Bunny not eating much hay
- Thread starter Twlrl
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How much pellets and greens do you feed? Sometimes they can gorge themselves on pellets rather than making the effort to eat hay, so often cutting down on the other stuff forces them to eat the hay instead. You could try mixing some yummy forage in with the hay to encourage eating it, such as dried dandelion.
Has he ever been checked for dental issues? If a rabbit has developed dental spurs this can sometimes cause them to be selective eaters, as some foods will be more painful to eat than others, like hay.
You could just have one of those picky buns then. I had one like that. When I got him, he wasn't used to hay and wouldn't touch it, would only eat pellets. What I did is bought a hay pellet used to feed livestock like horses, that was part alfalfa and part timothy, and he would eat that just fine. Then I gradually switched it to a timothy only hay pellet. I also always gave a little bit of hay as well and eventually he did decide to start eating it. I had the best luck with rye grass hay. He loved that stuff. Orchard and oat hay can be good ones to try as well.
Important thing though, is not to restrict the normal food pellets too much as to cause unwanted weight loss or possible digestive slowdown. I would feed enough pellets that he stays healthy, but limited enough that when you hit on the right hay or hay pellet, that he will feel hungry enough to eat it. I also would split the normal food pellet feedings into twice a day instead of once a day.
Important thing though, is not to restrict the normal food pellets too much as to cause unwanted weight loss or possible digestive slowdown. I would feed enough pellets that he stays healthy, but limited enough that when you hit on the right hay or hay pellet, that he will feel hungry enough to eat it. I also would split the normal food pellet feedings into twice a day instead of once a day.
I used the mature rye hay that is more like straw. I just got it from a local grower. It's low in protein so needs to be balanced appropriately with the right amount of pellets or weight loss can occur.
The softer younger growth of rye seems to go over well with rabbits too, I've just never used it myself.
The softer younger growth of rye seems to go over well with rabbits too, I've just never used it myself.
If you have access to hay pellets online or from a livestock feed store, I would give those a try if you can't find a long stem grass hay that he'll eat. The hay pellets are really what got my bun finally eating long stem hay.
It had to be the mix of grass hay and alfalfa, as it's the alfalfa that buns tend to really like. And as long as there are no bladder calcium or kidney issues, the alfalfa usually won't be a problem short term. Then if he will eat those, you can gradually transition him to the grass hay only pellets. And once he's eating those he may just start eating hay on his own. At least that's how it worked for my rabbit.
It had to be the mix of grass hay and alfalfa, as it's the alfalfa that buns tend to really like. And as long as there are no bladder calcium or kidney issues, the alfalfa usually won't be a problem short term. Then if he will eat those, you can gradually transition him to the grass hay only pellets. And once he's eating those he may just start eating hay on his own. At least that's how it worked for my rabbit.
JodieKathleen
New Member
Hello,
I have a bunny who also would not eat hay. I was not aware that rabbits need to eat hay to form and maintain proper jaw shape and structure. My poor bunny almost died as a result of my ignorance about this important issue! I spent $1300 on his surgery and fortunately he survived and is a healthy, happy bunny who Eats his hay! I tried every form of hay known to many lol. He only likes one and one only type of hay which is compressed hay. I will attach a picture. Be careful of alfalfa as I belive rabbits can get hypercalcemia from it which can be fatal. I cut back slowly on the pellets and now He eats hay with fresh greens ( kale, parsley and cilantro).
This is the only kind of hay my bunny will eat! He needed $1300 surgery 6 months ago from not eating hay and having his teeth overgrown so you should definitely persist! Cut back on the pellets and try this hay! Beware of alfalfa cubes as I belive this can cause hypercalcemia in bunnies. Good luck!
JodieKathleen
New Member
Th
I like the idea of buying a bale from a local grower it would be definitely much cheaper and better hay than I get from petstore or supermarket, unfortunately I have no room to store it in my apartment. I only have rabbits for less than two months now and buy just cheapest hay I think it's timothy hay first bale I've got in petstore was 3.50 they were happy with it, then got hay bedding from supermarket double size for 4.99 they liked it even more but I was all sneezing and coughing and it had so much dust so had to get the next one from petstore again, I really hate their prices though, will have to look for a local supplier I think.
I've got 3 rabbits all with different eating habits, and 3 cages with different bedding just based on what they like.
Leo is a cross between lionhead and dwarf, about 3,5 months old, he doesn't eat much just getting less than a handful of his pellets in morning some greens in evening and unlimited hay, he likes his hay hanging over his toilet corner and in his box on the left side, his floor has to be clean he likes his linen table placemat or hand towel as a rug in the middle of his cage.
Fred is an adult rescue he needs bedding all over his floor as he can't walk otherwise he's very fluffy and only can walk on carpet or bedding. I cut some hay by hand once a week and adding this to his box every day and on his floor he eats it he has his long hay hanging too but he likes these cuttings better. He is a great eater likes vegetables and not fussy at all, he likes kale, carrot greens, broccoli and cauliflowers greens celery I usually break one stick into 3-4 pieces for the three of them and Smokey gets two pieces, Leo a smaller one and Fred gets what's left. I give them a 1/3 of carrot and a slice of apple every 3-4 days too, also give them some dried herbs from my backyard, they like thyme, mint, nettle - especially Leo loves dried nettle. Smokey likes sage but Leo doesn't, Smokey also can drink chamomile tea she liked it and both Leo and Fred didn't want to drink it I made for them when Fred was sneezing last month.
Smokey she's a lop about 3 months old eats a lot of hay from her boxes and I made a basket for her too, it's long hay, but I am adding also a little cut hay into her box over her wood pellets in her toilet otherwise she eats long hay from her toilet too. She eats about two handfuls of pellets every day and sometimes she wants even more but I think on a few occasions she was just nervous and it wasn't good for her so I am trying to give her more hay in different boxes/baskets so she can play & eat instead of eating her pellets. She wants her greens every night waiting for me and looking very disappointed when there was a day I wasn't feeling well and didn't do food shopping had no salad she was kinda disappointed but she's got her celery and a piece of a broccoli stem and was happy but she wants her leaves very much.
Oh and all of them love fresh basil and coriander and parsley
I've got 3 rabbits all with different eating habits, and 3 cages with different bedding just based on what they like.
Leo is a cross between lionhead and dwarf, about 3,5 months old, he doesn't eat much just getting less than a handful of his pellets in morning some greens in evening and unlimited hay, he likes his hay hanging over his toilet corner and in his box on the left side, his floor has to be clean he likes his linen table placemat or hand towel as a rug in the middle of his cage.
Fred is an adult rescue he needs bedding all over his floor as he can't walk otherwise he's very fluffy and only can walk on carpet or bedding. I cut some hay by hand once a week and adding this to his box every day and on his floor he eats it he has his long hay hanging too but he likes these cuttings better. He is a great eater likes vegetables and not fussy at all, he likes kale, carrot greens, broccoli and cauliflowers greens celery I usually break one stick into 3-4 pieces for the three of them and Smokey gets two pieces, Leo a smaller one and Fred gets what's left. I give them a 1/3 of carrot and a slice of apple every 3-4 days too, also give them some dried herbs from my backyard, they like thyme, mint, nettle - especially Leo loves dried nettle. Smokey likes sage but Leo doesn't, Smokey also can drink chamomile tea she liked it and both Leo and Fred didn't want to drink it I made for them when Fred was sneezing last month.
Smokey she's a lop about 3 months old eats a lot of hay from her boxes and I made a basket for her too, it's long hay, but I am adding also a little cut hay into her box over her wood pellets in her toilet otherwise she eats long hay from her toilet too. She eats about two handfuls of pellets every day and sometimes she wants even more but I think on a few occasions she was just nervous and it wasn't good for her so I am trying to give her more hay in different boxes/baskets so she can play & eat instead of eating her pellets. She wants her greens every night waiting for me and looking very disappointed when there was a day I wasn't feeling well and didn't do food shopping had no salad she was kinda disappointed but she's got her celery and a piece of a broccoli stem and was happy but she wants her leaves very much.
Oh and all of them love fresh basil and coriander and parsley
Booplesnoot Acres
New Member
Alfalfa is usually too rich for buns to eat regularly. My buns wont eat Coastal but do eat Timothy. A compressed bale of Timothy lasts almost a month for us. Rye hay is unavailable to us, but it grows naturally in my yard.
Us = three Netherlands, the new baby NZ, and my three outside ( Broken Red NZ & 2 American Chinchillas) living in the "tractors".
Us = three Netherlands, the new baby NZ, and my three outside ( Broken Red NZ & 2 American Chinchillas) living in the "tractors".
