Nibbles won't eat her hay!!

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Andrea123

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So the last bag I bought of Hay was back in July. It was a pkg of Timothy Hay. She loved it and kept having to replenish it every day.

I had to get a new bag of hay on Monday. Unfortunately the pet store never had the Timothy hay and I had no choice but to get another brand... Oxbow.. She hasn't eaten her hay at all!!! Its a big bag of hay and cost me $45!. the thought of having to throw it away cause she is a 'hay snob" makes me cringe!

I think I read somewhere else on this forum, that if I gave her no pellets and all that was left for her to eat was the hay, she would eventually have no choice but to eat it.....any success in that? I don't want to starve my buns. She loves her little salad of greens I give her with her pellets in the morning. She won't be a very happy bunny with me but I know I need to be sure she eats her hay!!!

Heading to bed now and she has eaten the last of her pellets that was in her bowl. There is only hay in her pen right now.

All suggestions are welcome.
 
I feel your pain, I have a very difficult 'client' as well. Removing the pellets to encourage eating hay can work (a rabbit shouldn't have access to pellets for more than about 20mn anyway) but you can't starve your rabbit either. I give the pellets around 8h30 am, it's eaten about 20mn later and then the rabbits have hay only until the vegetables, around 11pm. BUT a rabbit needs to eat or their guts will stop. If you rabbit decided the oxbow hay was icky you won't get her to eat it. She will rather kill herself by starvation than settle for what she has. Sorry, you have to buy another bag. I know it's horrible but it happens. Often. What I do is that I close the opened hay bag and put it aside. Sometimes they won't eat a hay bag and will eat it 4 months later. For the record, I had no luck with oxbow either. I bought a lot of it myself one year ago because Aki was having slow guts and I thought she would eat it better than the regular hay. I also bought 3 very big bags of a special 'summer hay' with flowers in it and everything. She wouldn't touch it. At all. None of it. I was pretty mad especially since it smelled and looked good but what can you do... I put them aside and began to give a pile of it once a day (while giving something else as an alternative) a few months later. They ate some. Not even half, but a bit of it. The only hay which is always eaten at 90% is Crau Hay and it's already horribly expensive in France (it's a PDO hay, the one chefs in fancy restaurants use to infuse in sauces or something - yeah, my rabbits are the caviar type ^^'). I keep a stash of it and give a small handful everyday to boost the fibers intake.
You can try to make a big pile of your hay on the floor, I notice my rabbits will eat more if they can dig through it. You can put chiseled herbs like mint mixed with it to try to make it smell better. in the meanwhile, also give grass to make sure the rabbit's guts are working. But if your rabbit doesn't eat it, buy another brand. I used to buy at a petstore before I began to order via Internet and I used to put my face against the package to check the smell and color - people thought I was crazy, I'm sure, but generally, if it's greenish and smells good it will be eaten. Though, not always ^^'.
 
OMG!!! you made me laugh this morning thanks!! Glad to know my buns is not the only hay snob out there! I am going to the pet store this evening after supper to get some Timothy Hay. I might try to combine some of the oxbow with the timothy to maybe see if that works. I will pick some grass in my garden shortly and see how she finds that. I don't want anything to happen to our girl. Nibbles was a gift for my son for finishing Grade 1 back in June. He ADORES his bunny and he would be heartbroken if anything happened to her. And so would I.
Her hay is by her litter box so she has easy access when she is doing her business or just hanging out in her litter chilling.

You mentioned you are in France! I was there 2 years ago during the Springs of 2014 and 2015. I am IN LOVE with your country! Itching to get back there again some day!

Thanks for your suggestions!

Andrea, Will and Nibbles!
 
I feel your pain, I have a very difficult 'client' as well.
You can try to make a big pile of your hay on the floor, I notice my rabbits will eat more if they can dig through it. You can put chiseled herbs like mint mixed with it to try to make it smell better. in the meanwhile, also give grass to make sure the rabbit's guts are working. But if your rabbit doesn't eat it, buy another brand. I used to buy at a petstore before I began to order via Internet and I used to put my face against the package to check the smell and color - people thought I was crazy, I'm sure, but generally, if it's greenish and smells good it will be eaten. Though, not always ^^'.

I just added some grass to her bowl.. she is a savage eating it here!!! LOL
 
Yeah, some rabbits can be quite particular about their hay. Some only like certain cuts, certain varieties, or only the leafy bits, or just the stalky bits. I've bought hay that looked perfectly lovely to me, and sure enough my rabbits gave me that look of 'this isn't the hay we like, where's the old stuff', when I tried to feed it to them. If you ever can buy a bale at the feed store, it's much cheaper and they will often let you take a handful as a sample first, so you can bring it home to make sure your bun likes it before you buy a whole bale. That's usually what I try and do anyways.

On the off chance that your bun isn't eating the hay because there is something wrong with it, make sure to check for the possibility it went moldy. If it did there could be white or black spots in it, white dust, it might be damp, and there will be a sour or musty smell to it. If it has any of these things do not attempt to feed any more of it to your bun(moldy hay can make your bun very sick), contact oxbow telling them you think you were sent moldy hay. They will may want you to send them pictures or mail a sample, and they should replace it. Also if the hay has a bunch of weeds in it, that would be another reason they should replace it.

If the hay seems alright, you could still try contacting them and see if they might do anything about it. They usually seem to have good customer service and may at least send you a sample of a different hay for your bun to try out. After all, if your bun won't eat their hay, they will lose your business to someone else, and that should matter to them.
 
OMG!!! you made me laugh this morning thanks!! Glad to know my buns is not the only hay snob out there! I am going to the pet store this evening after supper to get some Timothy Hay. I might try to combine some of the oxbow with the timothy to maybe see if that works. I will pick some grass in my garden shortly and see how she finds that. I don't want anything to happen to our girl. Nibbles was a gift for my son for finishing Grade 1 back in June. He ADORES his bunny and he would be heartbroken if anything happened to her. And so would I.
Her hay is by her litter box so she has easy access when she is doing her business or just hanging out in her litter chilling.

You mentioned you are in France! I was there 2 years ago during the Springs of 2014 and 2015. I am IN LOVE with your country! Itching to get back there again some day!

Thanks for your suggestions!

Andrea, Will and Nibbles!

Ahah, with animals it's best to try to keep your sense of humour because really... I just spent the day monitoring my dog, who has an upset tummy after eating SOIL of all things - he woke me up at 3 am - -'. He got his eyes scratched running into a bush just last month. I love him to death, but sometimes I'm just like 'Seriously, are you trying to give me an ulcer?'
I hope you'll have better luck with your next bag of hay! Life with a hay-snob is possible ! I've had Aki for 8 years and I just have to keep a close eye on her hay intake (more now that she's older).
Yes, I'm French! There is nothing like taking the parisian underground at rush hour carrying two HUMONGOUS bags of hay and getting hated by everyone in the carriage. On the day I got my first rabbit, I carried the 1m cage home and a policeman stopped me saying 'What kind of monster IS that for?'. A woman came to me and was like 'My son wanted one, I feel your pain'. XD The life of a rabbit owner is hard...
 
Ahah, with animals it's best to try to keep your sense of humour because really... I just spent the day monitoring my dog, who has an upset tummy after eating SOIL of all things - he woke me up at 3 am - -'. He got his eyes scratched running into a bush just last month. I love him to death, but sometimes I'm just like 'Seriously, are you trying to give me an ulcer?'
I hope you'll have better luck with your next bag of hay! Life with a hay-snob is possible ! I've had Aki for 8 years and I just have to keep a close eye on her hay intake (more now that she's older).
Yes, I'm French! There is nothing like taking the parisian underground at rush hour carrying two HUMONGOUS bags of hay and getting hated by everyone in the carriage. On the day I got my first rabbit, I carried the 1m cage home and a policeman stopped me saying 'What kind of monster IS that for?'. A woman came to me and was like 'My son wanted one, I feel your pain'. XD The life of a rabbit owner is hard...


LOL.. I loved the parisian underground!!!! I can only imagine the looks!! you should have told the police officer to be very very careful as its a KILLER bunny!!! I would love to get back to Paris again! loved just watching the people going by while sitting with my coffee at a cafe....... sigh.......
 
ooh and yes I got the Timothy Hay and she is gobbling it up while looking at me saying well its about d*@#M time WOMAN! LOL... sigh! HAY SNOB!
 

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