Need advice, rabbit doesn't like hay?

[rebeccalyn7]

Pepper, she is 1 and a half.... I have tried every single different hay there is,
She'll take a little nibble then won't touch it again, The amount of hay I am wasting is getting a bit redicious, is there a reason behind this?


Her digestion and gut flow is normal, She eats very nutritious pellets...
And gets 2 table spoons a day of pellets...
As well as her greens.
advice would be very much appreciated.

 

[Kati's Holland Lops]

I have had the same problem

 

[Aki]

When I feel like my rabbits don't eat enough hay, I put some fresh mint to dry and then I mix it with the hay that I keep in a closed plastic box. That way, the whole hay smells like mint and it helps. Well, with my rabbits it does anyway ^^.

 

[Azerane]

Have you been buying your hay in those sealed pet store bags or from a feed store? In the pastI found the pet store stuff (usually oaten) doesnt have a very strong/fresh smell and gets wasted. The feed store stuff always smell better. Bandit eats oaten, though he much prefers meadow hay which is better for him anyway. I've heard mention of wheaten hay but have never tried it. How long do you let the hay sit there before throwing it away? Also,where and how do you store it? It may be going bad and you don't realise but bunny can smell it. Having said all that, if she really is that stubborn about eating it, it might be worth it to increase her pellet intake a bit to make sure she's getting enough fibre.

 

[Imbrium]

I had to try a lot of hays to find one my girls liked ><

ANY "horse quality" (as opposed to cow quality, which can have nasty stuff like mildew in it) grass hay is suitable for rabbits, though with "cereal" types like oat, wheat, rye, etc. the seed heads (oats or w/e) need to be removed before feeding it as all those extra carbs and calories are no good for bunnies and can cause serious health problems.

I recommend calling around to local feed stores to find out what kind(s) of grass hay they sell (you need to specify grass, as horses are often also fed a legume hay like alfalfa/lucerne; feed store employees should know which of their hays are grass and which are legume hays). Explain that you have a very picky rabbit and politely ask if they would let you get a small handful of their hay (or each type if they sell more than one kind of grass hay) for your bunny to taste-test before you commit to buying an entire bale that your rabbit may not even want to eat - many places will say yes (as no one's going to notice one little handful missing from a huge bale of hay ).

Feed store (ie any place that sells livestock supplies) hay is typically fresher and better than pet store hay... and it's a fraction of the cost. I did the math, based on US pet store prices and average feed store prices - assuming you buy the largest/best price pet store bags (around $3 a lb), you'd save around $3,000 in a bunny's lifetime (assuming a medium sized rabbit and average lifespan of 10 years) by buying feed store hay instead. A bale can be stored for a year or more if kept clean, dry and insect free. Heck, even if you don't have room for a whole bale, you'll still save a ridiculous amount of money if you pay for a whole bale but only take home half!

If you don't have the means to transport and store a whole bale (or half of one) or can't find feed stores, another option is to call around to stables in your area - any place that boards horses, offers horseback riding lessons, sells trail rides, etc. (basically, a business that has horses on the premises). Explain that you're in need of grass hay for your rabbit and ask if they'd be willing to sell you a few flakes (flakes are what bales are broken down into). A lot of places will, and some will even tell you that you can have a couple flakes for free.

 

[Bindi]

The mint thing is interesting!

My rabbit Sealy didn't eat hay either, it actually wasn't until he was bonded when he was about three years old that he started to learn to eat hay. I appreciate that's not that helpful though :S

 

[Moonpix]

We had the same problem with Mouse for almost a year. After trying what seemed like a billion different tricks, we found a few that seemed to work...when he wanted them to. Dried herbs sprinkled through the hay seemed to trick him long enough that he'd eat it. By rooting around looking for those tasty bits, he'd inadvertently eat hay, and then just keep eating.

Another thing that worked was to throw some of his favourite crunchy treats into our magic bullet until it became a fine powder. Then every day, we would sprinkle in the teeniest tiniest pinch and he'd go nuts for it, eating a bunch every time.

Once he started eating hay, but not as much as we'd like, we would trick him, just like grocery stores trick us - by giving him one or two pellets, which he LOVES and doesn't get as much of as he'd like. He'd eat them, go looking for more because he'd remember how fun eating is, and then when none were to be found, he would grudgingly wander over to his hay and start eating it.

Best of luck! I know how exhausting it can be.

 

[lovelops]

I've been there and done that with all four of my buns. They hate Hay, timothy etc but like alfalfa so I give them that. I've tried to hide treats and what not inside of the hay and they eat around it and leave the hay... Good luck and let me know what works.. maybe I can use it with my brood.

Vanessa