Not wanting to eat enough hay

[Rainbowbunnies]

Waffles was switched from Alfalfa and Timothy hay to Orchard grass hay because he got older and I have allergies to Timothy. He was eating the Orchard grass hay at first but soon refused to eat it so I got worried and switched him back to Timothy hay. And the same thing happened, he started to eat it and now only eats tiny portions of hay. I’ve been getting worried about him getting picky about hay and having to constantly switch it out just for him to eat. I wanted to ask if someone else had the same problem I have and if there are any solutions to what might be causing it please.

[Asriel and Bombur]

If he’s not eating either when he previously was, you really need to go get his teeth looked at. He could be having teeth issues that you might not be seeing. So it’s worth a peek because dental problems can really cause a bunny pain and it could lead to stasis if left untreated.

[kurottabun]

I second A&B in getting his molars checked at the vet’s. If he’s picky about hay he most likely wouldn’t have eaten the orchard grass from the start.

[Rainbowbunnies]

He has been eating carrots and chewing on alfalfa logs lately and has been okay about it. Could it still be a teeth issue if he eating and chewing hard things? He also eats all of his pellets.

[Sirius&Luna]

Yes, the reason why eating hay is important is because it uses the teeth differently to eating other items. So even if he’s eating pellets and veg, it’s still quite likely that he has a tooth problem.

[FlemishDad]

Our rabbit was eating very little hay when we got him. We tried cutting back on pellets and – he lost weight. He’d chew willow stick balls to bits, though. After we had him about a month, we found an abscess and took him to the vet to discover he also had a serious tooth problem – an upper tooth with no matching bottom tooth which had grown out of control. The vet ground it down and since then he has eaten more hay (still not enough but more) and lost interest in the willow chew toys.

So yes, a bun with dental issues can definitely avoid hay and still chew hard things. According to my vet, it’s related to how they chew. Hard foods are chewed with a side to side motion while hay is ground with the jaw moving in all directions. There’s no guarantee it’s a dental problem but it’s well worth looking at. Keep in mind that if he’s eaten little hay for a long time that could have caused dental issues to develop or worsen.

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