Hay and Rabbit

[haricnair]

Hello experienced Rabbit pet owners can you just estimate how much Timothy Hay is needed for a young lessthan 6months old Rabbit? I know we feed it in unlimitted but for buying from us websites I atleast need a rough estimate.

I have seem 10LB packages for how many days generally it will last under ideal conditions?

 

[kirbyultra]

If your rabbit loves to eat hay and eats a lot of it, you may be going through 1-2 large handfuls a day. 10 lbs could be about a month, I think. If your rabbit isn't as enthusiastic about the hay then it'll last you perhaps 50% longer. I order whatever I can fit in my apartment, up to about 40 lbs. Put them into big plastic Rubbermaid bins and it will easily last you several months.

If you live in high-humidity climate, you will want to put the hay into a large plastic bag and poke some holes in it. It's important for hay storage to have sufficient air circulation to prevent mold, which cannot be fed to buns once it gets on the hay.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

It really depends on the rabbit. I have one who will go through most of her hay rack in a day, and it is a fairly large rack. I have others who take longer to eat a smaller amount. Some rabbits also waste more than others, but if you have a fairly enclosed rack they would waste less.

In my experience, 1 5 pound bag (when I still bought them), would last about 2-3 weeks for 2 rabbits. Once i got 3 rabbits, that dropped to about 7-10 days.
I now buy hay bales and go through about 1 bale per bunny per year. That can vary depending on the quality of the hay and the size of the bale. Bales around here are about 55-65 pounds.

For 1 rabbit, buy the largest amount you can afford and store. Smaller bags tend to cost more per pound than larger bags. Even if you were to buy 25 pounds at once, it would be cheaper then buying 5 5 pound bags or 3 10 pound bags. Since you are getting it shipped, you do need to factor the cost of that into the price. A smaller bag might end up being cheaper since it could cost less to ship. It is important to do a per pound price so it is equal no matter the size of the bag you buy.

Hay doesn't really go bad if stored properly, so you don't have to worry about it too much.

 

[haricnair]

My real problem is the shipping cost to India. Normally its $35 and above for a 10 lb bag and the cost increases significantly with the weight increase. I'm looking for many alternatives for timothy hay now. If any one have information of locally available Timothy Hay kindly let me know. These days I spends a lot by ordering from us websites and it ends to be more than what I spend for myself.

My bunnies always pick food items from the feeding pan and place it on the ground to eat. Any idea to keep them eating from the the feeding tray itself? I tried many tray invain.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

If there are horse stables near you, it could be a good option. Horses and rabbits are very similar as far as nutrition goes. Hay good for horses is generally good for rabbits. It doesn't have to be timothy. Other grass hays can be used to. As long as alfalfa is limited, and it isn't mouldy, it should be good.

As long as they are eating what they take form the feeder, it should be ok. One of my rabbits picks through his hay and leaves what he doesn't like on the cage floor.

 

[haricnair]

Hmm...Horses are not even rarely found in my area(Kerala, India) than rabbits so thats not an option to me.

 

[LV426]

If you feed an alfalfa based pellet then you need to stick to a timothy hay or orchard grass hay so as to limit excess protein and calcium.