Rabbits eating a LOT of hay, is this normal?

[thetwobunnies]

I just want to make sure if this is normal or not, both of my rabbits eat a crazy amount of hay per day. Before I go to bed I refill it (literally chunks) and when I wake up all of it is gone. And when I refill it they won't stop eating it until most of it is gone and then they nap and go at it again until it is gone. Is this normal? I am finding myself constantly refilling hay and they go absolutely crazy. They also drink a lot of water, which is normal for the amount of hay they are eating. They get pellets (right amount) and a platter full of veggies. I'm not sure how many cups it is but it is a huge plate (maybe around 12" in diameter) and there's literally a mound of veggies on it. They both eat it fairly quickly. I have one rabbit that is 3 months old and I give her extra pellets but it is very difficult to find a time to give her pellets since I have to separate the rabbits because they will try to eat each others food (she gets alfalda) but things have been going pretty well.

Is it normal for rabbits to be this crazy over hay?

 

[tamsin]

Excellent! Eating loads of hay is really good, great for tummies, great for teeth! As hay's dried out they will drink more to compensate.

 

[thetwobunnies]

I am glad it's good! I just wanted to make sure because they eat soo much hay sometimes it worries me

 

[JBun]

How old are your rabbits now and what's the amount of pellets they are getting? Pellets are a very concentrated food, so the less pellets they get, the more hay they will eat.

 

[thetwobunnies]

My male is a year and a half, and my youngest is only 3 months. I'd say maybe 1/5 of a cup? For my oldest. He isn't that big and seems to be a little over weight sort of, he was forming a dewlap a few weeks back, it could be genetics/ normal for him, but still. And as for the baby bunny, I usually just put a big pile of pellets in front of her because I want her to eat as many pellets as she desires since she doesn't have access to them 24/7.

 

[JBun]

Yeah, that would be why they are eating so much hay, especially your older bun, because he doesn't get a lot of pellets.

 

[Blue eyes]

My buns are 1 yr and 2 yr old. They share 1/4 cup of pellets per day. They also eat loads of hay!

How do I describe the amount? Let's see... every morning and every evening I put in their litterbox an amount of hay that is equal to about one and a half times the body size of my (almost) 6 lb bunny. Sometimes they also get a third helping of that size in the afternoon.

They also get about 2-3 cupfuls of fresh greens daily.

It sounds like yours are doing just fine! (Mine also drink alot of water)

 

[thetwobunnies]

Thanks! I guess I could up his pellet intake just a little bit.

 

[sugarbunnies]

There is nothing wrong with your buns eating tons of hay. That's great!

 

[Blue eyes]

Thanks! I guess I could up his pellet intake just a little bit.

If you think your boy is a little on the heavy side, you don't need to up his pellets. (how much, roughly, does he weigh?) You said you feed him 1/5 cup. Mine eat 1/8 cup each per day (1/4 cup is for both combined). The hay is most important anyway.

 

[tamsin]

If he's a little on the porky side then decreasing the pellets will help and he'll just top up on hay if he's hungry. It's easy to forget that rabbits would naturally live on a diet that is almost completely grass. Their bodies are adapted to processing large quantities of it to obtain enough nutrients.

 

[thetwobunnies]

He is roughly around 4.5lbs, I think he's slimmed down a bit though. Or maybe that's just me

 

[Imbrium]

as a *minimum*, a rabbit should go through a pile of hay (not tightly compressed, but not very loose either) that's roughly the same volume as their own body... rabbits who are good hay eaters can go through a volume of hay 2-3x the size of their own body in a day. it's pretty crazy, but there's not a ton of nutrients in hay, so they have to eat a LOT of it... their digestive systems are designed to eke out every tiny bit of nutrition. this would also be why they poop like 500 poops a day, lol.