I have a problem….

[Shadow13]

A couple days ago I pasted a topic that said my rabbit isn’t eating hay. Someone suggested feeding a different type of hay so I went to the store looking for meadow hay but they had none so I got orchard grass and botanical hay. He started eating prices of that hay every once in a while but still wasn’t eating a lot.

Here’s my problem….
Today I took his litter box out to clean in and right away he went and started chomping away at hay out of his hay rack. He won’t eat hay if he has to sit in his litter box. So I put some hay near where he likes to lay and I came back a couple minutes later and it was all gone he ate all his hay…but there was poop everywhere. So I realized the only way he will eat hay is if he doesn’t have to eating it out of his litter box. Is there anything I can do about this?

P.S I have to clean his litter box everyday because if it gets to full he stops using it so he’s kind of a picky bunny.

[Mikey]

Sounds like he doesnt like his hay rack, not that he doesnt like his litter box. Have you tried removing the hay rack and just piling hay on one side of the litter box?

[Shadow13]

Yes I have tried that. It seems he doesn’t like eating hay from his hay rack or out of his litter box

[Sunny]

my bun Sienna either isn’t completely litter trained or her litter box is too small. if it’s the latter, i’m getting her a new litter box in the future anyways. moving on..

because Sienna doesn’t always use her box i have puppy pads set out in two different spots where i also always have hay available for her to munch on – one in her cage area underneath her hay rack and litter box, and the other out in her play area in the middle of which i set down some hay. you could try setting the hay down to a side of a puppy pad and then whenever your rabbit eats hay he’ll pee and poop on the pad and you can easily fold it up, toss it, and replace it. 

i should also probably mention that your bun might tear the pads up – Sienna used to do this but now she rarely does as i’ve started putting a toy in front of her face to interrupt her every time she does it. if you decide to try out the puppy pads and your bun starts munching on them, you can always try that to get him to stop!

[GeorgieTheBunny]

Post some pictures?

Maybe we could help figure something out?

[Shadow13]

I’m having trouble uploading a photo at this moment I will try again in a couple hours.

[Bianca]

Perhaps try something different as a litter box? Maybe something a bit larger, perhaps shallower? Not necessarily a litter box, just a suitable storage container.

[Shadow13]

I will go to the store and look for something and hopefully find something. Right now I have a small cat litter box that is 3 in tall I think.

[Theodorusrex]

What kind of hay rack do you have? Is it the closed gridded type or fairly open? Theo won’t eat out of a grid-type hay rack so he has an open topped hay feeder which he much prefers. If the hay rack is too closed over he may find it frustrating to eat from.

Is his hay just lying on the floor of the litter tray? maybe he would prefer it from a hay rack hung near the litter tray so he can still eat hay and poop at the same time but the hay’s not directly in his litter tray?

Bunnies can be so fussy!

[Rookie]

Have you tried to use a bowl for the hay and in the litter box or directly next to it so that bunny and bum are in the box but hay is just outside and she can lean out to munch on hay? Or maybe if hay doesn’t touch litter box then she mighr eat it from a bowl?

[jerseygirl]

What type of litter do you use? Perhaps he doesn’t like the feel of that under his feet? When they go to pee, it’s quick and they’re not standing on it too long. For munching hay, they have to stay in the box longer obviously.
You could trial just newspaper and see if it he eats hay while in the box then. This would tell you if it is the feel of litter he is adverse to.
A bigger box is always a good idea so it’s good you’re looking into that.

[Shadow13]

Right now I just have a small cat litter box that I clean everyday. I use paper based pelleted litter and carfresh bedding over top. I will try newspaper tomorrow and see if that helps.

[Author]

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