New bunnies won’t eat hay

[pie]

Hi everyone I’m new to the forum but not new to bunnies

So after much thought I got my daughter her first pet, a bunny. He is a mini rex, superrrr sweet. He even gives kisses. she named him.. yup you guessed it, thumper lol. Later that day, seeing hers it gave me the bunny blues so I got his brother lol. He seems pretty dominant and has nipped me a few times and once drew blood. He is sweet tho, hops on my lap comes up for petting, but dont hold him at all against his will! He should have been named thumper, he gets annoyed and thumps often. I was told they were 8 weeks by the woman who bred them but I’m not new to bunnies, I’d guess they are 10-12 weeks old give or take. We have had them for 2 weeks now. My bunny digs and nibbles my clothes, not sure why he does that? lol

I have bought 4 kinds of hay for them along with a BUNCH of toys
Forti-diet Timothy
Oxbow oat
Oxbow alfalfa
and kaytee Box o Hay (3 Flavors Marigold, mango and cranberry)

The only hay they will eat is the alfalfa!

They didn’t even care too much for the box of Marigold hay and flowers. They had a lot of fun scattering and digging in it tho lol

I tried mixing the Timothy with the oath nope no luck. Then tried mixing the tim, oat and a tiny bit of alfalfa. They just pick thru it and only eat the alfalfa.

I know Timothy is the best for them so I bought the biggest bag the store had and it’s just getting wasted. I keep cleaning the cage or litter box and adding fresh.

I even took their pellets away for about 3 or 4 hours and didn’t give them their fresh greens (dandelion/green leaf). They picked at the hay but only nibbled on a couple pieces here and there. I didn’t want to withhold food for too long in fear of stasis so I gave them their pellets and haven’t tried again.

Also right before I started writing this, I put another box of hay in their X pen (can’t bunny proof so we use 2 puppy pens hooked together in the living room for their play time) they sniffed it nibbled the box and binkied off.. we actually have 2 puppy pens and the last few days it’s been warm enough so we hook the 3 up and they have a blast out there!

Anyway, how can i get them to eat their hay? How long should I take pellets away from them? Should I hold off on their greens also? I’ve had many rabbits as a kid but they all happily loved their hay. This is a first for me.

Thanks for reading and look forward to some advice

[BB & Tiny]

Babies are supposed to have unlimited alfalfa and pellets. I’m not sure the age greens should be introduced.

[pie]

Oh ok.. so they can have all the alfalfa they want when young.. up to what age tho? Always heard alfalfa was too sweet therefore harder for them to digest. High in calcium but a very sweet hay.

[DaisyMae]

My bun was the same way when we first got her … she only wanted to eat the Alfalfa.  Since young bunnies need the calories,  the Alfalfa is OK because it’s certainly better than not eating hay at all.  I still mixed some Timothy in because when she would root through it, she would get some pieces of Timothy, and since I knew there would come a day when she could no longer have the Alfalfa,  I wanted her to atleast  get somewhat used to the Timothy.

When it came time to switch over to the Timothy, my bun did not like any of the store brands.  So, while browsing through the House Rabbit Society website one day, I found a link to OneEarUp Hay.   They have all varieties, and since ordering from there, I had no trouble weaning her from the Alfalfa.  They add bits of clover to some of their blends, which sweetens it up a bit, and she loves it.  She’s been eating that hay for about 5 months now, and at her check up this week, the vet said she’s very healthy, and her teeth are in good shape.

I do remember my vet saying “no” to unlimited pellets, though, even when she was under 6 months old.  I gave her the pellets twice a day, but I can’t remember how much.  She definitely ate much more hay when her pellets were limited, but since your bun’s are so young, check with your Vet.  Good luck!

[pie]

Awesome info ty daisy. I’ll have to check that site out for their hay

[sorathebunny]

Sora hadn’t wanted the hay when he came home, so I put hay in his dish on top of the pellets. He’d get a taste of the hay while he was picking through it for pellets, so after a few days he was eating all the pellets and hay in the dish and going for more out of the hay bin above the litter box. That seemed to help. Otherwise he was only eating the pellets. I was told 2 months as well, but I think he is more like three judging by the size and shape of him.  I don’t think he was given much hay before coming home.

[Author]

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