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Bunny dosnt eat hay

L

lil860

Warren Scout
My rabbit Louie is nearly a year old and he dosnt eat hay, dried grass or fresh grass. But he loves veg i only give him these in small amounts though. How can i get him to eat grass and hay he rubs his chin on it when i offer it to him. Silly bunny.
 
:wave: hiya.

had the same trouble with the love of my life elvis, we tried so many types, went to the vets and they said take away his mix (which he loved so much) and he would start eatin the hay.

after a day he still hadnt touched his hay and i could tell he was starving:roll:. i got frightened cause he needed to be eatin and so gave in and gave him his mix. we tried this trick quite a few times and it was always the same out come:roll:.

hopefully some body else will give some more ideas.

are his teeth ok?.
x
 
lol sorry im a bit slow today. just been talkin to my o/h bout your bun not eatin hay. not sure this will work but its done wonders for my shaunys intake of hay (he did eat it, but not very much).

couple of weeks ago i started cuttin down his pellets, but he still wasnt eatin much hay just waitin for his mix:roll:.

but ive bought this little tent, for buns and filled it full of 2 different types of hay- he loves it and whats more hes def eatin more hay.
x
 
Yeah his teeth are fine i check the front one every other day and have a feel where his back ones are. I do regular checks because i had to have my lovely bunny Lily put to sleep due to teeth problems the vet couldnt do anything for her.
I only feed him dry once a day to try to encourage him to eat hay ive even tried Herbage but with no luck my guinea pigs love it. Ive even tried timothy hay. Also i feed him a guinea pig mix because i also have guinea pigs should i be feeding him a rabbit mix. If so which one he dosnt like pellets i have tried him with them.
 
Try reducing the pellets/mix, just a small handful max and buy a couple of nice quality hays. a meadow one and a timothy one of dried grass and buy some fresh herbs like rosemary, basil, coriander, lavender, parsley and mix up with a small amount of hay. Each day increase the hay in the mixture and see if that works.

I have a foster bun here who when he 1st came didn't barely touch hay or dried grass either and now he eats 2 handfuls a day after mixing with herbs :D

Good luck!
 
Try getting a Hay Experts sample pack which has lots of different hays. See if he will eat any of these. I just feed my bunnies a small handful of pellets and they have increased their hay intake. Often bunnies will not like a particular hay or cut, so you should persevere with different types in the hope he might start. Has the vet said he doesn't have a spur.
 
Why don't you look on the the Hay Experts website https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/
They do a taster pack and you could try some different hays and see if your bunny prefers one type more than another? Mine aren't keen on Timothy but love meadow. It might be a bit of trial and error.
 
Guinea pig food contains vit c, rabbits dont need this. My rabbits nicked the guineas food a few times and it caused diorreah. Try mixing the rabbit and guinea food together, slowly increasing the rabbit food/reducing the guinea food, until you have a rabbit food only diet.
Will your bun eat straw?
Good luck.
 
lil860 said:
Yeah his teeth are fine i check the front one every other day and have a feel where his back ones are. I do regular checks because i had to have my lovely bunny Lily put to sleep due to teeth problems the vet couldnt do anything for her.
I only feed him dry once a day to try to encourage him to eat hay ive even tried Herbage but with no luck my guinea pigs love it. Ive even tried timothy hay. Also i feed him a guinea pig mix because i also have guinea pigs should i be feeding him a rabbit mix. If so which one he dosnt like pellets i have tried him with them.
Click to expand...

my elvis passed away with teeth trouble, and now im paranoid bout shauny eatin hay.

have you tried excell?. when we got elvis he was bein fed a mix but was only eatin the dried peas and leavin everythin else:roll:.
so we changed him to excell, if its pellets all the same then they cant selective feed (which their sooo good at:).

he does need to be on a rabbit mix, as i think the guineas food has more vit c in it.
x
 
Thanks for info will get him some rabbit excell when i go to PAH on sunday pellets to see if he will eat those. Will try to gradually wean him of the guinea food. As for hay i have tried meadow , timothy , herbage and excel dried grass i must have a super fussy rabbit. I feed him about an hour ago and mixed a small amount of herbage and in with a small amount of his food but he picked out all of the herbage and ate the food :roll: Just ordered a taster pack to find out what he likes the best.
 
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Try thehayexperts, i know the lady very well and she'll try and help the best she can, you'll have to leave a message on her phone as she's always doing something but she will get back to you.
 
UPDATE

Received the hay samples Louie wasnt very keen on them but he did have a nibble. Bought him some Russell Rabbit and PAH pellets and mixed them together he actually ate it i guess he likes this food mixture. Anyway he still will not eat hay just nibbles at it but he ate a couple of dandelions today which i guess is a start.( never used to eat them) :D Ive also noticed he isnt eating very much could he have a problem with his teeth is it worth me taking him to the vets for a check up.
 
A good quality g-pig food is fine as they'll just poop out all the excess v-c, but it's recommended and preferred to have a good quality like Excell :)
Also i'd recommend chopping up bits of hay and mixxing it with the pellets.
 
My lionhead hardly eats any hay which is driving me nuts as he is the one the vets think most likely to have teeth trouble - something to do with lionheads having a small head? Anyway I've found he eats more hay if I put it in a shallow tray on the floor so he can sit in it and nibble - he wont touch it in a hayrack. Weird but with this and cutting down his pellets so he's hungry he's started eating it more.
 
lil860 said:
Thanks for info will get him some rabbit excell when i go to PAH on sunday pellets to see if he will eat those. Will try to gradually wean him of the guinea food. As for hay i have tried meadow , timothy , herbage and excel dried grass i must have a super fussy rabbit. I feed him about an hour ago and mixed a small amount of herbage and in with a small amount of his food but he picked out all of the herbage and ate the food :roll: Just ordered a taster pack to find out what he likes the best.
Click to expand...

while if starving my buns will eat excel i find they prefer science selective or as a treat a small amount of a mix and i do mean a small amount!! otherwise they selectivly feed on it! oxbows do a good mix excel is good too try and find a pellet he likes to eat as some buns are a bit fussy!!!!

also found ym two very fussy with hay they will only eat 2 types..... (however they love grass) they eat one from round the corner which is meadow hay and johnsons hay which i dont often buy as its wuite expensive! they shun timothy hay and shun dried grass prefering the real deal...however they love alfalfa and love herbs(but only fresh:roll: particularly corriander and parsley) they also like blackberry leaves and apple leaves which i believe also are high in fibre! xx
 
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