bunny will only eat alfalfa

[petuniababy]

My bunny is 5 months old and I have started trying to switch over to timothy. I have tried oxbow timothy, oxbow orchard grass, and oxbow botanical hay. She refuses to eat all of them and will only eat alfalfa. I have tried mixing it and she will pick out the alfalfa and leave the other hay. I’m not sure what to do. I just placed an order from small pet select hoping they will have better quality hay, oxbow doesn’t look very good to me. I don’t want to starve her but 5 months is too old to only eat alfalfa correct?

[Hazel]

It depends, she should have Alfalfa as long as she’s still growing. Are you feeding Alfalfa or Timothy based pellets? They only need one source of Alfalfa, either hay or pellets.

[Wick & Fable]

Alfalfa tastes really good and I don’t think many rabbits would ever choose something else if alfalfa is available, haha. My Wick barely ate his Timothy pellets when we first transitioned, but eventually he got there. He was never on alfalfa hay (health reasons), but I imagine the same difficulty would have existed. I haven’t read of many rabbits who willingly prefer something else to alfalfa.

When it comes to hay, you don’t need to worry about a slow transition from one to the other. What will probably best facilitate eating non-alfalfa hay is not having it present anymore. Rabbits are selective foragers,  so they will always seek the best strands first. Mixing in alfalfa means those will go first and the rest will be ignored. You can always have a stash for the first day or two in case there is no hay eating,  but I think eliminating the alfalfa hay altogether would reap the best results.

I’m curious what others think based on personal experiences!

 

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.

[LBJ10]

I agree with Wick. Try switching “cold turkey”. It won’t hurt if your bunny doesn’t eat a lot of hay for a few days. They usually give in once they realize no alfalfa is coming. Is your bunny still growing?

[petuniababy]

I’m not sure if she is still growing. She’s pretty big at 5 pounds I don’t think she will get much bigger. We are slowing mixing in timothy pellets and she has been loving those

[LBJ10]

Small breeds tend to reach full size around 6 months, so it’s probably OK to start making the switch now.

[Author]

Messages