Rabbit absolutely refuses to eat Hay!!!

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ashleyxxpiano

ashleyxxpiano

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The previous owner wasn't even feeding her hay and as a result she won't eat it! I've tried leaving only hay in her cage, I've mixed it with her food, and now I'm looking for chewing alternatives. It's easy to find fibrous foods to give her in place of the hay's fiber, but what about wearing down her teeth? I've heard of giving them paper rolls, paper bags, cardboard, and wood blocks. I've tried to give her toilet paper rolls to chew on, but she doesn't seem interested. She is going to the bathroom normally and the lack of hay doesn't seem to be affecting her tummy. I'm just worried about her teeth. The previous owner gave her whole apples and carrots to gnaw on, but I'm not sure that that is an adequate chewing replacement?

The only thing she does with the hay is pick it out of my hand and toss it on the ground, and when it's in her cage she goes to the bathroom on it, as well as, in her litter box...:bawl:
 
What kinds of hay have you tried? Some rabbits (like mine) are *extremely* picky about type, cut (some cuttings are softer than others), brand, etc. When I had to wean Nala and Gaz off of alfalfa and onto grass hay, I tried like 14 different hays ranging from pricey pet store hays to dirt cheap baled hay from feed stores before I finally found something they'd tolerate... and it was still 80% orchard/20% alfalfa. After about a year on that hay, I gave plain orchard from the same company a try and they're finally eating 100% grass hay... but man, was it an ordeal to get them to that point!

Anyway, if you want to experiment with hays, ANY type of horse quality grass hay is fine for bunnies. Horse quality is important because apparently the stuff they feed cows is allowed to have mold or mildew or something like that in it... whatever the deal is, cow hay is lower quality and not safe for bunns. Almost all hays are grass hays - of the commonly found hays, only alfalfa is not (it's a legume hay). Alfalfa has higher protein and calcium and should only be given to young/growing bunnies and pregnant or nursing moms. (Straw has no nutritional value and should not be fed to rabbits, though it can be used as bedding in the winter for outdoor bunns in chilly areas.)

A lot of feed stores will let you grab a sample of each of their grass hays free of charge if you explain that you want to make sure your picky bunny will eat it before you buy an entire bale. I've asked at at least 5-6 different feed stores and only ever been told "no" once.
 
I forgot to mention that with "cereal" hays like oat, wheat, etc., you need to remove the seed heads before feeding it unless you only give it as a very occasional treat - the oats or w/e have a lot of carbs and calories that bunnies don't need.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I buy my hay from Sierra Valley... they've got good prices as far as mail order hay goes (though of course buying from a local feed store is infinitely cheaper if your bunn(s) will eat that stuff!). I've currently got a box of their 2nd cut orchard and a box of the orchard/alfalfa 80/20% blend (which obviously isn't ideal for adults, but is arguably better than them not eating hay at all), since I've only gotten them onto the plain orchard in the last month or so.

If you would be comfortable providing me with a mailing address via private message, I would be more than happy to mail you a few ounces of each hay to try out (for free, of course). Unfortunately, I got rid of all the other hays I tried back in the day because of how old they were or I'd offer samples of those, too, in the name of trying to help another owner of a ridiculously picky bunny >< At best, you might find one she actually eats... and if nothing else, you could rule something out.
 
Thanks for the help! As of right now I'm giving her Timothy Hay. I just moved her hay next to her litter box to see if that does anything as I've heard they like to eat hay while doing their business. I also messaged the previous owner to see what hay she was giving her... she said she hasn't given her hay since last summer (I know bad right?), and she would have to go to her pet store to double check. I believe this is why she's so hesitant to eat the stuff, she's just not used to it.

She's only a year old, but from what I've heard she initially came from an animal hoarders home, then to another home for a year, and now to mine because the previous family didn't have time for her. I am a first time bunny owner, but I want her to be healthy and I've read up on just about everything rabbit-diet, toys, and housing related. I want to make sure she has the healthiest and happiest life I can give her. :bunnyhug:
 
Poor bunny... I'm glad she's finally found a forever home where she'll get good care and a proper diet!

Since it sounds like you're big on doing your research, here are some sites worth checking out if you haven't already found them:
http://www.rabbit.org/index.html
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html
http://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/Default.aspx (they have a great bunny-proofing page!)
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=75235&forum_id=48 - first aid kit info
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f21/ - rabbit savvy vet listings
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=53690&forum_id=93 - great litter box system; I highly recommend the grid even if you don't want to build the whole thing (check 1/3 of the way down the first page)
Diet stuff:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#babies
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm#greens
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Food/Food_main.htm

(At one point, I trolled the pet section of Yahoo Answers daily to make sure people didn't get bad answers (or no answers) to bunny questions. I repeated myself so often that I finally just made a notepad file with everything in one place so I wouldn't have to dig up numerous relevant bookmarks every time I needed them - you just got the highlights :p).
 
Awesome! And oh yes I had to bunny proof the house real quick haha she's a chord chewer! Luckily I live in an apartment and theres not many places for her to run off to. ALLL of our chords are taped, and twist-tied, and shoved into places she can't get haha
 
Heh... yeah, mine love those tasty cords too >< There's flex tubing on every cord in the apartment below human waist height and I used cord clips to screw cords into the wall/run them up walls and minimize the amount of wrapped cord that's accessible to bunnies.
 
How long have you had her? I bought various show rabbits who were never fed hay and it would take 4-6months before they'd start eating a noticeable amount. Eating a pellet only diet during that time won't harm them so long as you are using a quality pellet that has hay as the first or second ingredient. People feed show rabbits without hay a lot longer than that without health problems. I got some american sables which are one of the top 10 rare breeds and no one who has helped the breed recover feeds hay so when I put them on our diet they just kept blowing their coats. We had to do a year mostly without hay before we had enough that didn't molt every time they were given more than a handful of hay and sold or returned the others to other breeders.
 
I am so glad to see that Stache isn't the only bunny to snub hay. It is driving me crazy too. I have tried every hay type I xan get my hands on and no go. My guinea pigs are very happy however.
 
Aubrisita - the offer I made to Ashley goes for you as well if you've yet to find hay your bunny will eat :)

Imbrium said:
I've currently got a box of 2nd cut orchard and a box of the orchard/alfalfa 80/20% blend (which obviously isn't ideal for adults, but is arguably better than them not eating hay at all), since I've only gotten them onto the plain orchard in the last month or so.

If you would be comfortable providing me with a mailing address via private message, I would be more than happy to mail you a few ounces of each hay to try out (for free, of course). Unfortunately, I got rid of all the other hays I tried back in the day because of how old they were or I'd offer samples of those, too, in the name of trying to help another owner of a ridiculously picky bunny >< At best, you might find one she actually eats... and if nothing else, you could rule something out.
Click to expand...
 
Thought I'd update this with some great news - the hay samples I sent to ashleyxxpiano arrived and I've just been informed that her bunny LOVES the orchard grass! :D
 
My bunny does not like his timothy hay! If I hold a piece in front of his face he will eat it but ever since ive had him he won't eat it! The lady at the pet store said rabbits have to eat a portion the size of their body a day?? and he deff does not! Is there another kind I could try that has the same nutrients/fiber that he might like better?
 
My one rabbit will not eat hay either, and he is allergic to so he can't have it anyways lolXD He also wont chew on cardboard or anything like that. I give him pellets daily and that helps keep his teeth down. I also give him a treat bar every once in a while and that also helps:)
 
Orchard grass is the only hay that Stache will eat. I tried a few different types but that is the only one he will eat. Good luck, I know what it is like to have a picky hay eater.
 
Michelledickerhoff said:
I'm going to try the orchard grass too
Click to expand...

If you're in the US and comfortable PMing me your address, I'd be happy to send you some samples of the hays I've got for your bunny to taste test :)

Also, if you don't mind waiting a few days for me to send it, I ordered some bluegrass and a little bit of 3rd cut timothy (which is supposed to be super sot) from KMS hayloft that's due to arrive on the 24th - I could include samples of those as well. That way, you don't have to buy a large amount of something that your bunny might not even eat ;)
 
Did yu get my pm imbrium? I'm not seeing it in my inbox so I'm not sure if I done it right :/
 
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