picky hay eater

[miss_fiona]

So miss Fiona is  a 3 month old holland lop, and she will NOT eat anything but alfalfa hay. I’ve read that it’s really high in protein and calcium and should only be given in small amounts, or unless they’re young. I’ve tried her with timothy hay, and she won’t even look at it. Anyone think this could be a problem?? I don’t want to be feeding her something that isn’t good for her…

[Snowytoshi]

Alfalfa hay should really only be fed to baby rabbits, the calcium can cause kidney stones and bladder sludge. Have you tired any ther kinds of hay, such as orchard or oat? You can also the alfalfa and the timothy together and slowly cut back until there is nothing but timothy.

[miss_fiona]

actually, I’ve only ever tried alfalfa and timothy…I never tried any other kind…I guess I could experiment with another kind to see if she likes it? Also, she only seems to be eating the leaves, it’s very rare to see her eat the actual hard hay parts…she’s a strange little bunbun. 

[Snowytoshi]

You could also get her timothy hay and mix pellets in with it or as I said above alfalfa.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I think calcium, if I’m not mistaken, is no longer tied to bladder sludge and stones. Sarita is our expert in that field so I’ll leave that for her to clarify. I could be wrong

At any rate, I’ve never had an issue giving mixed alfalfa hay to my bunnies. I have alfalfa/timothy cubes and mixed hay that I feed-it’s field hay and is a mix of many types, but I often feed a 20% alfalfa or more. At three months she’s certainly fine having all alfalfa, but you will want to start encouraging other hays. There all kinds of hays out there, and cuts (the earlier the cut the tougher and less palatable the hay), brands, mixes etc-experiment as your able and encourage hay as a staple and something to be excited about. Don’t worry about some deadline to completely take her off alfalfa

[BinkyBunny]

From my understanding about stones (Jack had them), it wasn’t that high calcium diet options caused the stones.  He just didn’t process calcium properly and so I watched his calcium content, not because high calcium caused the issue, but because due to HIS condition, he couldn’t process higher calcium food well, which could cause stones. So that means you really have to have a bunny with this issue in the first place to worry. 

For a normal bunny, it has more to do with the richness of alfalfa nutrients, not the calcium,  and that can cause other issues, HOWEVER, your bunny is still young. Only 3 months old,  He is still growing and unless you see some adverse reaction– poop butt, gaining too much weight etc, at this point, I don’t see a reason to take him off Alfalfa right now. 

If you want to start to get him used to other hays, like Timothy and/or Orchard, just start mixing it in for him.  He may only nibble slightly on the new hay, but over time you can begin to add less alfalfa and more of the higher fiber hay. 

According to the House Rabbit Society, they recommend introducing timothy and other grass hays (decreasing alfalfa) at around  7 months.  Your bunny is still only three months right? 

For your convenience, I have copied and pasted the excerpt from HRS, but you can see the full diet info at http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/…ies: 

This is the copied and pasted info for growing bunnies. 

What quantities of food should I feed young adults? (7 months to 1 year)

• introduce timothy hay, grass hay, and oat hays, decrease alfalfa
• decrease pellets to 1/2 cup per 6 lbs. body weight
• increase daily vegetables gradually
• fruit daily ration no more than 1 oz. to 2 oz. per 6 lbs. body weight (because of calories)

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