Vet-recommended hay and enrichment for Rex rabbits

A vet flag on hay intake and enrichment is really worth taking seriously — Rex rabbits are intelligent, active animals and at four years old your rabbit is in their prime, so getting these two things right now has a real impact on gut health, dental wear, and mental wellbeing. Hay really does need to make up around 80% of their diet, and enrichment isn't a luxury — it's how rabbits stay calm and engaged rather than bored and destructive. Tell me a bit more: is your Rex indoors or outdoors, and do you have a sense of whether the main gap is the hay side, the enrichment side, or both?

That pellets-over-hay pattern is really common and it's a straightforward fix once you address it structurally. The key is to make hay the easiest and most interesting food source, and to reduce pellets so he's genuinely hungry for it. On the enrichment side, a tunnel and cardboard box are a decent start but there's not much to actually do with them — Rex rabbits especially benefit from foraging, because it mimics natural behaviour and keeps them occupied for longer stretches. Can I ask — where is his hay currently kept? Loose on the floor, in a bowl, or in a rack of some kind?

That explains a lot. Loose hay on the floor tends to get sat on, soiled, and ignored — rabbits are actually more motivated to eat hay when they have to pull it out and work at it a little. The single change that makes the biggest difference for indoor rabbits in this situation is a good wall-mounted hay rack placed at face height, ideally next to the litter tray, because rabbits graze and toilet at the same time by instinct. On enrichment, the most effective upgrade for a rabbit who only has static items is a foraging activity. My recommendation is to tackle both together with the Rosewood Naturals range — specifically the Rosewood Small Animal Hay Bar combined with their Activity Boredom Breaker toy. The Hay Bar mounts to the pen side, keeps hay fresh and accessible at the right height, and almost always increases hay consumption within a week. The Boredom Breaker lets you hide nuggets and dried herbs inside so he's working for food rather than just eating from a bowl. Both are well-made, safe for indoor use, and widely recommended by rabbit welfare organisations. Would it help to know how to transition his pellet portions at the same time to make the hay shift stick?

Good question, and yes — Rex fur is genuinely different. It's short, dense, and velvety because the guard hairs are the same length as the undercoat, which means it doesn't tangle or matt the way a standard or angora coat does. The flip side is that it can be more prone to thinning or sore patches if the rabbit sits on hard surfaces a lot, so a soft mat or hay layer underfoot is worth having. For grooming, a very soft bristle brush once a week is plenty — you don't need a slicker brush and too much grooming actually damages Rex fur. On the pellet transition: the standard approach is to cut pellets back to one tablespoon per kilogram of body weight per day, fill the hay rack generously morning and evening, and within two to three weeks most rabbits naturally shift their preference toward hay once pellets are no longer available on demand. Add a pinch of dried herbs like chamomile or dandelion into the hay to make it more interesting at the start.

Timothy hay is the right call for an adult rabbit — it's the gold standard for over-six-month-old rabbits because it has the right fibre-to-protein balance and the coarser texture does more for dental wear than softer hays. For a four-year-old Rex, Timothy should be the main hay, making up the bulk of what goes in the rack. You can add a small amount of meadow hay for variety and extra foraging interest, but Timothy as the base is exactly what your vet will have had in mind. Oxbow and Burgess Excel both do good quality Timothy hay that's widely available and consistently fresh — either works well. You're in a good position: one habitat tweak, a small enrichment upgrade, and a pellet portion adjustment, and your vet should see a noticeably healthier rabbit at the next checkup.