refuses hay

[charliesmom]

So I need some input…

Jack keeps refusing to eat his hay. I have tried orchard grass and Timothy. I’ve tried hiding it in places (like toilet paper rolls, in his paper bag he loves, in his litter box). He ate it wonderfully the first two weeks I owned him and now the last 3 he completely ignores it. And then, as you can imagine, he eats everything else I give him in about 2 seconds because he is hungry.

 

Thoughts? Otherwise he is healthy, I looked at his teeth which are fine.

[Elrohwen]

How old is he? What amount of pellets is he getting?

When I was free-feeding my young bun he ate very little hay. As I’ve reduced his pellets he’s started to eat a lot more hay.

If he’s already on a limited diet, I’m afraid I’m not much help!

[hooty22]

Sometimes Felony gets finicky, so I just have to reduce his pellets to get him back into the hay eating mood. I go from 1/4 cup of pellets to 1/8 until I see the hay getting munched. I also have notice if I put in about a 50/50 of alfalfa/timothy he’ll start eating it again and I just gradually reduce the alfalfa over the next few days. You could also put handfuls in one side of his litter pan. He can munch and go at the same time. Bunnies: In one end, out the other.

It might also be a bad bag of hay, although you said you’ve tried two different types.

[Balefulregards]

I am a bit of a Hay Nazi with my two. If I notice that their hay consumption drops, I reduce pellets drastically. Sometimes removing pellets for the week completely. They then have no choice BUT to eat the hay after they demolish their massive salads.

Jackson didn’t eat hay at all when I first got him. Seemed puzzled by it. Same with Coco. I thought she would never eat hay…until i reduced the pellets.
Now they both Munch, munch ,munch the hay all day long.

Right now they get 2 tbsps of pellets at night for Coco, and about 3 tbsp for Jackson. I give them at night because it seems to fill them up and they get quiet and sleepy after pellets.

I think of Pellets as the “fast food” of house rabbit life. All in one – easy to chew..right there. No wonder they prefer them. No work at all to eat!

[Chilly's Mom]

The reduction of pellets is definately a good idea. I’ve also learned that they love to eat Timothy hay cubes. It’s a condenced form of the grassy stuff that break off in blocks. It does leave a bit of a mess because of the dust, but mine love them.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I looked at his teeth which are fine

It’s really hard for you to look at teeth-even a vet sometimes needs to do xrays to see tooth problems.

However if he’s eating veggies and pellets I’d assume no teeth problems for now.

I’d reduce pellets (slowly!!) and mix the hay with some herbs (oregano or basil maybe) and also give veggies at the end of the day-so he’s hungry and will eat the hay. Also you can switch up -try other brands. You can give a wee bit of alfalfa which most anybunny likes. Any other grass type hays are fine to give.

[hooty22]

Or you can increase hay consumption by accident like I did… Felony evidently hates health food because he won’t eat Oxbow pellets, so his hay consumption has gone through the roof!

[Beka27]

What kind of hay (brand) are you using? The couple times I ran out of the good stuff (Oxbow for my buns) and had to get a “cheapy” hay at the pet store, you would think I was trying to poison them. It sat untouched. They were not amused. There are other buns that love the “cheapy” stuff but snub Oxbow… so you might even try other brands or cuts.

[Adalaide]

I’ve always wanted to try the Oxbow hay, but at our local store it’s really expensive and it looks kinda nasty compared to the Kaytee. I have no problems getting Freya to eat hay, I do offer her a fair variety though on a regular basis. I actually just got more to mix for her. I mix a really big bag of timothy with orchard grass and now I’m adding a bag of the marigold hay also. Sometimes I’ll throw in some alfafa too, it makes her happy. I also stopped giving her unlimited pellets and only fill her dish once a day. She’s still a baby but I draw the line at 1 1/2 cups of pellets, the girl is like a freaking hoover. I do notice that she’ll ignore her pile of hay all day, then suddenly she’ll be out of pellets and her hay seems to magically disappear.

[Beka27]

Really?! I love the Oxbow, it smells so yummy! And now that I get it in the 50 pound box (for about $65), it’s actually CHEAPER than the “cheapy” hay.

[skunklionshow]

Leo has never been much of a hay eater.  He’s got the crappy teeth to show for it.  I adjusted my feeding schedule; hay all the time, pellets in the AM, remove pellets in the PM and give salad.  When they run out of salad, they always eat the hay.  I’ve found that even the most pain in the behind rabbit prefers to eat than starve   I also found that Leo “prefers” his hay served in a hanging hay ball.  He appears to just pull it all out, but it appears he’s eating some as he pulls it all out.  I only give 1/8 cup pellets per rabbit.

[Sprolerm]

http://www.gerverhayfarms.com/

[charliesmom]

I’m happy to report that pellets have been reduced and hay intake has gone up enormously! He is loving it!
Thank you for all the input and help!

[RabbitPam]

I have to try that because Sammy just doesn’t eat enough hay.
But I did find that, after using the Oxbow for years feeling it was the best, I tried BB’s mini bales of Timmy and of Oat, and wow-did she love that! And it lasts forever.

[Monkeybun]

I bought a bale of the orchard from BB, and Monkey adores it, more than the Oxbow orchard grass! It smells so nommy too… mmmm hay…

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