Hi guys, my 5month old female rabbit won’t eat hay at all, she will only eat veggies and pellets, I have tried a few different things such as cutting back on the pellets and veggies I’ve also tried changing her hay multiple times a day(Timothy hay) I’ve tried making her treats with hay in them, but she won’t go near it, I haven't tried other types of hay because in Ireland it’s quite difficult to get my hands on other types and I don’t want to spend loads of money on something if she’s not gonna eat it, also I’ve noticed her caecotrophs have been very mushy almost runny and she hasn’t been eating them, anything I can do to help that, thanks in advance for any advice
My rabbit won’t eat hay at all
- Thread starter Bunbun19
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Jennifer
I have picky hay eaters... I tried, iirc, 16 hays before finding one my girls would eat when I had to wean them off of alfalfa! One cheap thing you can try, though, is to look for a local feed store/livestock supply store. If you explain the picky rabbit situation, they'll generally let you have a free sample (a big handful/grocery bag full of loose hay) for taste-test purposes. If she likes the hay, it's WAY cheaper than pet store hay anyway.
I only give her a small bowl of mixed veggies a day plus a 1/2 cup of pellets and she usually eats them with no problem
I rang the pet shop I got her from and they just said to try other hats so I’m gonna have a look around and see what I can find , thank god it’s not the most expensive thing
Maybe try to get hay from farmers, my bunnies love that hay better even though it can be meadow hay or some mix hay.
But I think you should go to a vet a control her teeth first. So you can rule that out and be sure she’s just a picky eater.
You can use dried herbs and mix in the hay, because rabbits need hay to have good motility of the intestines and keep a healthy bacteria flora. Sprinkle over dried carrot, apple or what ever favorite treat your bun likes. I often use oat hay when my bunny loose interest in hay, to make it more interesting.
Hay will also help keeping the teeth to not grow wrong, but if you can find any she likes.
You will have to find a way to make sure she get all the fiber intake she needs. I know some people that give their buns fresh grass instead of hay
But I think you should go to a vet a control her teeth first. So you can rule that out and be sure she’s just a picky eater.
You can use dried herbs and mix in the hay, because rabbits need hay to have good motility of the intestines and keep a healthy bacteria flora. Sprinkle over dried carrot, apple or what ever favorite treat your bun likes. I often use oat hay when my bunny loose interest in hay, to make it more interesting.
Hay will also help keeping the teeth to not grow wrong, but if you can find any she likes.
You will have to find a way to make sure she get all the fiber intake she needs. I know some people that give their buns fresh grass instead of hay
Maybe try to get hay from farmers, my bunnies love that hay better even though it can be meadow hay or some mix hay.
But I think you should go to a vet a control her teeth first. So you can rule that out and be sure she’s just a picky eater.
You can use dried herbs and mix in the hay, because rabbits need hay to have good motility of the intestines and keep a healthy bacteria flora. Sprinkle over dried carrot, apple or what ever favorite treat your bun likes. I often use oat hay when my bunny loose interest in hay, to make it more interesting.
Hay will also help keeping the teeth to not grow wrong, but if you can find any she likes.
You will have to find a way to make sure she get all the fiber intake she needs. I know some people that give their buns fresh grass instead of hay
So I actually live in a farm and I chanced my arm and went up and got some hay and I put some in her hay rack and some in her litter box and she kinda dug through it and nibbles some so I think she likes is ... fingers crossed , I also have some meadow hay here I thought I had Timothy but I was wrong so I might mix it through ever now and again and also maybe so dried herbs and other nice treats, I’m very sure her teeth are fine because I got this dried herb nawing thing with wood on it and she mowed through and she seems to be eating everything else but I figured out she’ll only eat the nice organic treats from the top quality pet shops not the other type of treats you can get anywhere so I think she’s just fussy
John Wick
Well-Known Member
How frustrating! It's great that you're being observant, especially about the qualities of her cecos.
The combination of not eating hay and not eating cecos makes me wonder about her pellet diet. You've tried to reduce and that doesn't help, so I wonder if it's about distribution time.
On a side note, is she on alfalfa pellets or timothy pellets? If she's on alfalfa, that may explain the uneaten cecos. I believe they're higher in dense nutrients, so the leftover cecos may be excess, meaning you may want to consider beginning the transition to timothy pellets.
One common reason a young rabbit may not eat hay is because other more "tasty" options are available frequently enough throughout the day, so the rabbit can just abstain from eating hay and feel satisfied by the veggie and pellets. Do you find she eats the 1/2c fairly quickly, or does she visit the bowl throughout the day? If it's the latter, you may want to limit "pellet availability" time, so she has to turn to hay for some hours of the day.
What's her feeding schedule like?
The combination of not eating hay and not eating cecos makes me wonder about her pellet diet. You've tried to reduce and that doesn't help, so I wonder if it's about distribution time.
On a side note, is she on alfalfa pellets or timothy pellets? If she's on alfalfa, that may explain the uneaten cecos. I believe they're higher in dense nutrients, so the leftover cecos may be excess, meaning you may want to consider beginning the transition to timothy pellets.
One common reason a young rabbit may not eat hay is because other more "tasty" options are available frequently enough throughout the day, so the rabbit can just abstain from eating hay and feel satisfied by the veggie and pellets. Do you find she eats the 1/2c fairly quickly, or does she visit the bowl throughout the day? If it's the latter, you may want to limit "pellet availability" time, so she has to turn to hay for some hours of the day.
What's her feeding schedule like?
When we rescued Peter, he didn't know what hay was and only ate pellets. We gave him unlimited Orchard grass and mixed it in with his pellet--2 tablespoons in the am and pm mixed in with the grass. Three days later he was only eating the Orchard Grass and veggies and would only eat a little bit of pellet.
Niomi
Well-Known Member
Since your rabbit has runny poop, you might be feeding her too much fresh vegetables. Don't give her a lot of vegetables at once. It works better to give a smaller amount twice a day, than a lot of vegetables all at once.
