How to get my bunny to eat hay?

[Maley]

When I got my first bunny I wasn’t exactly an expert on his diet and while I gave him hay and pellets, when he was old enough we started giving him different veggies once a day and little bits of store bought treats (never more then recommend on the bag), and I bought bags of pellets (kaytee forti-diet)with little colored treats in them, he also started to go outside and eatting grass. It had gotten to the point where he almost completely refuses to eat any hay. Now that I know he needs hay in his diet I’m offering it more to him and cutting way back on store bought treats and giving him a little less veggies and fruits, along with not getting kaytee forti-diet anymore. I don’t want to completely cut out veggies or pellets because those are mainly the only thing he will eat (not to mention he’s been eating less pellets now that they don’t have treats in them). Any tips on getting him back on hay?

[noodlebeer]

Keep hay readily available for him – have a small bowl of it in a few rooms of the house he spends most time in/at his favourite nap spots and a larger container in his pen and make sure you keep it topped up with fresh hay (if it doesn’t smell fresh he’ll be less interested).

Try putting a little fresh grass on the top too – after he finishes that off he’s likely to just keep munching.

[Kiki]

Why are you cutting his veggies and fruits ?

[Maley]

I was hoping that giving him veggies more as treats through out the day instead of meals would make him more likely to eat his hay

[LittlePuffyTail]

Have you tried different types of grass hay? Many bunnies really like Orchard and Oat Hay. Maybe try a couple different brands?

[Kiki]

Mine loves oat hay. Just change things slowly as you don’t want to throw off his gut.

[FlemishDad]

Hay is just dried grass so if he has access to fresh grass it’s reasonable that he is not interested in hay, and not so much of a problem as long as he eats plenty of grass. Otherwise just gradually cut back on the less healthy stuff until he gets hungry enough to eat hay.

[Sirius&Luna]

Yes, if he’s eating enough fresh grass instead of hay, that’s absolutely fine. It’s what wild rabbits do!

I would recommend limiting his pellet and veg meals to just twice a day, eg, once at 8am and once at 8pm, so in between he has no choice but to eat hay or grass. If he knows he gets lots of little tasty snacks throughout the day, he’s less likely to eat the less exciting things.

There’s also readigrass, which is pure dried grass hay – it’s much less stalky than other hays. It has too much calcium to be a long term staple hay, but it might be a good way to transition him back from grass to hay if you’re worried about there not being enough grass over winter etc.

[Author]

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