Hay

How much. A rabbit should eat roughly its own body size in hay every day. That sounds like a lot because it is. If a 2 kg bag is lasting a month for one rabbit, they are not eating enough.

Where it goes. Beside or above the litter tray. Rabbits eat and use the toilet at the same time, and this one placement does more for both hay intake and litter training than anything else you can change.

Keeping it fresh. Out of the bag, somewhere dry, with air getting to it. Not sealed in plastic — hay sweats, and sealed hay goes musty within weeks. A fabric bag, a paper sack with the top rolled down, or an open crate all work. Keep it out of direct sunlight.

Topping up, not refilling. Take the old hay out before you put new in. A rack topped up over a stale base teaches a rabbit to ignore the whole thing.

A picky rabbit. Almost always one of three things.

1. They are full of pellets or treats, and hay is competing with something easier. Cut the pellets back for a few days and watch what happens.
2. The hay is stale. Fresh hay smells green and sweet. Old hay smells of almost nothing.
3. It is in the wrong place. Move it next to where they already sit, not where you would prefer they ate.

Changing hay. Mix the new in with the old over about a week rather than swapping overnight. Rabbits are cautious about new food, and an abrupt change often reads as rejection of the new hay when it is really just the change.

Herbs. Treats, not food. A small pinch mixed into the hay makes a reluctant rabbit investigate, which is useful when you are introducing a new batch. Given daily and in quantity, herbs reduce hay intake rather than increasing it.