They just don't eat hay!

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nangobi

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I posted about this some time ago (I think) butnothing has changed. My two bunnies, Bugsy and Neddy just don't seem toeat much hay. Bugsy only ever ate really small amounts anywayso when I introduced Neddy to her I hoped the pattern might change -but he doesn't seem interested either.

I use Exel which is considered a very good brand,trieddifferent types too - the one we're using now is 'herby' but still theyjust nibble tiny bits. I fill the rack and it will be as full3-4 days later. The only thing they both LOVE isgrass. They're kept on the patio so don't get access to thelawn but if I pull up some dandelion leaves and grass and really mix itin with the hay they sometimes eat more hay trying to get to the greenstuff - fussy little so and so's.

At the moment I put the hayin a hay rack and a bowl - whatabout hanging it in bunches from the sides of the run - making it achallenge to reach it - they don't show any interest in stuffed toiletrolls by the way!

Don't know of anywhere locally where I could 'fresh' hay and I worry they don't eat enough of it.
 
My buns never really ate that much hay until Ifound a lovelytype of meadow hay in my local pet shop and nowthey can't get enough of it.;)I would try to have a lookaround for other types of hay, also if you can't find any locally youcould ordersome off here:

http://www.thehayexperts.com

http://www.dustfreehay.co.uk/

http://www.bunnybasics.com/


Also cutting back their pellets a bit might convince them to eat more hay to fill themselves up.:)

 
We've been getting the fresh hay, the only thingis to try different hay but you have already done that. Do you givethem hay in the morning before their pellets? You could try giving itthem first when they are more hungry. I have the opposite, mine love itand could eat it all day and i don't think they are too fussed on whattype they have either.
 
As I Have Horses We Have Fresh Hay All YearRound From The Local Farm So I Jst Give My Buns This They Have AlwaysEaten Hay No Matter What Kind (Apart From The Really Corse Stff Which IOnly Now Use For My Pigeons And There Nest Building:DI HaveNever Had A Problem When It Comes To Hay:?

And They Would Never Turn There Noses Up At Grass Either I Dont ReallySee The Difference Since Hay Is Tried Grass So I Wonder Why They WontEat Mch Of It...?

Got Me There Lol

Heather
 
Hey ther e- have you also tried them on HayCubes? Lots of buns who won't eat hay will nibble on thecubes. There's also hay pellets. It's in pelletform, but it's compressed hay.

When Cookie (my parent's bun) wouldn't eat hay, he would kill those hay cubes - he thought it was a treat.

__________
Nadia
 
Thanks for the replies!

I've tried a bag of 'meadow hay' which didn't look all that nice to meand they wouldn't touch it. Need another brand Ithink.

I must admit that I've toyed with the idea of cutting down on thepellets (though they're on muesli too as Neddy is a rescue and I'mchanging his diet slowly) I'll certainly give that a try for day or twoand see how we get on.

I'm going to take a look at those websites too.
 
When finding hay, try for the finer, long leaftypes of dried grasses. The stemier types are not as loved asthe thinner, softer types. Also go for types that lookgreener and smell nice. The longer it laid in the field afterbeing cut, the more yellow and musty it gets and the less tasty itis. I don't know if the hay in your avatar is the hay youfeed your rabbits, but it looks too stemmy and yellow to be veryatractive to a rabbit.
Also, as long as you don't put any forms of chemicals on your lawn, Isee nothing wrong with mixing a pinch of fresh grass into your hay toget them to eat more.
 
They hay I've just bought does look a lot betterthan the stuff I bought before. Greener, bits of herbs, justgenerally looks more appetising (to my non bunny eyes anyway!).

That's Bugsy in my avatar and she's sitting on straw, not hay - that'swhy it looksso yellow. I use it for bedding and inthe litter tray (which is where she's sitting in the pic).
 
I take my bunny's food bowl out of the cageafter she has finished, and give her a toilet paper roll filled withhay to play with and munch on until feeding time. I used to put the hayin the dish, but she would just toss it out, looking for yummier thingsunderneath. She really likes shredding the paper roll, and she eatsmost of the hay.

Good Luck,

~Star~
 
Hi, when do you feed the rabbit? I discoveredthat by putting fresh hay in Tiggers food bowl in a morning BEFOREfeeding her pellets or veg she'll eat the hay because she's hungry.Then I feed the pellets later. Also by giving fresh hay everyday ratherthan filling the thing up and waiting till it empties has helped us.
 
All my rabbits are only allowed a very smallamount of pellets per day (!/8th cup per bunny)..this is part of areducing diet which is working as they were all getting too roly poly.
They get oxbow hay (the company sent me a decent free 25 lbs. tocompensate for the dust-ridden batch that I got before that)and mybunnies get huge amounts of that all day , ahuge salad at night and thepellets very late before I go to bed.
They have to fill up on hay and veggies as there are no pellets available until evening.



I agree that some hay is so bad that a bun would rather starve thanchoke it down so tryto find a hay on-line. Try different ones. If thehay is tasty the rabbit will eat it.


Hay cubes are labelled timothy but also have alfalfa mixed in so be careful with that.
 
I could never get Mylo to eat hayeither. After this last bout with GI Stasis, I decided it'stime to get serious about it. I've reduced his pellets toless than 1/8 cup a day (since he's only 3 lbs, 5 oz) which is a HUGEdifference from what he's used to getting. I got a sample bag(1 lb) from BunnyBale.com (only had to pay for shipping) and he juststarted eating it y'day. I've had it for maybe 4 days but hedidn't eat it till last night.

I had to do like someone else mentioned... give him what heneeds before he gets what he wants because I've spoiledhim so bad, he won't do what he needs to do, only what hewants. Well that's changing now cuz I'm not going tocontribute to his poor health, ya know what I mean? I wouldfeel horrible if he got sick (again) because I wasn't feeding himproperly. I think that's why he keeps having issues with GIStasis. (This is his third time having it in the 3 years I'vehad him!) I just have not made sure he's getting the rightamount of hay.

I wish I could find someone locally that sold good quality fresh hay,but so far I've come up empty on that one. For now, I'll keepbuying it from Bunnybale.com cuz I was impressed with the quality ofthe hay.

There's also another one someone told me about called FamerDave. I don't have the web address at the moment, but you maywant to check into that. What I loved about his hay is thatyou can get it with clover mixed in. Mylo LOVES LOVES LOVESclover! I'm almost certain he would eat that hay.The only problem with that tho.... the shipping is so expensive, youend up paying more for shipping than you do they hay!*sigh* That's why I really wish I could find some goodquality hay right here in my area. Anyone know of anyone thatsells good quality fresh hay in the southeastern Michiganarea? :)
 
Thanks so much for ALL thereplies! Much to think about. I'm going to orderthe 'sample' bags of hay from the one site to see which they prefer.

The other thing to reassess is the way I Feed bugsy andNeddy. At the moment, I feed them a small bowl ofpellets and museli twice a day. Is the suggestion that I tryfeeding hay instead first thing and pellets/muesli in theevening? I can do that easy enough but I'll miss all the lovethey give me each morning when i bring the food?

Secondly, just as an aside while we're on the subject of food - myrescue bun, Neddy, seems to produce too many cecals. IMOanyway. With Bugsy, I rarely see them but there's always 2-3in the hutch from Neddy each morning. I only feed him a tinyamount of pellets mixed in with his muesli as they fed muesli at therescue and I didn't want to change his diet too quickly.

As for veg, I give a small amount a couple of times a week - but I putit where Bugsy can get free access and Ned only gets bits and pieces -again I'm scared to change things too quickly (I've had him since endof Feb). No idea how old Neddy is, Bugsy is about 7 monthsold.
 
Honestly, I'd take all the muesliaway. It's a big cause in excess cecals and being overweight,as well as picky eating. Plain pellets are much better, andless likely to cause cecal problems.

For the veggies, if you want to feed more you can start with a smallpiece of one type of veggie once daily, then start slowly working it upso they can eat larger amounts of one type of veggie. Thenstart adding a small amount of a second type of veggie, and increaseit...

You could split the pellets up so that you feed a small amount twice aday, and the rest of the day they have to eat hay if they're hungry.:)
 
Thanks for that Naturstee, I've been very unsureof what to do about the muesli which I NEVER used before when I justhad Bugsy. They both eat all of it, no picking out bits but Iknow it's not as good as pellets. I somehow had it in my headthat the pellets might be causing the excess cecals in Neddy, as hewasn't used to them, not the muesli.

I'll start reducing it from tomorrow.
 
Excel pellets can cause excess cecals as wellbecause they do have quite high protein, I have heard of quite a fewcases of rabbits getting excess cecals from eating them, my bunsincluded. Since I changed them over to science selective they haven'thad any and seem much healthier overall. Might be something toconsider.:)
 
Oh, hang on I thought you said you fed excelpellets but reading back over I think you were talking about thehay...:ponder:Just tell me to shut up if you don't even feedexcel pellets.;)Lol:imstupid
 
No, you're right, I do feed Excel - but I'd notheard that particular brand causing a problem -I'llgive the other brand a try too - always worth a go....andyes, I use Excel for hay too!

Thanks.
 
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