Hey guys! This is my first post because I really need some help. I have had my lionhead rabbit for over 3 years and I love him dearly, however I have always had issues with his diet. When I first got him he ate hay a bit, but ever since then has eaten less and less. It has now gotten to the point were he doesn't eat any hay at all. I know that this should be the majority of his diet and this could be very dangerous for his health. I have hay in his litter box, in a separate bin, and I've tried different brands of hay to no avail. He loves to eat leafy greens and kale is his favorite, but pellets are his favorite thing. I try and limit how much I give him but he throws a complete fit when it's empty and throws the bowl around and still refuses to eat hay when I know he is hungry. He chows down on the pellets like no tomorrow, but he is super tiny and not overweight at all. His poop has become more liquedy as well and I am assuming it is due to this. I really want him to be healthy but I'm super frustrated. Should I try and buy alfala instead of timothy? Thank you!
Bunny refuses to eat hay
- Thread starter Leobun
- Start date
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John Wick
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry to hear about this stressful situation. I'm glad you're open to hearing suggestions and getting help for your rabbit.
Considering the low hay diet for such a long period of time, have you considered potential molar spurs? Rabbit teeth, unlike human teeth, keep growing, like hair. Rather than growing longer (growing up in height), they actually grow outward, to the left and right. Hay is essentially sand paper -- although it looks smooth, the surface is really really coarse. Without hay, the teeth are not grinded down, allowing them to grow outward. The outward growth leads to "spurs", which are significant teeth growth that is in contact with the rabbit's cheeks and/or tongue (cheek and tongue are to the left and right of the tooth, therefore outwards growth hits them). Spurs can be painful and uncomfortable, leading a rabbit to not want to eat more hay. Veggies and pellets crumble immediately in the mouth, so less chewing is needed, making the process more tolerable with spurs. Hay however, requires a lot of chewing, so if a rabbit has spurs, it will most likely not eat hay. You yourself cannot check for spurs because they are far back in the mouth, so a rabbit experienced vet will need to. As a preliminary, you can lift up your rabbit's lip flaps and look at the front incisors. Sometimes they will be slanted/crooked as a result of spur growth (ex. the rabbit has a spur on one side of the mouth, so it started chewing in an odd way, grinding the incisors to be slanted).
.... Now, assuming his teeth are fine, it's more of a "teaching good eating habits" question then. One suggestion I think a lot of people overlook is simply offering more hay -- but not necessarily by giving huge piles; more hay locations. Rabbits are foragers -- in the wild, non-domesticated rabbits (so not the same breed as domestic, but an ancestor) spend at least 10 hours a day, or something crazy like that, foraging for food. They are selective, meaning they don't just find a single patch of grass and eat. They often search for the best pieces in a spot, then move on to the next. Right now, you offer hay in two places, but perhaps you can offer it in even more places so your rabbit can visit multiple locations in order to find the best pieces. When I moved, my rabbit went from having 4 places to eat hay (in litter boxes) to 8 places, and his hay consumption raised drastically enough that I don't need to bring him to the vet to get spur trimming done. So at my place, my rabbit is surrounded by boxes and containers with handfuls of hay, so it peaks his interest to visit every spot and see what may be good.
Also assuming still that his teeth are fine, it is not good to keep giving him pellets, even if he throws a fit. I would completely remove the bowl outside pellet time so the cue is gone. How much are you giving him?
Considering the low hay diet for such a long period of time, have you considered potential molar spurs? Rabbit teeth, unlike human teeth, keep growing, like hair. Rather than growing longer (growing up in height), they actually grow outward, to the left and right. Hay is essentially sand paper -- although it looks smooth, the surface is really really coarse. Without hay, the teeth are not grinded down, allowing them to grow outward. The outward growth leads to "spurs", which are significant teeth growth that is in contact with the rabbit's cheeks and/or tongue (cheek and tongue are to the left and right of the tooth, therefore outwards growth hits them). Spurs can be painful and uncomfortable, leading a rabbit to not want to eat more hay. Veggies and pellets crumble immediately in the mouth, so less chewing is needed, making the process more tolerable with spurs. Hay however, requires a lot of chewing, so if a rabbit has spurs, it will most likely not eat hay. You yourself cannot check for spurs because they are far back in the mouth, so a rabbit experienced vet will need to. As a preliminary, you can lift up your rabbit's lip flaps and look at the front incisors. Sometimes they will be slanted/crooked as a result of spur growth (ex. the rabbit has a spur on one side of the mouth, so it started chewing in an odd way, grinding the incisors to be slanted).
.... Now, assuming his teeth are fine, it's more of a "teaching good eating habits" question then. One suggestion I think a lot of people overlook is simply offering more hay -- but not necessarily by giving huge piles; more hay locations. Rabbits are foragers -- in the wild, non-domesticated rabbits (so not the same breed as domestic, but an ancestor) spend at least 10 hours a day, or something crazy like that, foraging for food. They are selective, meaning they don't just find a single patch of grass and eat. They often search for the best pieces in a spot, then move on to the next. Right now, you offer hay in two places, but perhaps you can offer it in even more places so your rabbit can visit multiple locations in order to find the best pieces. When I moved, my rabbit went from having 4 places to eat hay (in litter boxes) to 8 places, and his hay consumption raised drastically enough that I don't need to bring him to the vet to get spur trimming done. So at my place, my rabbit is surrounded by boxes and containers with handfuls of hay, so it peaks his interest to visit every spot and see what may be good.
Also assuming still that his teeth are fine, it is not good to keep giving him pellets, even if he throws a fit. I would completely remove the bowl outside pellet time so the cue is gone. How much are you giving him?
