Not eating hay

[DwarfStorm<3]

I keep on giving my bunny hay in a little container, but he never eats it. He always bites the container and plays around with it. He never eats hay. Not even 1 tiny piece! Please help.

[kurottabun]

There are lots of reasons why a bunny isn’t eating much hay. Can you describe his full diet? Has he been to a rabbit savvy vet to get his teeth checked? What kind of hay are you feeding?

[Asriel and Bombur]

I agree with K. There’s a bunch of reasons why I bunny won’t eat much hay. His diet is most important. So we need to know what you feed him, how much you feed him, and how often you feed him non-hay items (things like pellets, greens, treats). Have you tried other varieties and brands? Some bunnies can be picky and prefer a specific type and brand of hay. If all else seems fine, his teeth could be bothering him, in which case he’d need a vet visit to examine his front and back teeth.

[tobyluv]

Besides making sure that your bunny isn’t being overfed with pellets or other food, and that he doesn’t have any dental problems, maybe he can’t access the hay easily since you said it’s in a small container. Rabbits like to forage through hay. I place the hay for my bunnies on a quilted place mat. They can easily eat it and rummage through it, even lay on it if they want to. Besides trying different varieties and brands of hay, you can buy hay toppers, which are dried flowers and herbs to place on top of the hay, which makes it more enticing. You can also try sprinkling a few pinches of alfalfa hay on top of your timothy hay (or whatever kind you are feeding). Alfalfa is very fragrant and it can filter down through your regular hay, hopefully to lure your bunny to eat all the hay.

[DwarfStorm<3]

I always try to give my bunny hay everyday, but he never ever eats it! I’m also feeding him celery, and pears weekly. He also eats pellets.

[DanaNM]

Hi there,

How many pellets are you giving him? Also, celery and pears are not great for bunnies. Celery alone doesn’t have much nutrition, and pears are very high sugar and should only be an occasional treat.

In the bunny’s mind, pellets are like ice cream to a kid, and the hay is healthy food. If they can fill up on pellets, they won’t want to eat their hay. Adult buns only need a small amount of pellets each day (a couple tablespoons usually).

So if his teeth are cleared by the vet, I would stop the celery and pear, and reduce the pellets (if you give his weight we can suggest how much to feed, but it I can almost guarantee won’t be more than a 1/4 cup a day). I’m guessing he will start eating more hay!

Then you can start introducing more nutritious veggies (slowly, no more than 1 new veggie a week). Romain lettuce, cilantro, and dandelion greens are good ones to try.

. . . 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.  

[Basic User]

test

[Author]

Messages