my bun wont eat hay

[bunnycutie]

 i can’t get my dutch rabbit buttons to eat hay. we have tried oat,meadow grass, timothy, and alfalfa. sometimes he eats a little but doesn’t like it. i know that for his health, he should eat it but he wont. any suggestions on types of ways to feed it to make it more fun?

[RabbitPam]

It may be that he is filling up on other foods first. I remember you said he gets yogurt drops for treats, and they are both sweet and fattening. If you check the diet section above and limit his quantities of other foods to limited pellets, greens, and unlimited hay, he may start to eat it more.

I think it’s too early to say it could be a tooth problem, but that’s a possibility.

[bunnycutie]

 his teeth look fine. i am really limiting the yogurt drops to once a week. he is getting 1/3 cup of pellets twice a day, with about a cup of greens. do you think that is too much other food?

[Elrohwen]

How much does he weigh? You could probably cut the pellets down to 1/3 cup once a day depending on his weight (the info section on the top of the page will give you more info on that). He’s probably filling up on pellets and doesn’t want any hay. A cup of veggies sounds good though.

[bunnycutie]

 he’s about 51/2 pounds. 

[bunnycutie]

oops 5 & 1/2

[bunnycutie]

bye

[bunnytowne]

for a 5LB bunny he should get 1/4 a cup a day. Cut back slowly so it doesn’t shock his system.

 

[bunnytowne]

The directions say 1/4 to 1/2 per 6lbs.  Cut back a little bit at a time and see if he eats more hay.  If he gets too skinny up the pellets a little bit.

 

[bunnycutie]

okay thanks)

[KatnipCrzy]

what type/brand of pellets are you feeding?  That can make a difference nutrition wise.

[bunnycutie]

he eats a all natural bulk pellet

[Adalaide]

I don’t feel like Freya eats enough hay either. I guess I’m lucky though that she’s just a baby, I don’t have to play food games with her yet. I’m confidant that the reason she doesn’t is because she stuffs her face with her unlimited pellets for a baby bun. I do only give her 1/2 cup at a time though and let it run out so I can get the crumbs out of the bottom of her dish. The minute she’s out of pellets she lets me know by throwing her dish which makes a pretty loud sound. I’ve started waiting about 15-30 minutes to refill it for her and that’s made a pretty significant impact on her hay intake. I’m confidant that once she’s full grown and I can limit her pellets she’ll eat a lot more hay. I have noticed though that she likes her alfalfa and orchard grass hay, she doesn’t really like her timothy hay. Have you also tried other types of hay to see if he may like something else better?

[bunnycutie]

we tried lots of types. maybe he would like it in a toilet paper tube or grass ball-to make it more fun…

[Author]

Messages