In love with Pellets…

[Floppy]

Floppy was eating more hay than usual after he was neutered but that has worn off.

He loves his greens which I feed him in the morning and at night- during the day when I am

not home he always has his hay and I also have the pellets there for him to eat also. I would

like to encourage him to eat more hay, so my question is…Do you guys think its ok for me to

take the pellets away at night and just leave the Hay and Water? I would just let him have the

pellets when I am not home during the day.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Is he not eating much hay? You said that he was eating more than usual but stopped, how much is/was his “usual” amount?

[Floppy]

well he has never been CRAZY about the hay, he still eats normally but basically
I would like to encourage him to eat more hay, so I am wondering if you guys think
that this would be a good way to do that…or if I should just let it be?

[Sarita]

I think it’s fine – do you measure out the amount of pellets you feed him? Most of my rabbits only get a measured amount of pellets once a day. As long as they have the hay to graze on it should be fine – will it encourage him to eat more hay, it’s hard to tell but it’s worth a try. Have you also tried putting the hay in toilet rolls or paper bags with holes in it to make it fun and maybe it will encourage him as well to eat hay.

The only rabbits of mine that I keep pellets free feed are the young ones (but she eats hay good and greens good and well just about anything else) and the ones that don’t gorge on pellets (only 2 of these). My others get a measured amount once a day which they eat all of usually.

[Deleted User]

Connor will not eat hay, so what I have done is I toss his hay (bunny Blend) with his greens. Then instead of a plate to eat them off of he gets it in a small bowl. That way he can’t dig through to find the greens. I noticed he did eat some of the hay but the little bugger is getting to smart, he just dumped the bowl out and then spread out the greens. I would love anyother ideas to get them to eat hay. Ever since I got him he won’t eat it. During his stasis he ate alfalfa once and then the first day we got the bb shipment he ate the oat hay, but he really doesn’t eat. I have tried several different brands and blends and I don’t know what else to try.

[Sarita]

Here’s an article from the Colorado HRS website with some advice.

http://www.coloradohrs.com/articles/diet_hay_crisis.asp   – sorry cannot figure out how to provide this as a link so you don’t have to cut and paste.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Sarita, the link will work but only if you use the regular reply not the quick reply, copy & paste and voila.

Here is another read to a non-hay eating bunny problem:

http://www.coloradohrs.com/articles/diet_hay_crisis.asp

 

[BinkyBunny]

quick note about linking. Only in “add reply” – go to the tool bar and click on the little chain link symbol, then add url. You also hyperlink any test you write this way too. You highlight the text you want to hyperlink, click on the chain link symbol in the tool bar and add url. Now the text you want has a link attached. Make sense?

[Deleted User]

I just read that article. We are trying to switch him over to the oxbow. I will have to try the pumpkin. I talked to the vet if there was something else I could try and supplement to get the extra fiber and she said not really. To just keep trying different brands and varieties. She said that some bunnies who did not have hay available to them as babies just don’t get the desire to eat it.

[PocketFaeries]

Hi, there!

I should preface this by saying I am very much a newbie here, and that I have not personally tried this, but I had an idea for you regarding the bunny who won’t eat hay.  Could you get a very fine misting spray bottle and put apple juice in it, and take just a small portion of hay and mist it with the apple juice?  You could get it fairly moistened (but not soaked) just to impart a sweet fruity flavor, and give only a small amount. If your bunny likes it, you can serve it that way just in small bits (so as not to give too much sugar via the juice), and gradually over time increase the amount of hay offered, while decreasing the amount of juice spritzed on it.

I cannot promise this would work, but it is worth a try.  The worst that happens is nothing.  I’d just watch it to not give so much juice that the hay is "soaked" because of the sugar content.  If you decide to try this, let me know how it goes!

[Sarita]

I’m not sure that soaking hay in anything is a good idea as I would be afraid of mold. Maybe putting a very small amount of treats in the hay to try and get bunny to dig in and possibly eat the hay looking for the goody might be good. Of course, there’s no guarantee that any hay will be eaten, only the treat but it’s an idea :~)

[Deleted User]

i will try misting it and see if it works. He has a very strong nose so maybe just a spray or two would work. I have tried to stick his papaya tablet in the hay and he just dumps it to find the yummy. I think he is getting a little of the hay with mixed with the salad mix but I know he is dumping that out to just eat the greens.

[PocketFaeries]

Hello again!

Just to clarify, since Sarita was kind enough to bring up the mold issue, as mentioned I am not advocating that you soak the hay or leave it sitting for long. I’m just intending to suggest the idea of lightly misting a small portion of hay that you can watch your bunny consume, and discard the rest if there is any left. 

This technique is one that is widely useful with other types of animals when they display consistently finnicky eating habits and need encouragement to consume the nutrients best for them.  You can try this by purchasing a very inexpensive "perfume" travel mister from a drugstore and filling it with apple juice.  A very sweet alternative is to use the strawberry-banana Juicy Juice brand juice, or Tropicana brand organic apple-pear.  These are juice only blends containing no added sugar.

You can use the mister to lightly sweeten the food in question that you wish for your pet to eat. Some animals respond to very little juice, while others will prefer more.  Wet food of any kind should always be thrown out (as Sarita mentions, mold issues…but also just general sanitation rules).

Let me know if this helps!  It may not…some aren’t interested in certain foods no matter what we try. However, since you mention that your bun bun enjoys the papaya treats, why not try mascerating them and sprinkling the crushed powder over a small bit of hay?  They idea behind a fine wet mist or dry powder is that your bun cannot pick out the favorites.    Another alternative is to do the opposite…to mascerate the hay itself, and mix it in with a larger portion of a preferred food. Gradually, as your bunny learns to tolerate the hay mixed in with other foods, you can increase the size of hay pieces while decreasing the favorite food until it’s mostly hay (this should happen very gradually, over the course of a month or so).  Good luck!!

[Scarlet_Rose]

I would also like to add that you can try adding some organic dried flowers like hibiscus, lavender, chamomile and rose buds and mix it into the hay. (This is my spoof off of the new Oxbow Botanical Blend Hay.) Let it "marinate" in the herbs in a closed container with the hay so it permeates it, my buns go nuts over it and it smells great too!

[PocketFaeries]

Wow, Scarlet Rose…now I have a question!  I actually have many of the dried flowers you mentioned on hand, as I enjoy making herbal tea blends as a hobby.  Would it be acceptable to feed small amounts of these as little extra treats?  That is also a great idea overall for picky eaters, because the leaves can be smooshed up into a powder as well with very little effort (you could put them in a ziploc style bag and crush by crumbling in your hands). 

I sometimes make little "herbal teas" for my sugar gliders using these as a treat in their water. I bet Finn would love it, too!

I love this idea…thank you for sharing it! 

[Scarlet_Rose]

So cool! I have an herb garden full of these (with the exception of the hibiscus flowers) and also made tea once upon a time, but with time that waned.  Now the flowers are OK for bunnies as treats, like the ones I listed (I think it was gravehearted, osprey or moobunnay that told me about it) but as for others I am not sure.  Powdering it I would steer away from as bunnies can inhale the dust (and often do) and it is not all that good for them to get that junk in their lungs, so I would suggest sticking to the whole flowers.  I was really surprised at how my two make pigs out of themselves over them. That is just too cute soing that for your sugar gliders! Is that something they tell you to do? I have no knowledge about their care.  Oh and be careful about certain herbs that have medicinal properties, bunnies don’t take to them very well and it’s best to save that for a vet.

[Gravehearted]

To piggyback to ScarletRose’s suggestion adding dried herbs to hay often makes it tastier. You can hang some parsley, mint or basil up to try and then kinda break up the leaves into the hay. Also it can help to try a variety of grass hays – like the bunny blend or just buy several kinds and mix it up.

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