What to do with a bunny that won't touch hay?

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Stone_family3

Stone_family3

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, Ohio, USA
She could honestly care less about it, she digs in it and then uses it as a potty. She has an alfalfa orchard grass mix. I have also tried getting the kind with the special flowers to entice her and it's not working.

I even cut down on her fresh foods and stopped letting her nibble on the grass in the yard to get her to eat it. Nothing :(

Our schedule is (as long as it is not raining or snowing) Sun up to sun down, in the yard nibbling on grass. Inside 1/8 cup of pellets (morning) and whatever leftover produce we have within reason through the day and 1/8 cup of pellets at night (8pm).

Blossom is a mixed breed bunny NZ and Mini Lop (I think) and is about 16 weeks old. I got her at 6 wks because the lady threatened to dump them outside.
 
Sounds like she really loves grass. Grass is just as good if not better for the teeth. The problem will be when it is too cold or the grass goes dormant in the Winter time.
 
Try at your local pet store some different types. Orchard grass mix, timothy or oat hay. Lots of these come with a mix of flowers but try her on the plain stuff first. I use timothy on top of Derby's litter and give him a great big handful of fresh in front of his food dish. As a lot of rabbits like to graze and poo at the same time, you can also set a hay rack up right at eating level inside the area of her litter box.
 
Thanks I'll pick up some grass seed then. I usually give her carrot, beet, turnip tops as well as fresh herbs. Are those also good for their teeth?
 
Most certainly continue with the fresh foods and grasses, both of which are high in fiber. Hay is not essential.
 
pamnock said:
Most certainly continue with the fresh foods and grasses, both of which are high in fiber. Hay is not essential.
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Really? I was unaware of that. I mean I figured wild rabbits didn't need it, but thought domesticated did. I let her chew on wood toys and she digs and rips up paper. Should there be anything else I should do to make sure she is healthy?
 
Mine always have loads of hay and lots of water. They do eat plenty of veggies and a small amount of pellets. They also have the occasional treat and lots of exercise. If they are getting plenty of grass this could replace the hay, not sure but I think this chart is a good guideline, however, every rabbit differs and as long as his teeth are not overgrown and he´s pooping an peeing OK, that´s the main thing.


Rabbitdiet_zpsd057d3b3.jpg
 
My Beauty will not touch hay at all either. I do not have a place to let her get grass so she does not get that either. She will nibble on Binky Bunny oat hay (might order her some more soon, but it will be over $50 to get it). I have tried LOTS of different kinds of hay. I have bought 2 bales of hay (costal and timothy), 4 different pet store hays, and Jennifer scent me a couple samples of the sierra vally hay, and the young oat hay from binky bunny. She will only eat the binky bunny hay.
 
Given that your bunny does not seem to like hay at the moment, I would NOT buy ANY at the Pet Store....pet store hay is VERY expensive...so you will be out a lot of money and left with a lot of hay your bunny won't eat! I would try to connect with some horse people and see if they would give you a few handfuls of some of their hay and see if you can find some that your bunny likes and then buy a bale! My bunny, Reeses, who is now 6 months old started out not liking hay, my vet who is very bunny savvy....said to continue offering it to him as it is a needed part of their diet. I had the best luck when I offered him 2nd cut horse hay that I feed to my horses. All four of my bunnies love that hay, even Reeses! Good luck!
 
Stone_family3 said:
Really? I was unaware of that. I mean I figured wild rabbits didn't need it, but thought domesticated did. I let her chew on wood toys and she digs and rips up paper. Should there be anything else I should do to make sure she is healthy?
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I think many would disagree that hay isn't essential. I pulled the following quote from the library section of RO:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Hay is the most important factor in your rabbit's diet. It is his prime source of fiber, which is instrumental in keeping the gut in good working order. Hay has the added benefits of being good entertainment for your bunny, they love to rearrange it, dig it up and place it "just so," as well as a great source of chewing material which is necessary to keeping the teeth healthy. A rabbit's teeth grow continuously throughout his life and it is essential that we provide them with safe chewing materials such as hay and wooden chew toys to help keep them filed down. A rabbit with tooth problems is a rabbit on his way to having GI problems as well. Fresh timothy, oat and other grass hays should be available to all bunnies all the time. Alfalfa hay, which is higher in calories as well as calcium (which can cause kidney or bladder problems(sludge) in older rabbits) is okay to feed to physically fit bunnies under the age of one, but should be avoided for the average healthy, mature house rabbit....[/FONT]"
 
Roughage is important in a rabbit's diet, but if your rabbit is eating a bunch of grass each day, then that should be fine, as long as it isn't causing soft poops. After all, hay is just grass that is dried.

She may at some point, start eating some of her hay. I have a rabbit that would hardly touch his hay when I first got him. I just kept putting a little in his cage each day, and eventually he started eating more and more. Just keep putting a little fresh hay in her cage each day, and eventually she may start eating some of it.
 
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JBun said:
Roughage is important in a rabbit's diet, but if your rabbit is eating a bunch of grass each day, then that should be fine, as long as it isn't causing soft poops. After all, hay is just grass that is dried.

She may at some point, start eating some of her hay. I have a rabbit that would hardly touch his hay when I first got him. I just kept putting a little in his cage each day, and eventually he started eating more and more. Just keep putting a little fresh hay in her cage each day, and eventually she may start eating some of it.
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if the hay wasn't eaten, then it should be some "old" hay in the cage the next day. Should it be removed to be replaced with "new hay"? is there a difference for the rabbit if the hay is one day old or "brand new"? (I understand that the new hay has a smell that the old hay probably doesn't have)
I am asking as my rabbits are not eating much hay even though they have access to it all the time, I just keep the same hay there. Sometimes I would throw a little more hay from the package on top of the old hay for the smell.
Do you think I should get rid of "old hay" every day and give them fresh hay?
 
I change out all of my 'old' hay daily bc even if they don't eat it all they tend to play with it, pee on it, etc
 
I have been changing my hay out each day and have not noticed a difference with them eating it.
 
If your rabbits are outside where it's cool, and you are using the hay as bedding and insulation as well, then I would leave it in and just put a fresh handful in once or twice a day, just about as much as you think they will eat until the next feeding. I find that if I put too much hay in, they just waste it, but if I put in the right amount til the next feeding time, they end up eating almost all of it.
 
Either grass or hay is fine as a dietary staple for a rabbit. Hay is dried grass (and/or legumes and herbs). We say hay is "essential" for rabbits only because fresh grass is either not available, or inconvenient to obtain, year round for many people. In summer, my rabbit free ranges with our chickens (fenced in yard) for part of the day, and eat a lot of fresh grass and weeds, and very little hay. In winter, he eats a lot of hay because it's cold here and the grass is dormant.

If your rabbit does not like orchard hay, try timothy or "horse hay" (usually mostly timothy, I believe) or oat hay. Orchard hay is the only kind of hay mine refuses to eat. Same with another rabbit I had, who recently died. All the other hays were accepted, but never orchard.
 
Thanks everyone, I'm currently growing some alfalfa for the rabbit. I'll try a few other types of hay.
 
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