My bunny (13 weeks old) doesn't eat hay out of his hay box. He prefers to eat hay on the bottom of his litter box. This wastes a ton of hay and because I'm saving up for his 250 dollar neuter, I can't afford to spend that extra money. Can someone tell me why he does this and tell be how I can stop this behavior?
Does not eat hay out of a hay bin
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I feed my rabbits their hay by adding it to the top of their litter box twice per day. Yes, it will waste lots of hay. But they also pick through their hay even if it is fed some other way. They can be choosey about which strands they want. So even if you don't add it to their litter box, they will still waste hay (just maybe not quite so much!)
I'd suggest buying your hay by the bale or half bale. I cannot express how much money this will save you. A full bale of hay may cost roughly $17-$24 but it will easily last you an entire year! Feed stores typically carry bales of various types of hay.
I know from when I used to buy those bags of hay at the petstore, just how much that can be. But getting it by the bale is soooo cheap, that even if you threw half of it away, it is still cheaper, way cheaper, then buying bagged hay from the pet store. You won't need to fret over wasted hay and won't need to skimp on what they get.
It is a pretty natural habit for rabbits to graze while they potty. That is why having hay in the litter box is a good idea. By adding fresh hay on top of the litter twice per day, they will always have fresh hay to eat.
I'd suggest buying your hay by the bale or half bale. I cannot express how much money this will save you. A full bale of hay may cost roughly $17-$24 but it will easily last you an entire year! Feed stores typically carry bales of various types of hay.
I know from when I used to buy those bags of hay at the petstore, just how much that can be. But getting it by the bale is soooo cheap, that even if you threw half of it away, it is still cheaper, way cheaper, then buying bagged hay from the pet store. You won't need to fret over wasted hay and won't need to skimp on what they get.
It is a pretty natural habit for rabbits to graze while they potty. That is why having hay in the litter box is a good idea. By adding fresh hay on top of the litter twice per day, they will always have fresh hay to eat.
I have the hay rack next to the pan and that works well for our bunnies--just shavings in the pan.
You're welcome!
I can't recommend any particular feed stores because often they are local stores. You can google for "feed stores" in your area to see what's around.
I do the same as @Nancy McClelland because I can’t stand the hay sticking to Poppy’s fluffy bottom and trailing all over the house!
I can't do that because he would sit in the hay and pee in it lol
The idea of a hay rack over the litter box (that Larry and Popsicles were referring to) is not something that your rabbit would be able to sit in. This is an example I found on google of what is meant:
This is an option provided your rabbit can get enough hay out. I'd prefer seeing something with even larger openings than this example so they can get more of their nose in there (make it easier to get to). But that's just my opinion.
However if your rabbit is already liking to dig hay out of the bottom of his litter tray, then you can work with that too. As I said earlier, mine eat their hay directly out of the litter box. That's why I add fresh hay a couple times per day -- so they always, have fresh hay to munch.
You can try whichever way works for you and your bunny.
This is an option provided your rabbit can get enough hay out. I'd prefer seeing something with even larger openings than this example so they can get more of their nose in there (make it easier to get to). But that's just my opinion.
However if your rabbit is already liking to dig hay out of the bottom of his litter tray, then you can work with that too. As I said earlier, mine eat their hay directly out of the litter box. That's why I add fresh hay a couple times per day -- so they always, have fresh hay to munch.
You can try whichever way works for you and your bunny.
BunnyLoveMD
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I order from Small Pet Select. They have great quality and reasonable prices for large amounts of hay.
How is the hay getting in the litter box? At 13 weeks, My bunnies and I were still working out our kinks. I wanted a hidey hole filled with hay to eat and rest and a separate litter box. They wanted to pee on the hay. I kept moving poop to the litter box, and giving a small pile of hay. My issue was only solved when I got hay they preferred to pellets. In the morning they got fresh hay, and if they peed on it they wouldn’t eat it and were stuck with it until the next morning. This left them with only pellets. Within a week they figured out they rather eat the hay. Then a moved the hay to the hidey hole furthest from litter box, and we are all on the same page.
