Doesn’t eat when im not home

[Cadbury ♡]

I’ve noticed that my little girl doesn’t eat or drink when I’m not home. Ill give her tons of hay, fresh water and sometimes even pellets and she won’t touch them till I get home. Then she pigs out. I’ve also noticed she doesn’t sleep much unless I’m laying down aswell. I gotta wake up at 6am usually, so around noon or later I nap. And if I’m watching TV or sitting up, she’s sitting up, but once I lay down (I still leave the TV on and everything as if I was sitting up still) but the moment I lay down, she does too and falls right asleep. And just does not sleep unless i am laying down aswell. Im with her all day and watch her closely so i know how she acts most days.I’m worried this behavior might be because she’s afraid, or when we leave she’s worried we might not come back. But in general shes a happy bunny. She binkies tons, flops quite a bit too. Which is why i find this so strange. Maybe this is just me overreacting and it’s totally normal, but as a first time bunny owner I wanna do everything I can to make sure she’s comfortable and content.
Thanks in advance for any opinions!

[Luna]

It could be a mix of anxiety and buns being crepuscular (ie. mostly active around dawn and dusk). When you say she doesn’t eat or drink when your not home, do you mean literally not anything at all or just a lot less than when your home?

[Cadbury ♡]

A few times I’ve given her pellets, and everytime I go out I fill up her water. The pellets didn’t look like they were touched and the water never does either. And once I get home she drinks and eats.

[Luna]

If she doesn’t eat or drink when you are away for just a few hours it’s probably ok, but the longer she goes without eating or drinking then the greater the risk of her digestive system slowing down too much or stopping (GI stasis). Luna might not eat when I’m out for an hour or so, but I’d be worried if she didn’t eat at all while I’m at work all day.

[Cadbury ♡]

Yeah, maybe I’m just not out long enough for her to noticeably eat much. But one day I went out for 9+ hours and she looked like she hadn’t even touched her food or water.
Guess I’m just over worrying lol! But I’d rather be safe then sorry

[Luna]

Hopefully it only just “looked” like she didn’t eat or drink anything. Maybe someone else in the house is sneaking her extra pellets or treats when you leave .

[jerseygirl]

That’s interesting.
My single rabbit tends to do this a bit once I get home or am going to bed. (He lives in the bedroom) The hay pile often looks the way it did when I topped it up before work. Then he’ll get stuck into it once Im there. It’s a pattern Ive seen but I don’t think it’s like that always with him. There is always a bit of hay strewn around the floor too, so im sure he eats a bit of that when im absent as I see him do when I am there.

I rather think they stay in “alert mode” -Not super alert, they can be somewhat relaxed, and even lightly nap, but like they’ll stay in “sentinel” position when it’s just them. My boy tends to sit in bun loaf postion at the end of the bed. I usually find him there when I get home. When Im home during the day, he tends to bun loaf on the floor out in the open or go under the bed.

I also see him do more flop-naps where they really zone out when I go to bed but keep lamp on and read. Almost as if Im taking up the sentinel roll for a while.

Is her food available in the one spot? Maybe you could put hay in some other places close to where she spends most her time and hope she nibbles on that? What about leaving a tv or radio on so she feels like is still about?

[Author]

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