Hay for dental buns

[lioness178]

Hiya :wave:

I rescue my little fella, Ralph, last year from a rescue. He was basically dumped in a box in a park and in a terrible state (horrendously overgrown teeth and extremely malnourished). Anyhoo to cut a long story short, he doesn't like hay, he won't eat hay (questioning if his previous owner who dumped him ever gave him hay due to his disinterest and the teeth issues) and so he needs a dental every 5 weeks due to ongoing issues with dental spurs. I've tried about 10 different hays and he turned his nose up at every single bag....however I bought some Ings hay and I was amazed to see him munching on it tonight! So happy about this, but then I was reading on here that Timothy & Rye hay is best for teeth but Ralph never touched that either as that what I initially fed them on before trying all the others (plus it makes me sneeze/itchy eyes/running nose lol).

So my question is will the Ings hay be at all beneficial for his teeth, or is it too soft to make any difference to him? Any advice much appreciated.

I've kept rabbits for over 11 years but never had a dental bun (or a one that doesn't like hay) before so its all new!!!

Thank you :thumb:

 

[Babsie]

As far as I'm aware, any good quality hay is fine for teeth and digestion (mine love timothy & rye but don't like Ings).

 

[kevin]

We have a dental bun called florence and she will not eat hay full stop mo matter what type. She has her fromt teeth trimmed every 3-4 weeks and her rears done every few months when needed. She has terrible teeth and has quite a few removed as they become loose and she also suffers from an ongoing abscess.

 

[Shimmer]

Any hay or grass is far better than none. All will add fibre to the diet to keep the guts going, and will help to keep the teeth in better condition. Over time, you may find that the teeth improve and may need fewer dentals. Even soft hay is quite abrasive. I would keep feeding any hay that he will eat and very slowly introduce others if you want to - just keep him moving in the right direction after his awful start in life.