Need rabbit advice!

[joem]

I think I should provide a bit of a backstory for my rabbit so someone can give proper advice.

About a week or so ago, my father brought home a 1 year old Florida White Rabbit that he got from someone he knows. Apparently, they didn’t want her anymore and decided to give her away along with her pellets, cage, and pine bedding. I barely knew about rabbits but educated myself since we got Lucky (that’s the name they gave her). They always kept her in her cage indoors and only fed her pellets, as far as I know. She’s a bit on the chubby side because of this I think and she has a double chin but I like to call it extra fluff! However, after I started reading online I learned that they can’t just eat pellets, they need hay and greens too. So when we got her, and we have a backyard, we let her out of her cage and she loves being outside on the grass exploring, which I think is good for her since she should get some exercise and fresh air. So she eats grass sometimes and she drinks the water from her cage bottle, which I take out from the cage and put outside so she can drink from it. We usually let her roam around the backyard until it’s almost dark, where we let her go back in her cage for night time. There, she eats the pellets if she wants and has her water. We give her romaine lettuce sometimes throughout the day and at least 1 carrot as a treat. So I got Kaytee timothy hay for her, since it seems like a lot of people use that for their bunnies.

Now here’s the problem: She’s barely touched the hay since then. Everyday I take a handful out just to see if she’ll have some of it fresh. The hay isn’t moldy or anything, but it’s dry and that’s how it’s supposed to be apparently. The other day I put some water on the hay just to see if she likes it moist or something, but nope. I’ve seen her eat like 1 or 2 pieces but that’s all. I don’t know if she just doesn’t like it or if it’s just a new experience for her and she’s confused and is getting used to it? I couldn’t find anything online about this type of scenario (rabbit isn’t fed hay for 1 year and giving her hay now isn’t working). I only found what to do if they wont eat hay but they used to, which doesn’t fit this situation. I have tried putting some water on it, sprinkled some water from her bottle on it, putting it with the lettuce, putting carrot pieces, but no luck, she just turns away. I put some in her cage the first day and with her pellets but nothing. I’ve been putting some hay where she usually hangs out since I read they like to eat hay in their napping spots and stuff, but she ignores it. When I put carrot pieces, she just dug through the hay and ate the carrot pieces. I’m at a loss and I don’t know if I should try buying Oxbow hay to see if she’ll like that one better or just to wait until she decides to have hay one day (its been days). I know that this is something that is a big part of a rabbit’s diet, so I don’t understand.

Please give me some tips and advice for this!

[Bam]

Is it possible for you to get pesticide-free fresh grass for her?

My bun Bam refused hay but would willingly eat fresh grass. I cut grass for him several days a week, and it kept both his tummy and teeth in order. It’s not quite as good as grass, but very nearly. Supply can be a problem though.

[joem]

How do you get the grass? We have some grass in our backyard that she likes chewing on or eating sometimes, but we are planning on getting more grass around too (there’s some empty patches with just rocks).

[DanaNM]

How many pellets is she getting? Rabbits that are used to filling up on pellets often don’t feel like eating hay.

I would have lots of hay available 24/7, and refresh it during the day. You can start slowly reducing her pellet amount if she’s currently getting a lot. You want to be careful not to starve her, but it’s ok to let the pellet bowl be empty for a few hours to see is that encourages her to eat hay. I would also not do any carrot right now, as they are really a treat food for bunnies and also might make her appetite less for hay.

Also, be careful not to change things too quickly with the diet (pellet brands, new foods, etc.). Keep an eye on her pooping as well to make sure things are still moving through and her poops look good.

Sorry to sound like a negative person, but also be careful with the backyard roaming time! Especially at dusk, predators (hawks, etc.) can nab rabbits in the blink of an eye, especially a white rabbit. Rabbits are also very good at escaping from yards. In some areas RHDV is also spreading, so check to see if it’s safe for buns to forage outside right now. I do think that exercise and fresh grass are wonderful though! Thank you for doing the research to take good care of her!

. . . 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.  

[joem]

I give her half of a small bowl of pellets when she goes to her cage for night time just so she has something to eat if she’s still hungry. Especially since that was all she ate with her previous owners, I understand why she wouldn’t pay attention to hay. We started just giving her less pellets to get her used to not eating it so much and start on hay, but yeah I definitely don’t wanna starve her. Her poops have been looking fine and she’s been going daily so I think she’s doing okay with that. We’re using the pellets that her previous owners were using so that’s not new either. And yeah with the backyard roaming, we don’t let her out that early but our windows are always keeping an eye on her. We made a small hiding place for her near plants too so she’s always hanging out there. She’s pretty fast too, especially since her previous owners probably barely took her out! We actually got our fences done just in time, and I always check to make sure there’s no open spots so she doesn’t escape and get hurt. I also recently heard about the RHDV too, but there was just one random case in my state up north from me. She just stays in our small backyard though and it seems safe where I live. Thanks so much for the reply! I’ll cut down on carrots too since I really want her to start eating some hay!

[Wick & Fable]

I echo what Dana mentions regarding pellets being a large deterrent of hay-appetite. You mention not finding cases online, but I can tell you pretty confidently that any young rabbit growing up on a tasty, yummy, pellet-only diet is very likely not to want to eat hay. At the end of the day, most rabbits don’t like hay as much as pellets. Having lots of hay locations can be helpful, along with elongated windows where there is access to nothing except hay. As Dana mentions, you don’t want her to starve, but you will likely need to push her a bit into being hungry so she learns to turn to hay for satiation, as that is something she has not learned.

I also would not feed any treats, including carrots. That is another thing that deters hay-appetite.

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.

[joem]

Thanks for adding to the response! I’ll definitely stop giving carrots to get her to eat the hay. Pushing her to start turning to hay and learning to eat it is probably what needs to be done, so I’ll try my best! Thanks again, I just want her to get used to living with us!

[DanaNM]

If there was RHDV in your state I would not give her outside time until she is vaccinated, unfortunately. It is spreading rapidly, and the thought is that it will spread faster now that it’s started raining (so insects will return). There is a pinned post that shows up in all the sections with more info about it!

. . . 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.  

[Wick & Fable]

I would add that rabbits are foragers, so it is wired in them to find “the best” strand of hay. I have found that hay in more locations (rather than a large pile in a single place) triggered both my rabbits to eat more hay. I think it’s because it leans into that foraging instinct of visiting multiple places to find the best food. When you only have one or two places to choose from, once it’s decided they aren’t interesting, maybe it’s less likely to be revisited for a second appraisal? Unsure, but all I know is the more spots there are, the more travelling they do and nosing around they do when they’re hungry!

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.

[Hazel]

It’s totally normal she’s refusing the hay. It’s like having a child that has never eaten a vegetable and suddenly switching their diet to mostly vegetables. They’re not gonna appreciate it. 😆

As the others said, the key is to decrease the pellets. Generally you want to feed 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of pellets per 6lbs of body weight per day. For example, my bun weighs 3lbs and gets 1/8 of a cup per day. Since she’s overweight right now I would go a little bit lower in her case. You might want to get a measuring cup to make sure you give the right amount, it’s easy to misjudge, especially with such small amounts. What kind of pellets are you feeding? It should be a plain, Timothy based pellet without any extra bits and pieces in it.

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