House Rabbit Community and Store
What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.
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.
› FORUM › DIET & CARE › No hay for two days!
My dad, who is the only one who can drive in my family, is out of town for two days. And just today, Rain’s hay ran out. I thought he had enough to last him for five more days, but it turns out that all that’s left is the dusty stuff. It makes me so mad because that’s such a waste of money if literally a fourth of the bag is dust. I do have a small bag of botanical hay but Rain won’t eat it. He’s so picky. I have plenty of lettuce, pellets, oats, and treats. And that’s pretty much it. What should I do to sustain him until Friday? He’s been chasing me around all day long for food. My aunt is in town fortunately, so she might be able to bring me some hay tomorrow evening. But what’s going to happen when I’m at school and during the night? I might not go to school, partially because of a fever and because I don’t want to leave him. Any advice?
Sorry if this comes across as snarky but can you go outside and cut the grass and give him that? I remember someone saying you could do that so long as you didn’t use a lawn mower. Alternatively you might be able to get away with mashed pellets every few hours but that might be difficult. As a last ditch effort, you could try and overnight a bag of hay off of Amazon.
Besides clipping some grass from your yard, could you ask a neighbor or friend to take you to the nearest pet supply store tomorrow? Grocery stores and discount stores usually have hay also, if those are more convenient, although the brand names might not always be the best. In exchange for a neighbor or friend helping you, you could do a small favor for them, give them some baked goods, etc. It would be good to know in advance of someone who could help you in the future if your Dad was out of town again and you needed transportation to the vet or had some other emergency.
@Harley&Thumper it’s okay! Not snarky at all! It’s currently winter time in Texas and my lawn is dead. Besides, the grass has pesticides and it gets lawn mowed.
@tobyluv Yes, I think that’s a good idea. Petco is SO close to my home. I think I can ask my neighbor if she isn’t busy.
The problem with Rain is that he is SO picky and I’ve tried various grocery store hays before and they don’t work. Even with the good brands like Oxbow, I went through five different bags before he finally settled down with one. I gave him a pile of botanical hay and it seems that he’s hungry enough to eat it. Atleast the seed heads, which is kind of good because there is a ton.I’m sleeping on the downstairs couch tonight though to make sure he eats something. I’m hoping that he will give in and just eat the hay.
I could try to order off the Petco website, but I’m not sure if they do deliveries. I’ll have to check. He’s doing fine so far though. His poops are still abundant and normal. Maybe darker, but that’s before I tried to get him to eat the botanical. I do see hay strands in it which is good. Is there any way to encourage him to eat the hay he has more?
Oh thank goodness he’s been sitting and munching on his botanical hay for ten to twenty minutes now. I think he’ll be okay. I’ll still by him his normal hay (tons of it) and make sure this doesn’t happen again. And of course make a list of contacts for when things like this do happen and I need some help. Thank you guys, I’m grateful for your help! I think the problem is solved. Good thing I didn’t throw out that bag to the wild rabbits.
Can you try and buy hay in bulk to prevent this happening again? It happens to all of us occasionally, so I’m not criticising – just last week I had to buy an emergency bag when I missed my delivery of the 9kg sacks I normally buy!
But buying in 9kg at a time means I only have to think about buying hay once every 6 weeks or so – it must get annoying having to go to the store every week.
Rain, are you located in the US? If so, most farm supply stores carry compressed 40 lb bales of Hay (I use Timothy from Tractor Supply) for about $16. I store it in a large plastic storage container, and a bale lasts me 3 months. It’s a bargain. Those little 3 lb. bags are a waste of money and SO dusty.
Hope this helps.
Rain, are you able to cut fresh grass from a friend’s garden? Just an idea as yours has pesticides ![]()
I’m in the U.S, yes. I could go to a farm but those are really far away from where I live. The store I go to is like three minutes away and I buy a 40 oz bag of hay. And I finally found a brand and type of hay that Rain likes, so I don’t want to risk buying a whole bunch and then see him not eat any of it. He likes timothy hay, but I’ve tried various brands and types and he only liked the Oxbow one. He finishes it in about two to three weeks (he’s a three pound rabbit) so it’s not much of a hassle. I think the problem was that this was my first time buying the huge bag and it’s a different company too, so I didn’t know that it had a lot of dust at the bottom instead of hay.
@sarahthegemini I could do that, but everyone’s grass is all dried up and dead. Great idea for future emergencies in summer time though.
Well I mean, hay is just dried grass so surely dried grass would be fine?
I’m in the U.S, yes. I could go to a farm but those are really far away from where I live. The store I go to is like three minutes away and I buy a 40 oz bag of hay. And I finally found a brand and type of hay that Rain likes, so I don’t want to risk buying a whole bunch and then see him not eat any of it. He likes timothy hay, but I’ve tried various brands and types and he only liked the Oxbow one. He’s super picky. He finishes it in about two to three weeks (he’s a three pound rabbit) so it’s not much of a hassle. I think the problem was that this was my first time buying the huge bag and it’s a different company too, so I didn’t know that it had a lot of dust at the bottom instead of hay. Besides, going to the store every two weeks is fun for both me and my dad because we get to see all the new bunnies and stuff.
@sarahthegemini I could do that, but everyone’s grass is all dried up and dead. Great idea for future emergencies in summer time though.
Luckily, a friend said that she will be able to get the hay for me. From now on, I will buy every thing Rain eats the day before my dad has to go somewhere, even if I think he has enough. (Unless it’s actually a full bag of course) This is also something that happens just once or twice in a year, so he isn’t gone that often. Thank you everyone for the helpful advice! I will try to get Rain hay bales but maybe in small amounts at first. If they have it like that.
As an FYI, even the bottom of Oxbow hay bags can have a lot of dust and small bits. There are two times when I bought loose hay in the past where I definitely did not use the bottom 3-4inches worth of the bag because it was all dust. It’s a result of packing, shipping, and just the bag getting tossed back and forth. Plus, it’s in the nature of dried hay to accumulate its dust and broken fragments on the bottom just through gravity. Oxbow does a good job in packing as much as they can in a bag though.
It’s good that you’re going to have a good plan of action moving forward whenever your dad is unable to drive you around again!
The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
YAS my best friend end dropped off the hay today. He’s munching away. Poor thing. He was
Wick, at first I thought that it was because the hay was just bad. But it does make sense that something dry like hay does gather up some dust.
Yes this plan is good for three years. And then I can drive! And spoil Rain three times as much as I already do! I can’t wait to drive. But then I have to be the one driving my parents around everywhere. Well it’s only fair.
› FORUM › DIET & CARE › No hay for two days!
