Unusual Behavior

[Louiethebunny]

My rabbit Louie used to eat a TON of hay and then continued to eat a little less when I upped his amount of pellets, but he still continued to eat a bunch. In the past few days, his hay eating has seemed less and less. He eats barely any hay from his hay bag and litter box, but sometimes eats little piles I put out for him. I have been out of the house more, going on hikes and such for several hours at a time, but not long, so it could be that I’m not watching his every move anymore. I noticed his poops were smaller than normal two days ago and assumed he needed more hay so I tried to offer more but he wasn’t really having it. He will take a piece of hay if I offer it, and he continues to eat his pellets and greens. He’s been acting normal, flopping, running around and such too. Another weird thing was that today at around 5 am, he has a bit of a freak-out and started running around and thumping even though I was just laying in bed. Is there anything I should be looking out for?

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, the smaller poops do usually mean they are eating less hay. Can you try giving less pellets and see if he eats more hay? It could be that he is getting too many pellets, since you just increased them.

The other thing is to watch out for medical things, like gas, dental, stasis, etc. Also sometimes you end up with a weird batch of hay that the bun doesn’t like. Could it be the hay batch?

. . . 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.  

[Louiethebunny]

I was thinking it might be the hay batch, but all his hay comes from the same 25 lb box I’ve been using for the past 2 months. I plan to reduce his pellets this week to see if there’s a change. Just a few minutes ago I tried giving him a tummy massage and I did hear some gas, so I will probably do another belly rub soon, but I can’t get my hands on any baby gas drops. His stomach seemed a bit heavy? Is that a sign of something? He also thumped at me about an hour ago which is very strange. We have been getting along very well, but today he seemed off.

[kanin]

Maybe he’s a bit mad at you for leaving more often! Sounds like a joke, but my first bun would go on a hunger strike every time I left for a longer time than he was used to, and nearly made himself sick a few times because of it. Does he seem to eat more once you’ve been home for a few hours and settle back in?  How much pellets is he getting and how much were you giving him before?

[Louiethebunny]

thats, crazy, rabbits really do have crazy personalities! He usually seems to just eat at random, I haven’t noticed anything different from when I’m home and when I’m not. When I go out I do encounter other people, maybe the new smell on me is strange and new. He was originally getting 1/4 cup pellets per day, and since he’s still growing, I upped it to closer to 1/3 cups per day, which just caused him to eat a little less hay, but he settled in and was still eating a healthy amount. Now, he’s eating it much less and I have to provide him with fresh piles every once in a while and he just kind plays with it and nibbles a little. I fed him wet veggies for his dinner just 20 minutes ago to help things keep moving in his stomach. I’m going to give him another belly rub tonight and hopefully I see some improvement within the next few days. If he gets worse, taking him to the vet will be super expensive and right now that’s a lot of money given the circumstances.

[kanin]

Usually from what I’ve seen when bunnies have gas, they don’t have an appetite for anything – not just hay – and they’ll lay in the loaf position for long periods of time but you say Louie is otherwise acting normal. Let us know if reducing his pellets works as that definitely could be the cause for less hay consumption.

[DanaNM]

Also just to check, how much veggies do you feed? Filling up on veggies will also reduce how much hay they eat.

Final thing, I have noticed sometimes when I let my buns free-roam all day, for whatever reason they eat less hay. Hay eating can be a response to boredom. Of course we don’t want our bunnies to be bored (!), but it does seem like sometimes they need a quiet moment with hay as the only option for an activity!

. . . 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.  

[Louiethebunny]

I feed a handful of greens in the morning 8-9 am-ish and again at night 9-10 pm-ish. He does free roam in my room all the time, and I have noticed that he ate more when he was in an xpen. Luckily today his appetite did increase a bit and I’m thinking of placing hay bags around the room so he has some in all his favorite spots. His poops are looking more normal so that’s a good sign. I’m going to monitor him for a few more days to see what happens.

[DanaNM]

That’s good things seems to be getting back to normal. Place hay near favorite spots seems like a good strategy. Is he molting by chance? Sometimes molting can cause weird tummy issues etc.

. . . 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.  

[Louiethebunny]

yeah he’s molting and I’ve been brushing him a little each day but he doesn’t like it too much. When I first got him he had a v shape on his face, and it continually grew out, but now it’s already coming back up his face, does that mean he will be constantly molting? He’s a Havana rabbit so he doesn’t have a ton of fur like lionheads or angoras.

[Bam]

Some buns do molt a lot, but it also varies from year to year, I’ve noticed. My bunny Bam could shed endlessly one year and normally the next. Some buns shed in patches so they get bald spots. Which is still normal, albeit not very pretty 😂

It’s a good idea to put down hay in several places. It’s very natural for rabbits to forage a little here and there. It’s how they spend their days in the wild.

[DanaNM]

Bun Jovi seems to almost constantly have “angry eyebrows” from a molt line, especially this time of year!

. . . 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.  

[Louiethebunny]

update: Louie ate a ton of hay today, I made him some more hay bags and he’s eating it like crazy!

[kanin]

So glad to hear that! 🙂

[Bam]

Yay!

[Author]

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