Rescued rabbit won't eat hay....should I add more pellets?

[jlenches28]

So about a month ago we rescued a little holland lop who was a preschool class pet. Hes 2 years old and was ONLY fed pellets (an unlimited amount in a large bowl) and an occasional apple or carrot. I have read that he needs 80% of his diet from hay....but he WILL NOT eat it. I am waiting on some different types to be delivered in hopes that a better brand and variety will entice him to eat it. I have tried every single "hay trick" I could find on the internet but he just wont eat it.
For three or so weeks now, he gets breakfast which is fresh greens, and then usually some more greens in the middle of the day and then for dinner i give him his 1/4 cup of pellets. He acts like a dog when I bring out the pellets! he literally will jump in the bag and just start going to town eating as fast as he can.
Since the pellets have timothy hay in them, should i give him more pellets until his new hay arrives? I am afraid I am starving the poor thing and that he is not getting enough fiber at all.
I love this little guy so so sooo much and I am just overall confused on what to do with him since he wont eat hay.
Thanks!
Jenn

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

Welcome to the forum! It’ll likely take him a while to get used to eating hay, because he isn’t used to it. I would test out a few different types of hays (Timothy hay, meadow hay, orchard grass and there are others) to see what he likes (as you are). I would hide some pellets in the hay, hopefully when he picks up a pellet, he’ll grab some hay too! I would give him about 1/4 cup a day of pellets but if he doesn’t eat any hay, I’d offer more. Just because rabbits do need a lot of fibre in their diets. It’s likely that you’ll find a hay that he likes, but it may take a bit of searching. You could try out sampler boxes of varieties of hays and see what attracts to him the most.
I’d love to see some pictures of the little guy.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Welcome! Is he litter trained? Rabbits like to eat while they use the bathroom so here is a good link on litter training and how to set up the litter box. I would do all the things Apollo's Slave said, and I would also put several toilet paper rolls in there filled with hay. I would do a mix of timothy, meadow, orchard, and bermuda hay. If he still won't eat any of those, mix in a little Alfalfa to get him to eat it. You will need to wean him off the Alfalfa once he starts eating hay regularly because it is not great for adult rabbits. You can also offer him weeds from outside, but make sure they are all safe. Here is a toxic plant list.

 

[jlenches28]

Thank you both very much! Polf is litter box trained for the most part, but we’re waiting to get him Neutered so he still leaves poops all over the floor randomly. i have tried the hay in the litter box (and it’s hard to tell how much he is nibbling on because when he jumps out of the bin some strands end up on the floor)....but i do think he eats it a little at night. there’s maybe 1/8 cup less after three days of adding fresh hay. But every time i see him actually using the litter box he doesn’t eat it. I’ve also seen him eat two strands when it’s put into a toilet paper roll, but he hasn’t touched the roll in about a week now.

i thought about the grass or weeds from
Outside, but where i live we don’t really have grass....just dirt and it’s currently covered in snow!

i think i am just gonna wait this out until his new hay arrives. I ordered meadow and Timothy hay from oxbow. Currently using the kaytee Timothy hay since that’s all my pet store had but it’s plasticky and gross. Planning on mixing the oxbow together with the pellets like someone said (at the moment when i mix in the hay the little stinker just sits there and takes the hay out to get to the pellets).
but thank you both so much, and Apollo’s slave, I’m gonna increase his pellets by another 1/4 cup....i know it seems counter productive but you have the same idea as me....he needs fiber one way or the other!
you both are awesome, thanks again!
And here’s pictures of the little guy. His birthday is sometime this week.

 

[JBun]

No, I wouldn't withhold increasing pellets if a rabbit's not eating hay. That will result in a GI slowdown. Another 1/4 cup is a good amount.

Then try the different hays when you get them. If he still won't eat hay then you may need to try something else. I had a rabbit that wasn't used to eating hay either. No matter what I tried he wouldn't eat it. But he did like pellets. So I got some plain hay pellets. The standlee alfalfa/timothy pellets as he wouldn't eat the plain timothy pellets. Then over time I got him onto the plain timothy pellets, while I also offered a little hay. Gradually he started trying the loose hay until he would eat the loose hay no problem. One thing though, the hay pellets are larger than normal rabbit food pellets.

 

[zuppa]

Well it's not easy, when I feed more pellets my rabbits eat less hay, so if you are increasing pellets again he won't be interested in hay maybe.

I would just keep offering him hay in every way you can, you say he does eat a little from his litter pan if you just keep trying maybe you can stuff some other things with hay, my Smokey is not a big hay eater but I stuff a small wicker basket with hay and she chew on it and eats hay, of course your rabbit is different but just try and try and try again, also I stuff small cardboard box with hay make a hole like if tissue box they like it too. Also other my rabbit likes braids I just take 3 strands and braid them, or make small bales of hay to give one in the morning one in the evening. Also I have two girls who are very selective they don't eat soft hay they leave it all only eat coarse so I cut hay strands into 3-5 inch they eat more this way.

Or if you can get timothy hay based pellets this may work for him.
If you can get fresh herbs and make dry them full stems, then add them to hay like mint and thyme are not difficult to get or other herbs. They will naturally dry on one week.

Or you can sprinkle dried herbs on his hay, chamomile, mint, lavender, rosemary, what he likes.

By the way, what pellets you feed him can you tell the name or give ingredients from the package?

 

[jlenches28]

No, I wouldn't withhold increasing pellets if a rabbit's not eating hay. That will result in a GI slowdown. Another 1/4 cup is a good amount.

Then try the different hays when you get them. If he still won't eat hay then you may need to try something else. I had a rabbit that wasn't used to eating hay either. No matter what I tried he wouldn't eat it. But he did like pellets. So I got some plain hay pellets. The standlee alfalfa/timothy pellets as he wouldn't eat the plain timothy pellets. Then over time I got him onto the plain timothy pellets, while I also offered a little hay. Gradually he started trying the loose hay until he would eat the loose hay no problem. One thing though, the hay pellets are larger than normal rabbit food pellets.
[/QUOT

Well it's not easy, when I feed more pellets my rabbits eat less hay, so if you are increasing pellets again he won't be interested in hay maybe.

I would just keep offering him hay in every way you can, you say he does eat a little from his litter pan if you just keep trying maybe you can stuff some other things with hay, my Smokey is not a big hay eater but I stuff a small wicker basket with hay and she chew on it and eats hay, of course your rabbit is different but just try and try and try again, also I stuff small cardboard box with hay make a hole like if tissue box they like it too. Also other my rabbit likes braids I just take 3 strands and braid them, or make small bales of hay to give one in the morning one in the evening. Also I have two girls who are very selective they don't eat soft hay they leave it all only eat coarse so I cut hay strands into 3-5 inch they eat more this way.

Or if you can get timothy hay based pellets this may work for him.
If you can get fresh herbs and make dry them full stems, then add them to hay like mint and thyme are not difficult to get or other herbs. They will naturally dry on one week.

Or you can sprinkle dried herbs on his hay, chamomile, mint, lavender, rosemary, what he likes.

By the way, what pellets you feed him can you tell the name or give ingredients from the package?

hi there. This is good advice too. I have tried sprinkling herbs on the hay, but they weren’t fresh. I grow basil, so he ate that right up but the thyme i used was the store bought shaky kind....i will try fresh dried instead. Thank you also for the tips about cutting the hay and things like that. Makes me feel like i have some options here...now and when his new Hay comes.
He is being weaned off kaytee forti diet which lists Timothy hay, alfalfa meal, oats, soybean hulls and molasses as the first few ingredients followed by some wheat products. Fiber is between 18-23%.
I’ve been combining this with oxbow adult rabbit food which has a similar ingredient list but has no alfalfa meal and lists the protein being between 25-29% of the pellets.
Thank you everyone!

 

[Shayna]

Sherwood pellets are good. They are hay based and safer to give in larger amounts. Someone on here suggested those to me and I’ve had good luck with them. I use the ones in the blue And white bag. Amazon is currently sold out so I’ve been ordering from the manufacturer directly. My rabbits actually prefer that over the oxbow pellets. Timmothy gold hay worked well for my bunny that wouldn’t eat hay. Id try a second or third cutting of hay.