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What's the different betwwen long hay vs. bite down shorter hay

Happy Hopping

Wise Old Thumper
I notice my buns are not eating much of the shorter hay, say about 5 to 6 inch long, vs. the long stem hay that I put on their dish. i.e., after they bite down the long stem hay, they don't eat a lot of it. They seems to rather wait for me to put new full length hay on the dish.

Why is that?
 
They love the taste of the stalkier hay. The only way we can keep TJ's hay up is to allow him to select the bits he likes from the Oxbow Timothy Hay bag. Im lucky in that my other bunnies will eat any of it so they get what remains from his selective chomping. I have now used up all my first cut Timothy and the new bags hardly have any stalky bits. TJ only does this with Timothy and will eat meadow hay normally. He just loves the long stalky bits of the timothy and will eat large amounts of it.
 
But the shorter hay is the stalky hay that they ate and break down. They ate some, what's left is what they ate left off. So the stalky long hay became shorter hay, that's all. So now, they are no longer aggressive w/ the segment of hay that they broke down. They still eat it, but not too much.
It's the exact same hay.

But then when I refill the hay w/ the long hay, they jump on it. So I don't know what to do.
 
yes I have this problem - when I clean Maa and Benny's beds out it's about 4 inches deep with hay that they've snipped neatly into 3" pieces :roll: I take half of it out as it's clean, and use it as bedding for the following week - they won't eat it :?
 
how many others bunny owners notice their bun won't eat broken hay?

Or perhaps mine falls under the minority cases
 
Yep youre right. I have 2 litters trays in the hutches, one for sleeping and munching and another for a toilet. I take some of the nibbled shorter hay and use it in the following days poo tray, then shove a handful of fresh long stuff into the sleep/eat tray. I just presumed they were too lazy to scrabble around the bottom for bits, and just ate the pieces conveniently poking in the direction of their mouths:lol: .... they definately like it fluffed up and not squashed. :D
 
I think I should put a Poll on this thread, but I can't edit this thread and make it a Poll thread, the software won't let me.
 
Mine seem to munch happily on whatever they're given. I put their hay in nets over their litter trays and they eat some, drop the rest and poop on it. Then when it's time to clean out they sit on top of the pile of dirty hay as I'm trying to scoop it out and then decide it's the best stuff ever. :roll:
 
Mine seem to munch happily on whatever they're given. I put their hay in nets over their litter trays and they eat some, drop the rest and poop on it. Then when it's time to clean out they sit on top of the pile of dirty hay as I'm trying to scoop it out and then decide it's the best stuff ever. :roll:

:lol: mine do that - I put the full, dirty trays on the patio while I sweep the shed, and the girls instanstly all sit in them and start stuffing their faces - whereas 5 mins before it was the 'mummy we're so hungry' face :roll: :lol:
 
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