I am really unsure. One of the major benefits of hay is the “saw blade” texture of it, which really aids in maintaining their dental health since their teeth never stop growing. Pellets do not cause that same amount of wear to happen, especially since it’s not something the rabbit is grazing on all day necessarily. Timothy grass should be the same as Timothy hay. I believe hay is simply the word used when the grass has been dried! The large majority of people opt for hay since getting fresh grass daily is too difficult.

I agree with Wick. Hay is needed to wear down the teeth and to keep the digestive system working. Rabbits are supposed to graze on hay all day because their digestive tract will shut down if it doesn’t have food moving through it constantly. Eating hay all day doesn’t cause a weight issue because it doesn’t have much nutritional value, but you couldn’t feed pellets all day in place of hay as that would make the rabbit obese. So there really isn’t anything that can take the place of hay in a rabbit’s diet unfortunately.

Have you experimented with different kinds of hay? Orchard or oat hay often turn out to be a good alternatives for people who have problems with Timothy.

Have you been tested for allergies? They break it down by grass types. If you’re allergic to “grass”, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are allergic to all grass. Timothy seems to be the more common allergen out of the grass hays. People who are allergic to timothy often have better luck with orchard or oat.

Yes Orchard is just as good, so hopefully that works out. Any grass hay would be suitable (oat and rye are other options).

I recently rescued a bunny and have been doing a bunch of research on different foods and such, because I’ve forgotten a lot of it over the years of not having a bunny. Anyway, one of my original questions was on what the difference was in feeding my rabbit different types of hay.

From everything I could find, basically, Timothy Hay is the type most people go for because it’s the most calorically and protein-based consistent. In other words, your bunny is the least likely to get fat on it. Alfalfa has a higher amount of calories and is best for younger rabbits. And Orchard Grass Hay just isn’t always as consistent as Timothy Hay, depending on the grower. From my research (mind you, totally amateur research) it seems totally fine to feed your rabbit Orchard Grass Hay instead of Timothy. In fact, from everything I’ve read, this type of hay would be much better than no hay at all. As, from what I’ve read, and as others on here have already mentioned, the texture of hay is really important for the rabbit’s dental health.

On a side note, as a person with asthma myself, it can totally suck when something new starts to bother your asthma. Been there, done that. While I really don’t think it’s an issue to entirely switch over to Orchard Grass Hay, have you tried different brands of Timothy Hay? Asthma and allergies can be such a finicky thing, and it may not even be the hay itself that’s bothering your asthma, but something else in the environment it’s being grown in. Just a thought, and if I were you I might not even want to risk it by buying from another seller, but it’s always an option.

I also agree woth the others. My rabbit needed monthly dental procedures until we took her off pellets. They cause the teeth to ground in an unnatural way compared to actual leaves that they would eat in the wild.

Have you considered growing your own grassa and weeds. There are  grass seeds that can be grown very quickly  in the house, but that are marketed towards cats but I’m sure would be great for rabbits too?

I can get the link should you need it. Also can you tried dried plantain. That’s very high fibre contents and very abundant in the wild so is part of the natural diet. It would be less dusty and doesn’t contain seed heads as far as im aware.