My pair and their hay eating habits

My pair always have hay in their cage, but they will only eat it if it is on the floor of their litter tray.

They have a NIC set up, and at present the base of their old cage as their litter tray, as I couldn't get them to only pee in a smaller litter tray when they were in the old cage (not the NIC set up). I am hoping to reduce the size of the litter tray once they are a bit more settled in the NIC cage, as they've not been in it that long. In this tray they have wood pellet cat litter, which has a covering of hay over it. I have also tried putting a hay rack on it, full of nommy fresh hay.

Anyway, try as I might, they will not eat hay from a hay rack.

They will only eat hay that they can sit in, and pee in, and poop in. I tried giving them a separate hay box to their cage, and they sat in it, and peed in it and pooped in it, which defeated the object, so I took it away again. I tried using straw for bedding and using a hay rack. They ate the straw (and peed in it and pooped in it) so I stopped that, and I'm back to hay for bedding and eating all on the floor of the cage.

Can anyone think of anything that will get them eating hay from the rack and not the stuff they go toilet in? Or am I just going to have to learn to live with the fact that my bunnies are minging?

Mine won't eat from a rack either, and it drives me mad!! All the nice hay gets trodden on, pooed on and weed on, yet it's still munched. It did take Florence a while to eat the hay which Dougal had weed on, but now she doesn't think anything of it.

Sorry I can't help, but mine are the same so it's not just yours who are minging!!!

What are these bunnies like?

I suppose they are a species that eats their own poo anyway though (and they eat the stinkiest ones, what's that about?).

Glad they aren't the only ones! It doesn't seem to be doing them any harm.

I'm with you on this. It's totally gross that they eat the hay from their litter tray

If you find the magic trick to stop it, I'd love to hear about it

Thumper2001 wrote:I'm with you on this. It's totally gross that they eat the hay from their litter tray

If you find the magic trick to stop it, I'd love to hear about it

It's easy! Don't use hay or straw. We use Yesterday's News litter and have the
hay rack hung so he can sit and munch the hay and sit in the litter as he poops.
He pees in the other corner of the litter box so he can't eat hay when he pees.
Silly rabbit. One corner of the litter pan for pee, one for poo and never
the twain shall meet.

Florence is a diva, she ignores hay in a hay rack! But if you then put that same hay on the floor she munches it I was really hoping Dougal would teach her to use a hay rack, but she taught him the other way

Bunnies huh!

gentl wrote:

Thumper2001 wrote:I'm with you on this. It's totally gross that they eat the hay from their litter tray

If you find the magic trick to stop it, I'd love to hear about it

It's easy! Don't use hay or straw. We use Yesterday's News litter and have the
hay rack hung so he can sit and munch the hay and sit in the litter as he poops.
He pees in the other corner of the litter box so he can't eat hay when he pees.
Silly rabbit. One corner of the litter pan for pee, one for poo and never
the twain shall meet.

I tried. They went on hay strike! They will quite happily go without their hay if it isn't in a place they can sit. They broke me. There's only so much bunny hunger strike I can tolerate before worrying about stasis. Honestly, when OH and me finally have a baby I may have to be a bit less of a softy - the animals have me wrapped round their little paws!

Oh I agree, I had this last week as my pair went on hunger strike and there was only so much I could take before I worried they weren't getting enough roughage and would risk stasis or a blockage from fur.

Mine don't seem to want to eat from a rack either, BUT if I stick the hay through the bars on the hutch they love it