Help - alternative to hay?

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AshAndMaple

AshAndMaple

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2022
Messages
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Location
England
Hi, so normally my bunnies eat Timothy hay, but Maple (female, 8 months old) went into gut stasis last week (unknown cause - teeth are fine), and since then I can't get her to eat hay. She'll have a slight nibble on some alfalfa, but she's only really eating fresh food, dried flowers and excel indoor adult rabbit nuggets. She's pooing normally and she's very bright and lively.

I'm giving her gut stimulants twice a day as recommended by my vet, and I've started to give her some fibreplex too to boost her fibre content. I can't syringe feed her (I've tried everything, she just gets very stressed and angry and it's impossible), so what can I give her to make up for the fact she isn't eating hay? I don't have a garden, but my parents live closeby and they have grass which they never treat with anything - would that help her if she eats it?

Any ideas would be appreciated - I assume the main issue with not eating hay is the fibre content? She's chewing toys made of palm leaf and seagrass so her teeth should be getting worn down.
 
I think grass would absolutely be your next best option, it's still fibrous and good for their teeth.
Perhaps you could try a hay cookie as well? It's like compressed hay blocks for them to nibble on.
 
Mileybun said:
I think grass would absolutely be your next best option, it's still fibrous and good for their teeth.
Perhaps you could try a hay cookie as well? It's like compressed hay blocks for them to nibble on.
Click to expand...
I think I'll get her a small amount of grass tomorrow if I can. I've tried giving them hay cookies before and they're not very impressed by them! At least the ones in stores. I've seen ones that independent sellers have made which are much much more compressed, and she has accepted those before. Not sure how much hay is actually in those though. I've attached a pic of the "hay cookies" that I think you mean vs the independent Etsy-seller type.Screenshot_20230404-224909.pngScreenshot_20230404-225336.png
 
Yes, fresh grass if you can get it. But if it's young early growth, that can be a bit rich. It usually needs to be slowly introduced and may need to be fed in limited amounts.

Otherwise, try different varieties and suppliers of hay. In the UK you have readigrass, that seems to be a popular one with buns there. But it can be a rich one too and needs to be limited.

You could try plain hay pellets. I think Galens Garden sells some different types of forage pellets. You may also be able to find hay pellets sold in bulk at feed and farm stores, as a feed for horses. It just has to be good horse quality(no mold). I had a new bun that refused to eat hay and also couldn't have rabbit food pellets due to a sensitivity, so I fed him plain hay pellets that I got from a farm store, until he gradually started eating loose hay.

You can also try finding a rabbit food pellet that has really high fiber, and just feed an increased portion of those. Here in the US, sherwood rabbit food has a complete pellet with higher fiber, for rabbits that won't or can't eat loose hay. So something like that Of course there's first making sure the refusal of hay eating isn't due to something like a dental problem first.

If you have access to foraged plants or can buy them, that can be another supplemental source of fiber. But you do need to be careful how you introduce the new foods, starting one at a time and only gradually increasing if there are no signs of digestive upset.

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/foraging
 
JBun said:
Yes, fresh grass if you can get it. But if it's young early growth, that can be a bit rich. It usually needs to be slowly introduced and may need to be fed in limited amounts.

Otherwise, try different varieties and suppliers of hay. In the UK you have readigrass, that seems to be a popular one with buns there. But it can be a rich one too and needs to be limited.

You could try plain hay pellets. I think Galens Garden sells some different types of forage pellets. You may also be able to find hay pellets sold in bulk at feed and farm stores, as a feed for horses. It just has to be good horse quality(no mold). I had a new bun that refused to eat hay and also couldn't have rabbit food pellets due to a sensitivity, so I fed him plain hay pellets that I got from a farm store, until he gradually started eating loose hay.

You can also try finding a rabbit food pellet that has really high fiber, and just feed an increased portion of those. Here in the US, sherwood rabbit food has a complete pellet with higher fiber, for rabbits that won't or can't eat loose hay. So something like that Of course there's first making sure the refusal of hay eating isn't due to something like a dental problem first.

If you have access to foraged plants or can buy them, that can be another supplemental source of fiber. But you do need to be careful how you introduce the new foods, starting one at a time and only gradually increasing if there are no signs of digestive upset.

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/foraging
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I'm extremely allergic to readigrass - I've tried giving them it before and I feel my throat start to burn as soon as I open the bag. Saying that, I do know there are different types so I could look for Timothy as the hay doesn't seem to affect me. I could have a look for hay pellets, I wasn't aware that was a thing. When I looked before, Burgess Excel was the pellet that I liked the nutritional information of the most - and it's higher in fibre than most pellets. I know Protexin (same company that do Fibreplex) do a probiotic pellet that's high in fibre which I could try.

The vet did check her teeth and said there were no signs of spurs or anything - so hopefully her teeth are fine.

Fresh-food wise she gets a mix of coriander, dill, basil, pak choi, romaine/curly lettuce, red kale and bell pepper. At the moment she's getting lots of dill as that's a firm favourite, along with pak choi, coriander, strawberry leaves and red kale.
 
Yes those are the hay cookies I mean, Miley won't eat them but my guinea pigs used to love them, but only the nice green ones! I also used to buy grass pellets for them too.
 
Something like this.

https://bitless-equestrian.co.uk/shop/horse-health-feeds/simple-system-haycare/
They are larger pellets, but my rabbit didn't ever have a problem eating them. I fed them dry, not soaked like is done with horses. Wet, they can't be left out for too long. I can't say if your rabbit will like them or not though.

It's a large bag, 20kg, so you're stuck with it if your bun doesn't like them. If you decide to try them, you may be able to order and have it shipped, from any company that sells these types of hay pellets, or find a local farm shop that has something similar.

Or if you want to start with a smaller portion to try them out, to make sure your bun will eat them, there's this.

https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/forage-pellets-cobs/
This place also has some herb varieties to chose from. There may be other shops that have this kind of thing, but this is the only one that I remember.
 
The forage pellets are what I used to get for my piggies. They are quite hard but they did manage them. I guess you could soak them a little bit first!
 
JBun said:
Something like this.

https://bitless-equestrian.co.uk/shop/horse-health-feeds/simple-system-haycare/
They are larger pellets, but my rabbit didn't ever have a problem eating them. I fed them dry, not soaked like is done with horses. Wet, they can't be left out for too long. I can't say if your rabbit will like them or not though.

It's a large bag, 20kg, so you're stuck with it if your bun doesn't like them. If you decide to try them, you may be able to order and have it shipped, from any company that sells these types of hay pellets, or find a local farm shop that has something similar.

Or if you want to start with a smaller portion to try them out, to make sure your bun will eat them, there's this.

https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/forage-pellets-cobs/
This place also has some herb varieties to chose from. There may be other shops that have this kind of thing, but this is the only one that I remember.
Click to expand...
Great, thank you so much!! I'll take a look and hopefully I'll find something that she'll eat! I've just tried to give her fresh grass with some fresh dandelion leaves and she's just ignoring them at the moment.... :/ Her brother has eaten his portion so I don't know why she isn't interested.
 
AshAndMaple said:
Very strange! She definitely loves dandelions - although she has never had fresh ones before 🤷‍♀️ maybe she'll try it later and realise she likes it
Click to expand...
Miley is exactly the same, she loves dandelions too! I tried mushing them up with some grass rot ry and get her to eat some and she just picked the dandelions out 😂
 
JBun said:
Something like this.

https://bitless-equestrian.co.uk/shop/horse-health-feeds/simple-system-haycare/
They are larger pellets, but my rabbit didn't ever have a problem eating them. I fed them dry, not soaked like is done with horses. Wet, they can't be left out for too long. I can't say if your rabbit will like them or not though.

It's a large bag, 20kg, so you're stuck with it if your bun doesn't like them. If you decide to try them, you may be able to order and have it shipped, from any company that sells these types of hay pellets, or find a local farm shop that has something similar.

Or if you want to start with a smaller portion to try them out, to make sure your bun will eat them, there's this.

https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/forage-pellets-cobs/
This place also has some herb varieties to chose from. There may be other shops that have this kind of thing, but this is the only one that I remember.
Click to expand...
Just wanted to update this thread incase anyone from the UK finds it helpful;

I ordered some hay pellets from Wild About Bunnies - they have loads of different flavours with only hay and the flavour added - I've given my two their Fruit Leaf Timothy Hay Pellets to try and they love them 😍 Finally I can get some hay into Maple! They sell sample packs so you can try different flavours ☺️
 
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