won't eat hay

[iheartBandit]

Bandit has rebelled against her hay lately. it started at my mom's before she moved in with me and i still can't get her to eat it. we bought another bag thinking maybe she didn't like the taste of the other kind. it seemed to work for a day but now won't eat the new stuff. the vet recommended giving her oats and/or bananas for fiber if i'm concerned about that but her stool looks fine. and she seems to go often, but in the past couple days hasn't really gone in her cage litter box. she uses the one i have upstairs quite a bit when she's out running around, but i'm concerned cause that's a long time to not be going the the bathroom while i'm at work. she still drinks just fine and seems to eat the pellets ok so it doesn't seem to be a teeth problem. is she just being stubborn or should i check back in with the vet?:? what do you suggest?

 

[Maureen Las]

Pellets do not require any grinding to dissolve..so even arabbit with dental issues can often eat pellets.
Either the quality of the hay that you re getting is not good enough to entice your bunny or your rabbit has a dental issue. There have been several threads recently in this section on hay and different places to get it so I suggest that you read them over.

I have never found a rabbit that didn't eat hay when the hay was really long stemmed ,green and smelled good unless the bun had a dental issue.

My first bun would not eat hay becauseI was buying some yellow type of hay branded as timothy from Petco and really didn't know what good quality hay was.
If you feel that you have tasty hay then your bun could most likely have a dental issue and should have a thorough dental exam and x-rays from a rabbit saavy vet.
The vet who suggested oats and banana is NOT a rabbit knowledgeable vet as both of them in any quantity are the worst thing to give a rabbit.

Possibly someone in your area on this forum can suggest a vet to you or you can look at the House rabbit society 'good " vet list.
I would not give banana and oats anymore but seek out either good hay and a good vet.

Please let us know how he is doing and in the meantime you can give a little pure canned pumpkin without seasoning (make sure that it is not seasoned) as it contains a lot of fiber and also can be eaten by a bun with dental issues.
You can also start introducing greens slowly which most bunnies like..however, nothing will substitute for hay in the long run.

 

[iheartBandit]

thanks for your advice! she's getting her nails trimmed tuesday so i'll have them check her out then. they have a good rabbit vet where i go but she's not always in and may not have been there when i talked to the other vet. i'll be sure to request her though to figure out what's wrong with my baby.

 

[Luv-bunniz]

Just a quick question and I dont know if you already said about this, but how much pellets does s/he get daily?

 

[Luv-bunniz]

Oh and also what brand of hay were you using? and How was he getting it? (ie floor, hay rack etc)

 

[iheartBandit]

she gets probably a little less than1/4 of a cup twice a day. and i was feeding her kaytee brand timothy hay which she's been fine with for years and have also used a petco brand organic hay which she also seemed to like but now has turned both down. she has a hay rack in her cage but she has pawed most of it out but still hasn't touched it.