Momma Stitch
Member
Has anyone had an experience with a rabbit that doesn't eat muchhay?:?
I think you're absolutely right, it's not that he doesn't like hay, it's just there is always something more tasty around. It's like giving a child the option between cake and broccoli, they are always going to pick cake.I think the reason he doesn't eat much hay is because I give him too many options on food. He always has fresh pellets and fresh veggies on hand. I know most of their diet is supposed to come from hay but he just doesn't seem to like it.. It's good to know I am not the only one with a rabbit that hates hay.
I just got my bunny in sept. and he does not like hay one bit. We've cut back on his veggie and pellet intake to maybe 3 tablespoons of pellets and a 1/2 cup of veggies. But he still does not like to eat hay, even though he's got a giant pile of it in his cage and hanging from a feeder. He'll starve himself until he's given his pellets or veggies. Any suggestions on how to get him to eat ? Thank you
This may be obvious, but did ya'll realize, that pellets and hay, are made of the same thing, (Timothy hay & Timothy pellets) and may bunny is tired of eating the same thing (like a person given only potato chips and mashed potatoes)all the time? Also, aren't rabbits herbivores, as in herbaceous plants, as in LEAF eaters? Rabbits, are not grazers,, so why the recommendation of eating only 80% hay forever? Shouldn't rabbits be fed a varied plant matter diet, just like humans like variety? Shouldn't they be eating 80% mixed plant matter, like LEAVES, stems, flowers, twigs, roots,? Stuff like raspberry & blackberry, dandelion, lettuce, clover, apple, mustard, radish, carrot, turnip, parsnip, beet, celery, dill, parsley, leaves, roots: carrots, turnip, beet, parsnip, etc, and flowers; dandelion, calandula, yarrow, clover, tubers, like potato, sweet potato, etc as well as the rinds of squash, etc.? Many commercial rabbit foods, have seeds in them, when rabbits don''t eat seeds. Rabbit pellets, were invented as a easy to feed, complete diet, for confined rabbits, like "meat" rabbits, and lab rabbits. I think the feeding rabbits hay, was recommended also out of convenience, (shelf stable, easy to supply, and sell) than what a rabbit should really be eating. It's strange, that plant farmers, don't market all the tops they cut off celery, carrots and turnips, as rabbit food.
The idea of getting tired of a food is a very anthropocentric one. Humans are omnivores, rabbits are strict herbivores, the fact that their diet is made of fewer things is a given. Besides, hay is made of a lot of different plants and two bags won't taste the same at all - which is why your rabbits will turn their noses up at a lot of them. Not because they are tired of them but because they don't like those ones. It's obvious even opening different bags that they are all different and I can tell beforehand when a bag will be a flop with my rabbits. Rabbits spend most of their time eating grass. You can replace hay with grass, but to meet your rabbit's needs in terms of quantity and variety, that would mean spending hours a day picking herbs and different kind of grass outside which is not an option for most people. You can't replace hay with vegetables. Hay is poor in calories and it contains long fibers essential to the guts. It's also the best and most effective way to wear down teeth.
I don't mean rabbits shouldn't be eating vegetables. Mine do, about 8% of their weight everyday with different vegetables (about 5 different everyday, changed weekly depending on what's avaible, to avoid defiencies... my rabbits would be overjoyed to eat carrots and only carrots everyday of the week). My rabbits eat very few pellets and they contain mainly herbs and vegetables.
Besides, if you're talking about what a rabbit would eat in the wild, most of what you suggest wouldn't be part of their diet - rabbits obviously don't eat roots or things that grow on trees because they don't have access to them. Few of them eat vegetables at all - they mainly eat grass and wild hers, mushroom and bark during the winter (when they hivernate and mostly starve).
I wouldn't recommend giving potatoes and sweet pototoes to a rabbit.
Also, rabbits need to chew on solid things, twigs, wood, etc, to wear their teeth down. Pellets do NOT help with this, as the "meat" and lab rabbits were killed before their teeth could ever get overgrown. Wild rabbits seek out bark, twigs, and pieces of wood to chew on. Why do you think they make twig, wood and wicker chew toys for rabbits?
The idea of getting tired of a food is a very anthropocentric one. Humans are omnivores, rabbits are strict herbivores, the fact that their diet is made of fewer things is a given. Besides, hay is made of a lot of different plants and two bags won't taste the same at all - which is why your rabbits will turn their noses up at a lot of them. Not because they are tired of them but because they don't like those ones. It's obvious even opening different bags that they are all different and I can tell beforehand when a bag will be a flop with my rabbits. Rabbits spend most of their time eating grass. You can replace hay with grass, but to meet your rabbit's needs in terms of quantity and variety, that would mean spending hours a day picking herbs and different kind of grass outside which is not an option for most people. You can't replace hay with vegetables. Hay is poor in calories and it contains long fibers essential to the guts. It's also the best and most effective way to wear down teeth.
I don't mean rabbits shouldn't be eating vegetables. Mine do, about 8% of their weight everyday with different vegetables (about 5 different everyday, changed weekly depending on what's avaible, to avoid defiencies... my rabbits would be overjoyed to eat carrots and only carrots everyday of the week). My rabbits eat very few pellets and they contain mainly herbs and vegetables.
Besides, if you're talking about what a rabbit would eat in the wild, most of what you suggest wouldn't be part of their diet - rabbits obviously don't eat roots or things that grow on trees because they don't have access to them. Few of them eat vegetables at all - they mainly eat grass and wild hers, mushroom and bark during the winter (when they hivernate and mostly starve).
I wouldn't recommend giving potatoes and sweet pototoes to a rabbit.
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