my bunnies dont eat much hay

[lauraloo]

Hey everyone just a quick one, how do you entice a bunny to eat more hay? Mine are terrible, try my best to give them a balanced diet, but they eat very little hay. They also turn their noses up at dandelion leaves and grass.

They have regular health checks and I'm always told they are very healthy, teeth are fine and they aren't overweight.

I just worry, any advice would be great.

Thanks Laura xxx

 

[Blue eyes]

How old are they and what else are they eating? Do they get limited pellets? How often do you refresh the hay?

 

[lauraloo]

Larry was a rescue, I think he is about 2 and Bram is 18months. Pellets are limited they also have fresh veg at night (small quantities) I change the hay daily and I also fill toilet tubes/cardboard boxes with hay every other night.

I've tried stopping the pellets, but they still refuse to eat the hay and go to work on doors/door frames/skirting boards.

 

[Blue eyes]

Some rabbits are picky about hay type and some simply aren't used to getting it. You may need to try different varieties of hay. Orchard, brome, timothy, meadow are some other types of grass hay. I'm not sure what's available where you are but hopefully someone here on RO that knows will chime in.

 

[lauraloo]

Thank you, I have tried a couple of different types. Maybe I just have fussy eaters, they are always trying to eat stuff they shouldn't, tea bags are the worst, Larry will knock over the bin to get at them!

After Bramble was spayed she stopped eating, even soaked pellets. The vet prescribed her some grassy nutrient mush I fed her through a syringe, she loved it, but long term wouldn't be any good as it was so expensive, tried her on regular grass and that was a no no

 

[middlemuse]

How are you providing the hay? Is it in a rack, in the litter box, or what? It sounds like your buns are just picky, so I'm not sure it will help, but I know Aria eats more hay when I provide it in a lot of different ways (rack, litter boxes, toilet paper tubes, egg cartons--and that's just what she has in her cage right now).

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Ours get Orchard Grass in Hay Racks next to their litter pans. The only one we had trouble with was Peter--I took away his pellets and just gave him veggies and hay and on the 3rd day he started eating it up and still does 7 years later. Bunnies tend to be our bosses most of the time.

 

[lauraloo]

Ha ha they certainly are our bosses, I haven't tried a hay rack yet so maybe I will give that a try and see what happens if I move their pellets during the day (although really they dont eat many of them)

Thanks Middlemuse I have tried using different methods toilet tubes etc, I agree with you I think they are just very picky