Not eating hay

[Cocoa]

Hi. My bunny Lily hasn’t been eating hay lately. I have tried a few different types and she will eat very tiny amounts. They normally get fed hay at around 4 every day. I refill what they ate at 8. Then I feed them pellets. I always give them plenty of hay so they still have so they still have some left over the next day. I have given them timothy, alfalfa, and orchard. Cocoa eats all of her hay but Lily hardly eats any. She acts totally normal other than that. Is this normal? What should I do?

[Deleted User]

They should be getting hay at all times not just one time a day. How old are they? There are numerous reasons for a rabbit to not eat it’s hay. Most of them do call for a vet appointment. Sometimes it’s dental issues, or GI status which is more common. How is their poop? Are they still pooping like normal?

[Cocoa]

They are never out of hay. I always make sure to give them enough so that they have left over hay at the next feeding time. They always have access to hay. They poop normal. They are still excited for pellets and veggies. They are 100% normal other than Lily not eating her hay.

[sarahthegemini]

No that isn’t really normal. The bulk of their diet needs to be hay. Have you tried cutting down the amount of pellets to encourage hay consumption?

[Cocoa]

Yes. When I cut down the amount of pellets, she eats more hay. She only eats hay when she gets hungry after eating pellets. I mix her pellets with her hay. She eats more hay like that. Today I will mix veggies with the hay to try to get her to eat more.

[sarahthegemini]

I wouldn’t necessarily mix veggies (which would be wet) with hay. Just stick with giving a lower amount of pellets.

[Cocoa]

Can I mix in romaine lettuce? I can dry it first so it doesn’t get the hay wet. Romaine lettuce is Lily’s favorite

[sarahthegemini]

You don’t have to stop giving veggies, I just meant don’t put it in the hay.

[Cocoa]

Okay

[Cocoa]

Okay

[Deleted User]

Hmmm you could but I don’t know if a bun would like such different textures and tastes to be mixed together.
I used to do the same thing, where I’d put a whole big ton of hay and refill it when I got home and saw that it ran out. But i learned quickly that rabbits tend to accidently pee and poop on their food if it’s too much and in their way when they eat in their litter box. So, unless you’re putting a lot of food for when you’re at work or in then night, at other times its best to give smaller portions of hay and continuously refill that so it doesn’t get ruined. And when the same hay is out for a long time it gets stale and picky rabbits won’t eat it.

[DanaNM]

The most common reasons for not eating hay are (not in any particular order):
– over feeding pellets or veggies
– stale or bad hay
– a health problem – usually either a dental issue, or GI issue starting to flair up

Since her poops look good and her appetite for veggies and pellets is good (and the other bunny is eating the hay), my money is either over-feeding pellets or veggies, OR she has a dental problem.

Can you give the approx weights of the buns, along with the amounts of pellets and veggies you give them?

. . . 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.  

[Cocoa]

She is about 3 pounds. I keep the hay in a hay rack so it doesn’t get ruined. Lily gets between 1/8 and 1/4 of a cup of pellets. They get 1 to 1 1/2 lettuce leaves, 4 to 5 carrots, 1/3 a banana, a piece of banana peel, 2 orange slices, half an orange peel, 1 to 1/2 strawberries. I give them three of those daily. She ate some hay when i mixed in some veggies that i dried off first.

[Harley&Thumper]

Posted By Cocoa on 3/02/2018 7:29 PM

They get 1 to 1 1/2 lettuce leaves, 4 to 5 carrots, 1/3 a banana, a piece of banana peel, 2 orange slices, half an orange peel, 1 to 1/2 strawberries. 

How much of that do they get a day? When it comes to fruit you REALLY need to think of them as candy bars.

[Cocoa]

That is the most of each of those types of food, it’s usually less than that they get daily.

[Cocoa]

Am I feeding them too much?

[DanaNM]

Agree with H&T, that is way too many treats if all of that is in a single day! Honestly even one of those things once a day would be way too much. I’m sure she loves them, but yes think of fruit and carrot like candy bars, and I bet that is exactly why she isn’t eating her hay.

Most people don’t give more than a 1/2 inch piece of carrot, OR a 1/4″ slice of banana, OR half a strawberry, etc per day. I only rarely give my bunnies fruits and carrots, and save them as treats for special occasions (like after a nail trim when they are really mad at me)

I would cut out all the fruit, and just give the romaine lettuce. 2-3 romaine leaves twice a day sounds about right for a 3 lb bunny.

Once she starts eating her hay again, think about introducing some other leafy greens to give them some variety.

There are lots of lists out there of good veggies to feed, but here is some to start with, that should hopefully be available at the super market and inexpensive:
Typically you should aim to give them minimum 3 types of leafy veggies per day, twice a day, but work up that many types, since they are used to just lettuce. There are certain things she can have a lot of, and some things that are good but only in limited amounts. Aim for about 1 loosely packed cup per 2lbs of bunny, total for the day. So your 3 lb girl should get about 1.5 loosely packed cups of leafy veg total. You can split this into two meals, or give all at once.

Here is a full list of options, and then I have the list that I usually use below (as an abridged version): https://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/

Here’s what I usually do:
~75% from this group (I usually pick two things per week from this category, and again, these are just things I commonly feed as I can find them easily at the supermarket):

Romaine or  Red leaf lettuce (really any lettuce except for iceberg) 

Dandelion (can be collected wild if you know it hasn’t been sprayed with anything and isn’t near a roadway)

cilantro
fennel
basil

mint (easy to grow yourself)

leafy green carrot tops (you can actually sprout the cut off tops of carrots if you are patient about it! grocery stores that sell bunched carrots often cut them off for customers and will give them to you for free)

~25% (I usually pick one thing from this group per week, and try not to pick the same one two weeks in a row):
Spinach
kale
chard

leafy green beet tops

parsley

. . . 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.  

[Cocoa]

Okay thanks. I didn’t realize I was feeding her too much.

[Deleted User]

I have a three pound bunny too and he gets one eighth pellets, two leaves of lettuce, and one small Oxbow treat and that’s it. Sometimes a little piece of fruit but that’s once in a while. I agree with the diet ideas mentioned above by DanaNM. Just make sure to start giving more hay than anything else. And fruits and carrots are treats that should be given sparingly. She should be alright though.

[Cocoa]

I just wanted to add that what I have been feeding her was a lot of mini fruits and veggies. They were very small bananas, oranges, and carrots.

[Harley&Thumper]

Just to be safe, I would still cut out all fruits until normal hay eating habits return.

[Cocoa]

Can I still feed Cocoa fruits since she eats all of her hay?

[DanaNM]

The guidelines apply for both bunnies. You can give a small amount as a treat each day (smaller than the amounts you listed). If you read the link I posted with guidelines for diet, the appropriate amount of banana is a 1/8″ inch piece, no more than twice a day. It goes over the healthy amounts of other fruits and carrots as well.

I think sticking to 1 treat per day would be fine, but not all the things you mentioned in one day, and not in those amounts (even if the fruits are pretty small). What seems small to us is quite big for a 3 lb bunny! 

Rabbit digestive systems are not good at handling starch and sugar. Their digestion functions the best when they eat lots and lots of fiber. When they eat starch and sugar, it does two things: makes them less hungry, so they eat less hay (which is where they get the fiber they need, amount other things), and it can cause an imbalance in the microbes in their gut.

Both of those things can lead to gastric stasis, which can be life threatening.

. . . 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.  

[Cocoa]

I will make sure to start feeding them the correct amount. No fruits for Lily until she starts eating hay again. What i was asking was about Cocoa though. She still eats all of her hay. Can i continue to give her fruits? In the correct amounts of course

[Deleted User]

Ofcourse, but as said above, just one small piece per day as a treat. I remember that when I was a kid, I had a friend who would feed her bun carrots and fruits and veggies, and like one handful of hay each day and that poor rabbit only lived a year due to obesity and GI stasis. When I told them that she needed more hay, they frantically tried to get their bun to eat more of it, but she turned her nose at it because she was so used to the fruits and veggies they gave her all the time. Now, of course your case is no where as extreme,but it could happen if you’re not careful. It happens. Try to make a feeding schedule that shows your rabbits that they recieve certain amounts of certain foods at certain times each day. It will take a while for them to understand of course, but they will eventually catch on.

[DanaNM]

Posted By Cocoa on 3/02/2018 10:06 PM

I will make sure to start feeding them the correct amount. No fruits for Lily until she starts eating hay again. What i was asking was about Cocoa though. She still eats all of her hay. Can i continue to give her fruits? In the correct amounts of course

Yep  

. . . 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.  

[Cocoa]

Thank you!

[Author]

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