Why Won’t My Rabbit Eat Hay? – 14 Ways to Feed Hay

It can be concerning when your rabbit refuses to eat hay. Hay is an important part of a healthy diet for rabbits, providing them with the fiber they need to stay healthy.

Is your rabbit refusing to eat hay? If so, don’t worry, you’re not alone. In this article, we’ll explore some possible reasons why your rabbit is skipping his hay and offer a few solutions to get him back on track. Keep reading for more information!

Why Your Bunny Needs To Eat Hays

Your fuzzy nose bunny friend is out of luck if he won’t eat hay. Not only does hay help maintain a healthy digestive system in pet rabbits by moving their food through the intestinal tract, but it also helps wear down teeth so they don’t grow too fast for your furry friend.

Hay should be made almost entirely of fiber, with only 0.5 percent nitrogen content. If nitrogen content is higher, it can indicate that the hay has been treated with an animal protein source or another food that’s not good for your bunny to eat.

Hay should make up 80% of a one-year-old rabbit’s diet, with fresh vegetables as the other 20%. It’s also important to feed your bunny hay that comes from a reputable dealer. You don’t want food that is moldy or dusty, as those conditions can make you and your bunny sick.

Maintaining a Healthy Digestive System in Pet Rabbits

Hay Helps Move Food Through the Intestinal Tract. By ingesting large quantities of hay, a rabbit’s complex digestive system is able to work more efficiently. A rabbit’s long and difficult journey to reach his food then leaves him with a stomach full of fiber that has been broken down into digestible portions of nutrients and bacteria by means of microbial fermentation. After this intense process, the food enters the cecum where it is broken down further and nutrients are absorbed.

Hay also gives a rabbit something to do with his face and tongue after he eats all of his pellet-based food. Rabbits explore new things by putting them in their mouths, so without hay they will often eat their litter, cage walls, and even your arm just because you’re there.

Eating Hay Also Helps Maintain a Healthy Mouth

In addition to wearing down teeth so they don’t grow too fast for your furry friend, hay helps prevent dental disease by scraping against the top surfaces of incisors as the pet chews or eats from a bowl. This prevents tartar buildup on teeth in rabbits that have a tendency toward periodontal disease.

How to Make Hay More Palatable and Easier to Digest for Your Pet Rabbit

Cut the hay with small kitchen scissors into bite-sized pieces, place in a mesh hay feeder or stuff it into toilet paper tubes.

Offer hay to your bunny in a separate location from where he eats his pellets and greens. Otherwise, he will eat the more desirable veggies and avoid eating the hay.

Change up timings for offering hay to suit your pet’s schedule. Sometimes offer it at night or when you leave for work so that they feel like they are getting extra and it becomes a treat, not an obligation (though never withhold water). Also place hay strategically around their play area during playtime so they get used to finding it while also doing some exercise.

How To Get Your Rabbit To Eat Hay? – 14 Hacks

When introducing hay, hold a bunch in your hand and let him nibble on it while you’re sitting next to his cage. Place a few pieces of hay around the edge of the dish where pellets are served. For stubborn rabbits that like their food but not their greens, try feeding them two or three hours after they eat their dinner. We have listed below some popular ways by which you can get your rabbit to eat hay:

1) Keep Your Rabbit’s Hay Fresh

To make your bunny eat hay, you want to give it a vibrant green color and fresh scent. Keep the hay in a dark area that is not exposed to direct sunlight. Also, do not store it near any fruits or vegetables that produce ethylene gas because this will lead to faster spoilage of the hay.

2) Offer Different Types of Hay

There are many different kinds of hay that you can offer to your bunny. These include timothy, meadow, oat, and orchard grass. If possible, buy organic hay because it has more nutritional value than non-organic hay.

You may be wondering why? the answer is simple – it is because organic hay has no chemicals or pesticides used on it. To tell if the hay is of good quality, pick up a bunch and smell it. If you can smell fresh grass and herbs, then the hay is good enough for your bunny to eat.

3) Change the Hay Feeder Regularly

If your rabbit only picks out the good bits of hay from his feeder and skips on the unappealing parts in between, try cleaning the feeder once a week when you change its contents. This will help trigger your pet to eat everything in there and teach him that clean hay is delicious.

The best thing is that hay is very inexpensive, so try mixing up the kinds you offer to your pet if one type doesn’t seem to work. You can either buy a big bag of hay and divide it into small bags yourself or ask the vendor at the store which hay types combine best.

4) Change Your Rabbits Brand Of Hay

If your rabbit turns his nose up at the hay that you buy and is constantly trying to eat his cedar bedding, change brands. There are a number of stores that sell high-quality hay from which you can choose from depending on your budget.

This is helpful because there are many kinds of hay. Each type is made differently and has a different smell, texture, and taste. Some rabbits like one type of hay but not another.

5) Keep the Hay off the Floor of the Cage

Rabbits will eat whatever is available. This means if there is hay on the floor, they would rather munch on it than what you provide for them in their food dish. Change out hay regularly or use a dehydrator to ensure that all of the material inside a bag of alfalfa is dried before packaging and sold as new product.

6) Fill Your Rabbit’s Hay Feeder Right To The Top

Rabbits like to eat hay when they are bored. This means if there is only a small amount of hay in their feeder, they will quickly get tired of it and make eating one of the most boring activities around. To avoid this, always offer enough hay so that your rabbit can’t eat it all at once. If this isn’t possible because you’re on a budget, try putting new hay in regularly (every few days).

7) Clean Up Small Pieces of Hay

While rabbits do spend some time cleaning up their droppings, they would rather munch on fresh material than something that has fallen onto the ground or cage floor. Place small pieces of hay in different parts of your house where your pet bunny spends some time. This means you will need to clean up after him, but it is less than having hay on the floor that he could eat at his leisure.

8) Place Your Rabbit’s Hay Near His Water Bowl

Rabbits do not like having their food and water far apart because they usually use one as an indicator for their next meal (or where to find it). To avoid this issue, place some hay near or even in your pet’s water dish. You can also feed him pellets at the same time so there isn’t any confusion between your pet’s two favorite things in life!

9) Restrict Your Rabbits Favorite Foods

While hay is your bunny’s favorite meal, he won’t appreciate it if you only give him this as an option. Restrict his food intake by putting pellets and other vegetables in with the hay. After a few days of not getting any of these items, put some fresh hay into his cage and see what happens after that!

10) Cut Hay Into Smaller Pieces

If your rabbit does not like to eat large pieces of hay (which can be messy and cause blockages), cut them up into smaller pieces using scissors or a knife. When one bites down on something too large for their mouth, most bunnies simply stop eating until you come along and pick it out. This is less than ideal because there goes your pet’s dinner!

11) Make Hay More Appealing By Adding A Little Spice

If you don’t want to cut hay into smaller pieces, try sprinkling some herbs and spices on them. Popular choices include oregano, thyme, and basil (in small amounts at first until you get the full reaction). If your rabbit is a total herb lover like mine (I often use fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and just a touch of chives), then feel free to add any sweet-smelling or -tasting items that appeal to you. Just remember: less is more!

12) Feed Your Rabbit Hay In Fun Ways

Most us humans are used to having hay with the dinner meal, but rabbits enjoy it more when you feed them in different ways. One of my bunny’s favorite things is to get a few pieces of hay put into his ball so he can run around while munching on some fresh food. If your pet isn’t interested in this, try putting some dry alfalfa pellets or other dried herbs inside the ball at the same time so that he gets rewarded for moving around while eating!

13) Place The Hay Over The Rabbit Litter Box

When a bunny goes to the bathroom, it usually poops and pees at the same time. This means that whatever hay he is eating could get kicked out of his litter box and onto your floor or carpet. To avoid this, place some hay over the rabbit litter box so any material that falls into it can be picked up more easily. You can also mix some pellets inside the litter box before adding enough hay on top of them for easy collection!

14) Try A Hayrack Made Of A Different Material

If you have a wire hayrack that your rabbit won’t eat from, try moving it to his location with wood or some other type of material. Certain rabbits are picky about what they’ll eat when offered the same thing in the same location! You can also try giving him more than one dish containing fresh hay so he has options. 15) Use Hay As A Reward For Your Bunny

If you’re trying to train your bunny to do tricks, give him a small piece of hay every time he does something right. This works well for most animals because it’s both healthy and makes them feel good once they finally get their favorite food item. If this doesn’t work for your pet (or if you don’t want to bother with training him at all), you can always put some hay into his favorite spot and let him know that this is where he gets it from.

Rabbit is not eating Hay: Signs That Your Bunny Needs More Hay

Not all rabbits are enthusiastic hay eaters, so you may have to experiment some to find out if your rabbit needs more hay in his diet. You should watch for these signs of poor hay consumption:

• Not using the litter box properly (it may hold too little hay)

• Less playful behavior

• Lethargy and sleepiness

• Diarrhea or soft stool

Hay can be important for rabbits who are forced to eat a limited amount of pellets every day, since hay is beneficial for proper digestive health. A rabbit who restricts his hay intake may stop eating or drink too little water, leading to serious problems.

If the litter box isn’t holding enough hay, your bunny may avoid using it completely because he doesn’t want to get his face dirty when he goes in search of more food. Rabbits also prefer their environment to be clean all the time, so you’ll see them searching obsessively for fresh spots in which to relieve themselves if their litter box isn’t keeping up with their needs.

If your bunny gets lethargic and seems bored or unhappy, try giving him an extra treat of hay during his time or throughout the day so he can get more fiber in his system.

Finally, diarrhea and soft stool are symptoms of too little fiber in the diet and can be caused by hay that has been treated with urea or another animal protein source to make it smell like straw.

Conclusion: Rabbit wont eat Hay

To conclude, hay is a rabbit’s favorite food, but not all bunnies like it and if they do, many times they won’t eat it. To keep your pet healthy and happy, make sure to read these article-provided tips on how to get them to eat hay!

Now that you know everything about hay, it’s time to put this knowledge into action! Try one or more of the above tips with your bunny friend and see if they help. If not, leave a comment below so I know what else to add to the list! I would also love it if you shared this article on Facebook and other social media sites so all pet owners will be aware of how important hay is for their bunnies. Have a wonderful day and don’t forget: grow your rabbit’s favorite thing!