to kill 2 birds with one stone, I put hay on one end of the box. It has worked for me, he munches happily while inside the box and pees and poops in the pan. He still poops outside of it, but I hope as he gets used to the idea more, he’ll make fewer messes.

Have you tried offering hay besides what is in the hayrack? I’d try that too.

[hannaroo]

Although alfalfa hay would be best at this age any hay will be better than no hay. I couldn’t access alfalfa hay in my area easily and put mine straight onto Timothy and never had any problems although their pellets did contain alfalfa.

Offer as many varieties as you can and maybe sprinkle some pellets amongst the hay to spark an interest in it and make toys by stuffing hay and pellets in a toilet roll tube so hay becomes more interesting.
Make sure your feeding the right amount of pellets for her weight as well as over feeding pellets can cause bunnies to shun hay.

Although technically baby rabbits should get unlimited pellets, some will scoff them all up and ignore hay so read the instructions on the packet if they recommend a certain amount and feed the recommendations until your bunny begins eating hay. Increase it again gradually as the rabbit starts eating a lot more hay

If your rabbit stops eating all together it’s vet time xxx

[Hadley the Bunny <3]

Yes, she is eating her pellets and veggies. Alfalfa hay? I’ll have to give it a try.

[Hadley the Bunny <3]

 She also eats pellets and veggies. No, I have don’t have bedding in my cage, I have a towel. I think you’re right about her filling up on other things, so do I pull back the amonunt? 

[hannaroo]

How much pellets and veggies are you giving her ATM and how much does she weigh?

[Hadley the Bunny <3]

 She started out with having it in her litterbox, but didn’t eat that either. And no, but I think I’m going to try alfalfa hay and orchard grass.

[Sarita]

Really you are better with orchard than alfalfa – she probably needs to transition at this point to a grassy hay moreso than the alfalfa. Try the orchard and perhaps a different brand of timothy. She needs to eat grass hay which alfalfa is not and get a taste for that.

[Hadley the Bunny <3]

SUCCESS! I got orchard grass and alfalfa hay both from the brand Ox Bow and she didn’t like the alfalfa but she ate the orchard grass! She has been munching away! Thanks for the suggestions!

[Amnestey]

Good! One note for the future, since your bun sounds picky. You found a type and brand of hay she likes, but being a picky rabbit, may reject other orchard grass brands. My rabbit Mouse had the same bag of orchard grass for a long time, the same stuff his foster mom was feeding him before I adopted, and once we ran out I bought a bag of orchard grass from petsmart and he wanted nothing to do with it. We were on bunny emergency watch for 2 days until I could go get more of the original grass from the rescue group.

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