He won’t eat hay

[Thumper1507]

He will be 1 in July. I am having a terrible time with this little bugger just now, he wasn’t a big hay eater anyway but would eat it he would eat dried grass. For about a week and a bit it has been a fight to get home to eat anything other than pellets (1egg cup a day) greens and forage he eats that all fine. I have tried all different kinds of hay and grass. I bought him fibre sticks I give him 2 a day but this morning he’s not wanting that 🤬 his poops are dishaped and strung together I groom him every other day but will up him to everyday. He is driving me loopy I’m so stressed

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, is it possible he’s having a dental issue? The fact that this is a sudden issue makes me wonder if there’s a health issue going on.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Yeah, I would have him checked first before concluding that he is just being picky. If he wasn’t a big hay eater to begin with, then it could have caused uneven wear on his teeth.

[Thumper1507]

His teeth have been checked and got the all clear cause I did think that straight away sorry I ment to say that

[LBJ10]

They did a thorough check of his back teeth? Hmm… Well, have you tried fresh grass at all? Perhaps he would like that instead of dry hay.

[Wick & Fable]

There are some ideas here: https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Hay#Encouraging_your_rabbit_to_eat_hay

While odd to ask, a picture of your set-up, including how/where hay is offered would be helpful. Sometimes how you present hay can be very important: https://www.reddit.com/r/Rabbits/comments/tzl60n/care_importance_of_presentation_pt_2/

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[hophophop]

Thumper, my bunny has been acting up this past few months not wanting to eat her hay too. She is going through a yoyo-ing between gut slow-down and stasis. It is driving me up the walls too!

Kotton went for a checkup on her teeth, her vet said there was a sharp spur and some minor lesion on her tongue. They fixed it and then she went into a full blown stasis. They checked her teeth again and said that everything is fine. But I am still suspicious that something is wrong there.

They did blood work and xray (did yours do that?) to clear any blockage and weird numbers. We even did a E-C test and rule that out too (amazingly she is negative on that!) So maybe you can ask for those to eliminate problems.

So now I’m here typing with everything looking good except a very fussy bunny that won’t eat hay but minimal pellets and as much fresh greens as she could comfortably eat to tie her over. I will add that since she stopped eating hay, she stops drinking water too. Does yours drink water ok? Just keep an eye on that, if yours stop drinking, and weird poop continues, it’s easy for them to slide to stasis. Our vet said that when they are dehydrated, food in their tummy just don’t get moved down so gut will slow down to stasis.

I hope yours will eat soon and if you figure out what’s going on, please come back and update! I will do the same too.

[Thumper1507]

He drinks loads of water, iv ordered hay of that hay box and see if that can interest him. At the moment he is eating away at his carrot house thing you can buy (he only gets it twice a day to chew on) for his teeth. I will fone vet again today see if they can see me again. It’s so tiring worrying about them all the time

[DanaNM]

Drinking a lot of water without eating hay can be sign of a dental issue (I had a bun with really messed up molars that had these symptoms). Did the vet check the back teeth? This can really only be done with an x-ray or under anesthesia.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Yeah, the drinking is suspicious. I’m wondering how thoroughly they looked at his teeth.

[AmberJox]

I seriously feel your pain! I have a constant ball of anxiety in my tummy for my buns real and imagined health problems, it seems to be one thing after another. I have a Netherland dwarf who eats a decent amount of hay but drinks loads of water and has terrible teeth.

Any update on the teeth? Hope you got some answers.

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