Hay is a last resort... -_-

[hokankai]

Ariadne really doesn't like her hay. She's 7 weeks today, gets about 1/3 a cup of alfalfa pellets a day (enough to last her until about 7pm) and then has her hay to munch when it's gone.

The problem is, she really hates it. So much so that she turns to eating her willow items before she'll eat her hay. It's super frustrating!

I'm worried about this becoming a problem when she's older, and want her to enjoy her hay...but right now she ignores it until every other option is gone...is there a way I can make her eat it more? It's a mixture of Kaytee timothy+herbs/Oxbow Timothy/Oxbow Orchard hay.

 

[Viola]

I don't know if this is at all helpful, but could it be an issue with her teeth? My dwarf lop wouldn't eat hay or carrots until I had his teeth trimmed, and then he couldn't get enough of them. Check if her teeth meet properly in the middle. I'm a novice though, these guys are sure to know the answer. Good luck

 

[hokankai]

I don't think it's her teeth because she loves veggies and eating the twigs that make up her willow balls. But thanks for the idea!

 

[Nela]

Maybe you can try reducing her pellets a bit to entice her to eat the hay? Or perhaps mixing a fresh herb in will interest her. I know some members spray some fruit juice on it but you'd really have to keep an eye on it to make sure that it doesn't get moldy.

 

[ZRabbits]

Can you offer Alfalfa hay which is sweeter? Maybe that will entice her to munch? That's how I got Kreacher and Dobby to eat hay.

Neville and Luna had no problem with Kay-tee Timothy hay. It took them about a week with just a taste but now they love it all day long. Sometimes I have to back off on the hay so they their pellets.

It's all a balancing act. Wishing you luck

K

 

[MikeScone]

hokankai wrote:

The problem is, she really hates it. So much so that she turns to eating her willow items before she'll eat her hay. It's super frustrating!.

I see that you're giving her a mixture of hays - is it possible she's just picky, and eating only one of them? I'd try serving them separately and see if she'll eat just one sort, or, put the other way, if there's one sort that she hates so much that if it's present in the mix she won't touch any of it.

Scone was like that with Timothy hay. Any mix with Timothy in it got left untouched. He loved all other sorts, but Timothy was just not on.

At seven weeks, it's fine to give alfalfa hay, which is a legume, so it should taste very different from the grass hays you've been offering - in fact, it's good for her. You don't need to worry about weaning her off alfalfa to grass hays until she's closer to a year old.

 

[hokankai]

Ok, I'll give alfalfaa go. I know she loves it, I was just worried about the high level of protein at this stage (she's still in the gastroenteritis danger age and was weaned pretty early), but her poop looks good so I'm not too worried.

I'll try separating them first to see if that helps, but right now it looks like she hasn't even touched her hayrack. If I take out a clump and set it in her litterbox it's gone in the morning, but I can't really see if anything else is being eaten.

I give her enough pellets to last her 13 hours of munching on and off, so I don't really feel comfortable going any lower than that while she's growing still. And one of her hay varieties has dried herbs in it already and smells awesome

 

[SApple]

My Ellie isn't a hay eater either. I started putting her hay in a box and dumping pellets on top. That seems to encourage her to eat the hay.

 

[qtipthebun]

Maybe she doesn't like the hayrack? Tippy will pull all of the hay out of the rack before she eats it.
I second what Sharon said about the pellets....let her try to forage. Tippy also likes a few oats in her hay if she's being picky.

For what it's worth, Tippy won't touch Kay-tee. Maybe it's a taste thing?

 

[MikeScone]

hokankai wrote:

And one of her hay varieties has dried herbs in it already and smells awesome

It smells awesome to us, but I suspect to rabbits, not so much. Natasha likes Timothy hay, but doesn't like the Timothy-herb mix.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

When our buns were that young, the only hay they got was alfalfa then onto orchard grass at six months. Took about 3 days for them to get into eating the orchard grass when we did the transition. They ate all the alfalfa and left the grass. But, like all things, that soon passed.

 

[hokankai]

MikeScone wrote:

hokankai wrote: 

And one of her hay varieties has dried herbs in it already and smells awesome

It smells awesome to us, but I suspect to rabbits, not so much. Natasha likes Timothy hay, but doesn't like the Timothy-herb mix.

That's the only Timothy they DO eat, haha. It stuff they already get as treats in it, so it's more appealing I guess.