Bear arrived to me from a home where he wasn't given hay on a regular basis. He's a year old and has been fed on nothing but Kaytee Fiesta up until I took him home. He has been to the vet, and she didn't find anything wrong with him from the basic exam. He seems quite healthy except for a few slightly soft poos every now and again. The problem is that he hasn't really been eating hay. I have a large hay rack in front of his litter box, a hay ball hanging in the second level, several toilet paper rolls stuffed with hay, hay mixed into his pellets, hay in the litter box, hay on the floor, hay everywhere. He just won't eat it. So far I've tried Kaytee timothy hay (all that I had available for the first few days) and hay from a local farm. I believe it's cattle quality hay, though, I didn't know that there was a difference when I bought the bale. He'll have a nibble every once in a while when he's out of pellets but other than that he just likes to pull it out of things and fling it around. I found a good deal on Zupreem hay so I ordered some and it's expected to arrive in a few days. If he doesn't eat that either than I don't know what to do. Horse hay is seasonal around here and I'm on a tight budget so I can't afford to pay $20 a week for Oxbow hay. I've looked into a lot of the popular online hay suppliers, and the prices aren't bad at all, it's just that shipping is three times the cost of the actual product. If anyone has any suggestions, recommendations, ideas, or similar experiences, I'd love to hear. I'm all out of ideas and I just want to get him eating his hay before it begins having very bad effects on his health. :thanks:
Getting my bunny to eat hay
- Thread starter rhianna
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buster2369
Well-Known Member
I have a picky hay eater myself. It can be very frustrating. It took me a while to come up with a plan to get him to eat more.
First I offered him many different kinds of hay and brands. His favorite is orchard grass from oxbow. He also likes organic meadow hay. He also only like the small green pieces. So definitely find out what your rabbits favorite is.
He also loves his pellets and his veggies. So for a couple of hours a day I take those plates away and he has no choice but to eat the hay. I hate to buy the expensive brands of hay but since that's all he likes I'm willing to do it. I figure a vet visit is a lot more expensive.
First I offered him many different kinds of hay and brands. His favorite is orchard grass from oxbow. He also likes organic meadow hay. He also only like the small green pieces. So definitely find out what your rabbits favorite is.
He also loves his pellets and his veggies. So for a couple of hours a day I take those plates away and he has no choice but to eat the hay. I hate to buy the expensive brands of hay but since that's all he likes I'm willing to do it. I figure a vet visit is a lot more expensive.
I too have picky hay eaters. They do seem to like orchard hay the best. So you could try that. I am not sure how much pellets you are feeding your rabbit but if they have too much of them they wont want to eat hay. You could try lessening them.
Thank you both for the tips. As I said I've ordered some Zupreem timothy hay, and if he doesn't eat that, I'm going to try Small Pet Select because their shipping is free and they've offered me a refund if he doesn't like it. I'll also take your recommendations for orchard grass, I've also heard that third cut timothy is great if I can find it, as well as bermuda grass. I've been feeding Bear 1/4 cup of pellets per day as recommended by my vet, because he's between 3 and 4 pounds. He only gets small amounts of veggies daily and I hand feed them, because he's still getting used to eating them. He usually eats all of his pellets within an hour or two (I feed him 1/8 cup in the morning and 1/8 cup at night) which leaves him for several hours with nothing but hay and water, aside from the hand-fed veggies once a day. He still doesn't seem to eat the hay when he has nothing else to eat. I'm hoping that a better brand of hay will entice him, but I'll just have to wait and see :twitch:
Astro_Girl
New Bunny Mama
Molly absolutely loves her pellets and barely eats her hay. so I'm trying to separate her pellets into like 2 times a day, so half her full amount twice a day. so in-between she will run out of pellets but she will be forced to eat the hay if she gets hungry. I'm just trying it out so im not really sure its working yet haha. ill report back!
When we first got Pete, I don't think he knew what hay was and wouldn't touch it. I cut his pellet amount way down and after a day he started gobbling hay--that was 8 years ago and he's still a good hay eater. I'm allergic to Timothy so we use Orchard Grass instead.
Thanks for the reply. I have the feeling that the same thing is going on with Bear. I am considering not giving him anything to eat besides hay for a couple of days in order to get him to eat it. The problem is that when he has no pellets, he seems to eat the wooden toys rater than hay. I'm hoping that he'll realize the hay is much tastier than wooden toys. My order of Zupreem hay came in about an hour ago, though, and I'm very happy with the quality. I've never been around much hay but I didn't know there could be such a difference between brands. Just opening the box it was shipped in filled my room will an amazing scent, and when I opened the bag it was ten times better. The hay is very soft and sweet smelling and it's much greener than the other hays I've tried. I switched out the hay in his hay rack with the new stuff and he's had a few nibbles here and there so far. He's only had it for about a half an hour but I'm hoping he'll begin eating more of it. For anyone who's interested, I found an amazing deal on the Zupreem hay here (and ordered five 14-oz bales :biggrin
I just thought I would update everyone. Bear is doing pretty good on the Zupreem hay, I have also only been feeding him 1/8 cup of pellets every 2 days so that he will have nothing to eat besides hay when he's hungry (and hand-fed veg, he's still getting used to them). I bought some of this stuff to mix in with the hay so he'll be encouraged to eat it, and he goes crazy for it: http://www.petstore.com/kaytee-products-foraging-bird-greens-1-oz I emailed Kaytee before giving it to him and they said it's 100% natural dry veg, to be specific it's alfalfa leaves, parsley, carrots, spinach, bell peppers, and apple. I just put a pinch in with his hay and he's been eating it much more frequently since I've been doing that. Also, I bought this: http://www.petstore.com/super-pet-pets-international-hay-n-food-bin-feeder and it works really well. Of course, Bear decided he'd do it his own way...
geekgirl101
Well-Known Member
My Archie doesn't seem fond of hay either. He nibbled on it first day but now he turns his nose up to it. He's also not eating a lot of other things. He'll stuff himself with cardboard, parsley, kale and pellets but he ignores practically everything else.
geekgirl101
Well-Known Member
Shoved both Archie and Kick into the big hutch today with the hay from the farm since it appears they both aren't fond of the shredded crap that came from Pets at Home. There's no toys, no boxes, just loads and loads of fresh hay, water, and a toilet, so the idea is they get bored and eat hay from boredom and hunger. Archie's droppings are extremely tiny and Kick's droppings are also getting smaller. They're eating the hay now so I'm hoping the weather doesn't change so we can keep them in the outdoor hutch for as long as possible with only hay to entertain them until we let them in before it gets dark.
princessfional
Active Member
Do indoor bunnies just not like hay as much?
I'm from Canada so the brands may be different, but I've been trying to get Loki to eat the timothy hay and he only eats it s half the time and the other half paws at it and it goes down the cage to the litter area. It's one of those cages that has a metal floor so the dirt/poop goes down and he's not dirty. I am trying the suggestion of putting hay in the cardboard rolls to see f it works!
What other types of non alfafa should I be able to feed him?
I'm from Canada so the brands may be different, but I've been trying to get Loki to eat the timothy hay and he only eats it s half the time and the other half paws at it and it goes down the cage to the litter area. It's one of those cages that has a metal floor so the dirt/poop goes down and he's not dirty. I am trying the suggestion of putting hay in the cardboard rolls to see f it works!
What other types of non alfafa should I be able to feed him?
You could feed him any hay that's not alfalfa. Timothy is the most common but some bunnies prefer others such as orchard grass, meadow hay, bermuda grass, blue grass, oat hay, etc. Trial and error is really the best way to find out what kind your bun will eat, which is what I've been learning with Bear. The Zupreem western timothy hay goes down OK with him but after I run out I'll be trying other types.
princessfional
Active Member
Thanks! I will look into those hays.
