Digging in FOod

Question
recently purchased a Holland Lop Rabbit and I have had him for about 1 month now. Everything is going fine except one thing. I bought one of those food dishes that open at the top and you fill it up with food then it gradually comes down as he eats. My rabbit diggs and diggs at his food. its been going on for a while now. I need to get him to stop somehow because its waisting so much food and is a big mess. He leaves a really big pile of food on the ground when hes done.  I tried not using that feeder and instead getting a dish. That was even worse. He digged more than anything and moved the dish around everywhere, so I went back to the first feeder I had. I got online and started looking up care of rabbit sites. Some said rabbits need toys to keep them entertained so i thought thats maybe why he is doing it, hes bored. So i put in a paper towel roll, a little ball, and a cap of a bottle. He plays with them but still when he wants to eat he goes over to the feeder and diggs diggs diggs. He does stop and eat some food however. I dont know what to do. I need to stop this but I dont know how. I was wondering If you had any ideas of what to do.  

Answer
Michele,

I have had rabbits that dig out their food, too. I won't
make any promises, but I have a few suggestions you could try!

First, I would just decide on an amount of food to give the rabbit each day (my Holland Lops got 1/2 cup of pellets daily), and once you have fed him for the day, do not give him any more food, even if he knocks it all out. The next day, just give him the same amount, and no more. Hopefully he will catch on that he only gets this much food, and if he is hungry, he better eat it. You could also try giving him half a serving twice a day (like 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/4 cup in the evening), and perhaps having a smaller amount will encourage him to eat it instead of waste it. If he still kicks out a lot, try decreasing his daily feeding amount--if he is not eating the food, maybe he just does not need that much. Some rabbits just do not need to eat as much as others.

You could also try giving him timothy or grass hay at meal times. Hay makes a fun toy for some rabbits, and it is so cute to see them hopping around with a mouthful! It is also a good source of fiber for rabbits, and it might be a good digging alternative (instead of the pellets) for your rabbit.

Let's see...One possible reason that your rabbit is that the food you have is bad. If he has just started digging at the food since the last time you got a new supply, I might be a little suspicious of the food. It seems like this happened with my rabbits once--only they just did not eat the food, I don't remember if they dug it out. Some do still dig, even when the food is good, but it might be a good idea to check the food. If it is an unnatural, pale brown color, or if it looks and/or smells musty or moldy, or if there are holes in the bag where mice could have gotten in, I would dump the whole thing and get a new bag. Though I am also lothe to waste all that food, I have had to toss some large amounts before, because it was just no good.


Anyway, I hope this gives you some ideas of things to try!

God Bless
AEJ