Trixie is not eating her hay

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TrixieRabbit

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Denise from Long Island, New York, USA
Hey guys!

Ok, here's the story: about 6 days ago, Trix ran out of Timothy hay. So I bought her some Oxbow Orchard grass instead. She wouldn't eat it. So 2 days after that, I returned the Oxbow Orchard Grass and exchanged it for her regular Oxbox Timothy Hay. 4 days later, she STILL hasn't touched her hay! When I give her individual sprigs, she eats it...but she wont eat it all at once on her own. I haven't changed a single thing! She is eating some pellets and her poops are normal and large and abundant. So I am not sure what the problem can be. Could this be GI Statis at it's beginning stages? I am not sure what to do here.....
 
Hmmm. If she was eating her hay fine before getting that other hay, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe wherever you keep the hay (litterbox or hay rack?) still smells like the old hay, so she doesn't want to eat it.
 
As Laura suggested, if Trixie is free fed pellets, it's possible that she just lost her taste for the hay during those few days.

It can also mean that this hay is not fresh. Rabbits sometimes wont eat old hay (hence why I never buy hay from a store) and I heard of a few instances where the Oxbow hay was getting old (not mouldy or anything, just old). My bunnies are hay fiends when it comes to fresh hay.

But one more question, were you feeding Oxbow Timothy before you tried the Orchard Grass? If you were using a different brand before, that could also do it.
 
MyBabyBunnies wrote:
As Laura suggested, if Trixie is free fed pellets, it's possible that she just lost her taste for the hay during those few days.

It can also mean that this hay is not fresh. Rabbits sometimes wont eat old hay (hence why I never buy hay from a store) and I heard of a few instances where the Oxbow hay was getting old (not mouldy or anything, just old). My bunnies are hay fiends when it comes to fresh hay.

But one more question, were you feeding Oxbow Timothy before you tried the Orchard Grass? If you were using a different brand before, that could also do it.
Yes, I only use Oxbox brand of hay and pellets. Would it be ok to remove the pellets until she eats her hay? I also tried putting the hay in her litterbox but she still doesnt want to touch it. ARGH!
I dont know what to do
 
As long as you're giving her a large ammount of vegetables and hay, yes, you could try removing the pellets temporarily. Many vets actually reccomend a diet completely void of pellets because it's actually a lot healthier for the bunny, as long as you offer a good variety of vegetables to replace the pellets. Who knows, maybe she'll give in and eat some hay if the tempting pellets aren't there?

There also simply might be something wrong with the hay you have now. Perhaps unnoticable to the human senses, such as some hidden mold, fungus, etc. Or, it could just be a bad batch all together? Many bunnies won't touch their hay if it doesn't meet their "standards". heh. Spoiled? No waaay. :D
 

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