Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE My Bun won’t eat Hay!!

Viewing 8 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Abby_Hum
      Participant
      3 posts Send Private Message

        Hi all,

        I was just after some general advice really!

        I’m having a lot of trouble getting my Bun to eat hay… When she was younger (she’s now 2) she could literally sit there and eat it all day and that was just a cheapish timothy hay from our local pet shop. Since then she has stopped eating it all together, I have tried various different hays to no avail. Then 2 weeks ago I ordered a sample of very fresh timothy hay off of the internet and to my delight she ate it straight away, hallelujah I thought so ordered the minimum amount that I could (3kg) which arrived last week. Since then though she’s barely touched it. I’ve tried all sorts to get her to eat it including buying a bigger litter box so she can sit in with it, this looked promising at first until I realised she just seems to be “nest building” with it rather than eating it!

        I’m reluctant to try another hay at the moment as I have 3kg of the stuff now so I’m interested to see whether you guys think there could be a solution to the problem or whether I should try a different type of hay? Could it be that I need to move on from Timothy hay as the stuff I have is probably as fresh as it gets!

        I also feed her the recommended amount of pellets and fresh veg for her size so I know she’s not filling up on these.

        She’s due to be spayed in a months time and I would really like to get her as healthy as possible before she goes in for that.

        Thanks in advance!


      • Sarita
        Participant
        18851 posts Send Private Message

          How much pellets exactly?  Maybe decreasing the amount of pellets could help.

           


        • Abby_Hum
          Participant
          3 posts Send Private Message

            She has 40g (about 1.41oz) a day it doesn’t look a lot and I tend to split it so she has half in the morning and half at night. I was thinking of giving it to her all in the morning instead as it may force her to start eating the hay then. Thoughts?! 


          • Sarita
            Participant
            18851 posts Send Private Message

              I would just split the pellets in half period and see if that will encourage her to eat more hay.


            • AnnaW
              Participant
              569 posts Send Private Message

                Hey I would agree with lowering the amount of pellets your bun gets as these definitely tempt my two monsters into eating less hay! Other than that, I tried many methods to get my old bun Biscuit to eat hay. The most successful were turning it into a game; I put hay in unsuspecting places, anywhere that he liked to sit to encourge him eating it out of boredom, and I encorporated hay into toys. I used empty toilet roll tubes and filled those with hay, and also paper bags – you know your bunny best so whatever toys they like, try to encorporate hay into them
                I also bought loooads of different types of hay to see which he preferred, so that is another option.
                Good luck, I know it can be frustrating x


              • jerseygirl
                Moderator
                22338 posts Send Private Message

                  The 3kg lot is exact same as the sample you’d gotten? Looks the same etc?

                  Have you tried different cuts of hay? Does she tend to go for the leafy soft parts or more stalky hay?


                • Baxter n Boos Mom
                  Participant
                  394 posts Send Private Message

                    One of my buns is very picky about hay – and hardly touched it, until I tried American Pet Diner – Gold Timothy Hay, which is a second cut hay. For some reason – he loves this hay, and will eat lots of it. And since I’ve started ordering this hay – he hasn’t had gas issues. So as Jerseygirl recommended – you may need to experiment with different types/cuts of hay.

                    I’ve also started to buy a small container of fresh wheat grass from the produce store. The buns love it!

                    Best of luck!


                  • Abby_Hum
                    Participant
                    3 posts Send Private Message

                      Thanks for all the suggestions guys
                      I’m going to try a couple of the suggestions above such as putting hay literally every where she goes and I’ll also cut right down on the pellets. I’m also going to order a “selection box” of samples to see if there is a type she can’t resist… I have a friend who is happy to take the 3kg of hay of me if she still doesn’t take to it so all is not lost! Fingers crossed!!


                    • Haley
                      Participant
                      25 posts Send Private Message

                        I had this same problem too, Abby_Hum! I gave my bunny long stem grass hay that was given to me by her owner when I got her, but I would only see her eat one or two strands a day! This week, I went to her vets office and bought some local hay that they pick out themselves for the animals that they treat, and she has been eating it constantly! So, I agree with what everyone says – cut down on pellets, and try different varieties of hay until you see what she likes!

                    Viewing 8 reply threads
                    • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                    Forum DIET & CARE My Bun won’t eat Hay!!