Eating habits of free-range rabbit

Question
Hi Dana,

I have a neutered netherland dwarf who is about a year old. He would be free-range all the time except for the fact that he rarely eats or poops when he is outside of his cage. Because of my concern about this I come home to put him in the cage after about 7 hours, where he immediately begins to eat and eventually starts to poop, so I leave him in for a few hours before opening the door to let him back out again. Is it normal for a free-range rabbit to not eat as much? I have always heard that rabbits should eat constantly and worry that mine is ruining his system by not doing so. Thanks for your help.  

Answer
Dear Cheryl,

If you put a few litterboxes in corners and add hay, he'll probably learn to eat on the run.  It's not unusual for a bunny to be distracted by freedom, but if he's really hungry, he'll eat.

Be sure he has access to his cage so that he can go and eat when he wants to, and doesn't have to wait for you to let him in.  It might just be that he needs to learn where his stuff is and become more confident.

But if he's healthy and his appetite is good, I wouldn't worry unduly.

Dana