alfalfa/lucern hay is fine for babies up to 7 months old. it’s generally a good idea to provide Timothy Hay as well, so when they get cut off from alfalfa it’s not completely strange to them. i would continue to look for timothy hay but for now the alfalfa is fine.

i don’t remember how old you said she was. veggies are usually started at about 12 weeks. if she is eating them now i would continue to give them but in very small amounts and then begin to increase/add new at the 12 week mark. as far as teh celery, make sure it is cut into pieces that are 1 inch long or smaller. the strings can wreak havoc on their digestive system.

Hi Naz!  In Oz it is not uncommon to only be able to find lucerne hay (in the states we call it alfalfa hay).  Timothy is not as easy to find there and I think it is better to provide lucerne than nothing at all as fiber is critical to a proper rabbit diet.

There is some great info and even an extensive veggie list right here on Binky Bunny:

https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/Diet/tabid/60/Default.aspx

I too also do not recall how old your bun is, could you relate that info?  Since she is young it is typical that they grow quite fast.  I think that Lisa was able to find some timothy hay and even has connections with an Oxbow supplier as well to papaya tablets.  Perhaps she’ll stop by and offer up where she found some.

Welcome, naz!

For really good Aussie oriented bunny information, check out Boing Online.  They recommend something called Oaten Hay for adult bunnies.  We have several Australian members here who can probably chime in with more information.

In Australian you can get lucerne and oaten hay (known as alfalfa in America).

I have baby rabbits that are 6 months old, I give them half of both hays. (variety is good)

Veggies I give are Chikory, carrot tops, parsley, basil, cucuber peels, mint, wheat grass and celery, I cut the stick part up small so the strings do not get caught in their throats. BB has the list of veggies, some you can get here but others you cannot.

i didn’t realize it wasn’t available in Australia. that’s interesting to know…

did that other ear flop yet?

Oaten is the same thing as Alfalfa, Lucerne is the same here as in America.

sorry m y explination wasn’t good, I was in a hurry.

Lisa, don’t you mean that lucerne is alfalfa hay and oaten is the same here in the States? At least that has always been my understanding.

Yep, lucerne and alfalfa hay the same thing.  It’s good for growing bunnies due to protein levels.  The protein is something you’ll want to watch in adult bunnies thou.  Lucerne hay along with pea straw is often sold as a gardening mulch here.

Oaten hay or Oat hay is the closest thing (nutritionally) that we have to Timothy hay.  It’s available at feed stores as horse owners love it!

My bun is not an adult yet but i have her eating oaten hay as her pellets are lucerne based.  That’s the thing I find difficult to find in Australia, non-lucerne based pellets.  So I plan to wean her off pellets altogether, fingers crossed!

When I asked at the feed shops here they told me Oaten is the same as Alfalfa. Me confused now.

can you guys get tim pellets shipped in? or would it not be able to go thru customs? well… maybe not you Lisa, b/c you’d need way too many… but for the people that only have one or two buns.

Beka27, We can get Oxbow products here. I think it’s too pricy thou @ $24 for 2.2kg. Dont know what that is in $US but thats a 5 pound bag.

Lisa43, it’s kinda odd that the feed shops in Aust even referred to it as alfalfa hay. Mostly it’s known as lucerne here and it’s from a legume crop where as Oaten hay is from a grain crop. Sometimes you even get the grain heads in with the hay.

$24 for 5 pounds! wow. in the US it’s about 8-10 dollars depneding on where you get it. i get the 10 pound bag at my vet for about 14 bucks.

I just perused a few Australian farm and horse sites and based on what I have seen Lucerne hay is the same as Alfalfa, and Oaten hay is what we call Oat Hay in North America.  They also sell Wheaten hay, which looks like what we would calle Wheat hay.

When I first brought my hay the people on BB told me it was Alfalfa. I went to a couple of feed stores to get good priced and I asked for Alfalfa, thinking we had the same name for it, the people at the shop said that is what they call it in America and we call it Oaten here, so thats why I got confused.

Oxbow products here are about double the price you pay in America. They have an Australian website and they also sell on Ebay.

I’m late-but Welcome to Binkybunny!!! Cute buns!!

Awe that’s cute that her ear went down!  I would get Oxbow’s Bunny Basics T which are timothy pellets.  My rabbit goes insane for these.  What kind did you try? Even if they are pricey where you are they really last a very long time as you only give them a small amount based on their weight. Edson is about 4 lbs and I give him 1/8-1/4 cup/day.  The 5 lb bag lasts for months.

Awwww Hershey!!

So that’s true…lop ears are born w/ ears up and then they fall?  I never knew that.

I like Hershey as the propeller….so cute!  However, I’m starting to think that Aussie buns just have crazy ears, b/c Jersey’s ears look kind of long to me.  Maybe their trying to get telly reception?

I have heard of some bunnies getting turned off from other pellets.  It’s like going from Chocolate bars for dinner to veggies….NOT THE SAME AT ALL!  You might have to give some tough pellet love and attempt to force the issue w/ him.  I had pellet dependent rabbits and I had to use tough love to get them to eat their veggies.  I had to remove their pellets after a set time, else they would eat pellets and not their veggies. 

For the English language there are some real differences.  Is that $24 Australian dollars or $24 american dollars?  Not like I have any idea of the exchange rate.  Thanks for the pics, they really made me smile!

That earlier reply re pellet prices was $24 Australian. At that time it translated to about $23US. Were about 93 cents to the US dollar at the mo I think. I figured I was better of ordering Oxbow direct from US but shipping was going to cost $39AUS!!! Plus, they can’t ship direct to an Australian customer because the Australia supplier has exclusive rights to sales to Australians. Make sense?

Those pics of Hershey are adorable!!!!!!!!
I’m going to measure Jersey’s ears now! Chocolate bars for dinner – mmmmm…….

She is so adorable!

I agree with skunklionshow – as long as you are providing the pellets with all the treats in them, she is going to snub the healthy pellets. Hay and veg are much more essential pieces of a bunny’s diet than pellets. You really don’t need to be concened if your bun prefers to eat eg and hay over the pellets, in fact bunnies with weight or poopy bum problems are sometimes put on a no pellet diet because the hay and veg are the healthiest foods for your bunny.

Good luck with that ear

What a stinker! hehehe
She is soooo cute!

She’s still a baby & will need some lucerne pellets or hay.
Take it slow on the veggies, 12 weeks is when you start giving them very little, adding a new veg. each week.

Did you ever find oaten or wheaten hay?

Mine didn’t like oxbow pellets when I first got them. They love them now. But if you do get Oxbow, follow the mixing direction (over a months time) then you’ll have a better chance of succesfully switching.