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Refuses to eat hay

22 9:37:24

Question
Hi,

I have a two year old Holland Lop, who was never exposed to hay when she was a baby.  When I got her, I noticed that she didn't chew on toys or sticks either.  I have talked to my vet who said that he had the same problem with his bunny, who never ended up eating hay at all. I feed her a quarter cup of timothy hay pellets, and I have already filed her teeth down once.  I have given her a lot of different hay options, and I've tried to make it more appealing by spraying it with the juice from an apple, but still she refuses to eat it... I have asked a bunch of people what to do, but nothing had worked, and I have tried for a very long time.  She is in perfect health, but for some reason she doesn't touch it.

Thank you so much.

Answer
Hi Sarah

It's so frustrating when breeders don't introduce hay as soon as they're born!

I would say, don't give up! Keep providing hay and encourage her to play with it - hiding it in toilet roll cardboard toys and putting all her pellets underneath it all. You can also see if you can buy, or dry your own, wild forage such as dandelion, blackberry or raspberry leaves, sunflower petals or willow or birch bark. Hiding forage in the hay encourages them to associate hay as food. Make sure the hay is presented in a pile too, let her burrow into it and sleep on it.

If you can find some dried grass like this stuff (this is a UK brand I think) a sprinkling of that on hay can help too:
http://www.friendshipestates.co.uk/horse-feeds/readigrass.html

Just keep trying with a bunny-sized pile every day and change it every day. I recommend a compost heap in your yard if you have one for any old stuff so it's not completely waste.

Just keep trying, keep trying different brands, keep making it fun!

Good luck!
Cat