Refusing to Eat Hay and Marking?

[fsshaer]

Hello everyone, again! Our first girl is from a shelter who was only feeding her pellets and treats such as apple and carrots. (They don't get rabbits very often and told me 'We don't know much about them') and couldn't advise me on how to trim her nails or check her glands (will be going to vet for that).

EITHER WAY. I'm trying to get her to eat more Timothy hay as opposed to her Timothy based pellets--but she is refusing for lack of a better term. I've tried only putting a small amount of pellets in there (>1/4 cup) with hay on top, but she'll push the hay aside and nibble at the pellets. I'll be going to the store today to get her some leafy greens to try to add some variation to her diet. Any advice on how to transfer her to the hay? I heard you do not want pellets to be their staple food.

The other question I have is about her leaving droppings outside her litter box. I read this could possibly be her marking her new cage. She is urinating in her litter box, so she obviously knows what it is and how to use it (they said she was trained and spayed). Is this her marking her new cage, and if so, should I let her do this for the first few days to allow her to adjust? If not, what should I be doing?

Thank you all so much in advance! :bunnybutt:

 

[Watermelons]

She may need to mark her territory a bit.
Is she spayed?
Usually the pooping outside the box can take its time to resolve. Its typically a marking thing.

Put her hay in her toys, TP tube, cardboard egg cartons, shove it anywhere you can to make it fun.
You could also try other varieties of hay.
Put hay above her litter box so she has to much and poop (could help with the pooping outside the box too)

Cut back on the treats so shes hungry and wants to eat the hay. But make sure shes still eating something.

It may take some time

 

[fsshaer]

Thanks so much! She is spayed--stomach still growing back the shaved fur by the looks of it, hahah. The hay is above her litter box, but I didn't think about making it interesting for her to get! I'll try putting some in her toys, tube, and hidy house.

 

[JBun]

Since she was just spayed and is in a new home, it may take a few weeks for the poop marking to let up, but most often with spayed/neutered rabbits, they are pretty good at pooping mostly in their litter box(at least that I've found, but there are always exceptions). Just keep sweeping them up and hopefully she'll take the hint.

The hay eating may take some time for her to get interested in trying it, then getting more used to eating it. I got a new rabbit last year and he wasn't used to eating hay, and wouldn't touch it. I had tried reducing pellets some to encourage him to eat the hay, but it didn't work. So I just fed him a normal amount of pellets and always put a little hay in with him, and over time he got interested in it and would munch on a little bit, then gradually a little bit more. And now he eats hay without any problems.