help! my rabbit wont eat hay!

[Gothymama]

hello again.
just a quick question my rabbit will not eat hay!
i brought him this expensive hay with dried apples and carrots in .. will he eat it no!
i brought normal hay he wont eat it
i buy him hay balls he wont eat it!

he will eat maybe a mouth full of the dried apple and carrots one but thats it.
ive tried putting hay in toilet roll.s
mix it up with his pellets.
put it in wooden logs!
nothing.

is there anything i can do ?

I agree with others that bunny should not be having a whole carrot everyday, they contain lots of sugar and are very fattening, your bun could become overweight in the long term and could struggle to clean his bottom which could make him a candidate for flystrike at some point, i don't know why manufacturers put carrot and apple into hay when they know full well that too much is bad for bunnies. Dried food should be cut right back as well as bun is getting too much, if you are feeding muesli mix gradually wean him off it as it can make buns selective feeders and they will only eat the bits they enjoy and will have an unbalanced diet as bun wouldn't get the right nutrients, try gradually swapping to pellets and only an egg cup full a day.

Bun is getting too much fruit and shouldn't be having an apple or whole pear a day, are you remembering to remove the core and pips? as apple pips are poisonous to bunnies and shouldn't be given.

reducing his dry food and removing fruit will eventually encourage bun to eat his/her hay. A good mix of hay would be meadow hay/timothy hay and ready grass. i have also recently been buying ready dried forage (wild weeds/herbs) and mixing it into the hay as a treat to try and encourage my buns to eat wild plants so you could try this to encourage hay eating.

steer clear of gassy veg like broccoli,cabbage,spring greens etc as they can cause gut stasis which is exactly what happened to one of my buns. Like you i have had to learn to correct my buns diets and very quickly as one of mine became very ill after neuturing, his veg diet and being neuteured contributed to stasis it was not very nice at all.

good things to feed bunnies are as follows:

romaine lettce
chinese leaves
aprox 1 inch of carrot every now and then cut into strips
fresh coriander
fresh parsley
fresh basil
fresh rosemary
fresh mint (small amount)
fresh greek basil

The herbs can be bought growing from the supermarket so keep fresh longer

small strips of cucumber (not too often, i also get round this by giving them occasionally just the cucumber skin and i have the rest in a sandwich lol)
Celery (destringed)
beetroot leaves
radish leaves
carrot tops
dandelions (not too many)
grass

Do not give iceberg lettuce as it has no nutrition content for buns at all, darker green lettuce or some red coloured lettuce as a mixture is fine.

please remember do not feed bun any plants that have grown from a bulb as a majority of them are poisonous to rabbits, to be on the safe side i dont feed any bulb plant at all

these are just a few ideas to help you get going.

Bunnies are more complicated than pet shops tell us, once you have a good balance in their diet you will be well away, i made many mistakes when i first started and reading on the forum many of us have made the same mistakes when starting out, there are so many misconceptions that we all have when we first start out like carrots for instance, everyone thinks bunnies should eat carrots and lots of them when too many are bad for them, if you can get them carrot tops are much much better and the buns can eat more of that. lol

Good luck

 

[Elena]

Gothymama I don't know if you know but you shouldn't feed a lot of beetroot tops as they contain oxalic acid.

This is a good guide - http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/safefoods.htm

I have found that members of the brassica family (kale, spring greens, cabbage, brocolli, brussels) do give a couple of mine gas so I avoid them but some rabbits tolerate them fine.

 

[nessar]

Gothymama why on earth do you cut your cucumber and carrot into strips?! Seems like a lot of effort to go through unless bun has had his front teeth removed! And why do you feed only a small amount of mint?

 

[nessar]

That vet sounds much better, Giant Oreo. Did she also tell you that pellets are better than museli, not just because buns can selectively feed from museli but also because pellets that are a good brand tend to have much much higher fibre content? The food you are feeding contains 14% fibre I think (have a look on the back of the packet) whilst Excel Adult is 19% fibre, Supreme Science Selective Adult pellets are 25%, Supreme Fibafirst is 30%, and Oxbow Bunny Basics is also 29-30%. You can buy all these brands from The Hay Experts website that I linked you to.

I find longer strands of hay are favoured, and they are also much better for their teeth as Elena said. My two tend to favour golden hays that are green from freshness, over bagged pet shop hays. I get bags from my local animal feed store and I also buy online here: www.hayforpets.co.uk as even though the prices look expensive the bags are huge so if you get the 9.5kg bags it works out roughly £1.68 a kg, which is waaaay cheaper than most pet shop hays, and the quality is fantastic. Their favourite bagged hay is Burns Green Oat hay, which I know a few people buy on here. Its trial and error really to see what your buns prefer, mine prefer stalkier stuff, but some peoples prefer softer stuff.

 

[Elena]

Mine prefer it stalky too. I've found on the whole with baled hay that stalky tends to equal more golden in colour whereas greener hay is softer. But with the Alfalfa King hay it's stalky whether it's green in the case of the timothy or golden in the case of the oat, wheat and barley.

On the subject of hays, The hay experts do a sample pack - https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hays,+Grasses+%2526+Herbs.4/Select+by+Hay+Type.130/Sample+Pack.23/ - that might help you find what your bunny likes.

 

[GrahamL]

Mine prefer it stalky too. I've found on the whole with baled hay that stalky tends to equal more golden in colour whereas greener hay is softer. But with the Alfalfa King hay it's stalky whether it's green in the case of the timothy or golden in the case of the oat, wheat and barley.

On the subject of hays, The hay experts do a sample pack - https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hays,+Grasses+%2526+Herbs.4/Select+by+Hay+Type.130/Sample+Pack.23/ - that might help you find what your bunny likes.

Also, hay for pets do excellent quality hay.

You can get a sample from them too.

www.hayforpets.co.uk

 

[nessar]

I forgot to mention, if a rabbit has problems with his teeth, especially if they are overgrowing and creating painful spurs, which they often do if the bunny doesnt eat enough hay, then the pain from this can put them off eating hay, and make them prefer easier to eat foods like veg and dried food. So if he continues to not eat hay after you have reduced his fruit and museli, then I would pop him along for a dental checkup, where the vet will look at his teeth with an otoscope. This will enable them to see most, but not all teeth, the only way to see all the teeth is under anesthetic.

You mention you've just had vaccs done, do you know which ones? Some vets are using the new combined vaccine that protects against myxo and vhd, some are using the singles still that each do one. Its important that your rabbit is protected against both. If you have another one left to get him, then you could ask the vets to check his teeth at the same time, to save an extra visit. Its important to get them checked at least once a year if they have had no problems, and much more often if they do get problems with their teeth.

 

[Rdgib85]

Kale, romaine lettuce and baby corn. That's what mine have. With pellets. No fruit. They have dried grass and hay. Swap the fruit for veg, but gradually.

 

[katie88]

I ordered this sample pack recently and would highly recommend it. There were 2 that both of mine loved (so much so that Misfit, who never used to eat hay, chose the hay over fresh veg!). I now mix a bit of each of those in with my usual hay to save on costs, and that seems to work well.

I would also say the brown stuff from places like PAH is rubbish and having bought fresh green stuff straight from a farmer now, you can just smell the difference. I can certainly understand why they never ate the stuff I used to buy them!

Would also second everything else the others have said. I have drastically cut down their pellets, and very rarely give them veg now but give them 'forage' instead. It's only been a couple of weeks but it's going very well.

And although you feel bad like you are taking away their treats, they soon get used to the new diet. Mine now get excited about fresh hay and especially the forage. Misfit does sometimes look at her pellets as if to say 'that can't be IT?!' but I am being firm and she's fine :lol:

Mine prefer it stalky too. I've found on the whole with baled hay that stalky tends to equal more golden in colour whereas greener hay is softer. But with the Alfalfa King hay it's stalky whether it's green in the case of the timothy or golden in the case of the oat, wheat and barley.

On the subject of hays, The hay experts do a sample pack - https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hays,+Grasses+%2526+Herbs.4/Select+by+Hay+Type.130/Sample+Pack.23/ - that might help you find what your bunny likes.

 

[GiantOreo]

Thank you for so many replies!! Ive reduced his veg and fruit and he startrd to eat more hay!
not much but morr than he used to.
The vet said about the pellets im going to find a good brand of pellets and try introduce them to him!
Ill hace a look at them websites now thank you.

I never ever give him pips from apples or pears.
He LOVES parsley i mean loves it. Is that still ok to give him?

Also ive noticed i never see him drink water. Nevrr have seen him.
I try put some on my hands so hel lick it but he runs off so i try wet his mouth.
its been about 32 degrees here and i still hacvrny seen him drink water.
Therr are 4 bowls outside with fresh changed water all the time.

Thank you all!!
Im so new to this !

 

[nessar]

Thank you for so many replies!! Ive reduced his veg and fruit and he startrd to eat more hay!
not much but morr than he used to.
The vet said about the pellets im going to find a good brand of pellets and try introduce them to him!
Ill hace a look at them websites now thank you.

I never ever give him pips from apples or pears.
He LOVES parsley i mean loves it. Is that still ok to give him?

Also ive noticed i never see him drink water. Nevrr have seen him.
I try put some on my hands so hel lick it but he runs off so i try wet his mouth.
its been about 32 degrees here and i still hacvrny seen him drink water.
Therr are 4 bowls outside with fresh changed water all the time.

Thank you all!!
Im so new to this !

I'd just give him one bowl for now, if you move him to a run or something take it with you, and measure the amount you put in, and the amount left at the end of 12 or 24 hours, then you should see if he is drinking. It may be that all the fruit and veg was giving him enough moisture, although I'd still expect him to drink some.

Herbs are really good to give, they are gentle on the tummies and contain lots of fibre! I wouldnt go overboard because I believe parsley is fairly high in calcium, but also high in oxolates, which inhibit the absorbtion of calcium, so not sure if you should feed loads every single day, but used in moderation it is good for them I'd maybe just make sure you have at least 2 or 3 days a week not having parsley, and feed other greens too

Fantastic that he is eating more hay. The aim is to get him eating a minimum of a pile the size of himself everyday, but that will be a long way off yet. Did you manage to get some decent hay?

 

[Gothymama]

Gothymama why on earth do you cut your cucumber and carrot into strips?! Seems like a lot of effort to go through unless bun has had his front teeth removed! And why do you feed only a small amount of mint?

hi i read on one of the rabbity websites that it should be cut into strips, i did wonder at that and fed their carrot today in a chunk of about an inch and a half today and they enjoyed it, at the moment im giving mint in small amounts and gradually increasing it as they took a while to eat it as they hadn't had food like that before i had them, so i'm getting them used to a lot of things they never had before, but the mint seems to be going down well at the moment as they never leave any lol

 

[Gothymama]

Gothymama I don't know if you know but you shouldn't feed a lot of beetroot tops as they contain oxalic acid.

This is a good guide - http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/safefoods.htm

I have found that members of the brassica family (kale, spring greens, cabbage, brocolli, brussels) do give a couple of mine gas so I avoid them but some rabbits tolerate them fine.

hi they had a few leaves each of the beetroot tops as we bought fresh beetroot, it's not something they will be getting regular, one of my buns can't have the spring greens,cabbage or broccoli as that bun ended up with stasis altho he loved it,he was very poorly and i had to nurse him for 2 weeks to get him through it, hand feeding as well as syringe feed recovery food and giving medicines etc, so i wont give either of my buns that sort of food any more as i don't want to see either of them with that condition again as it was awful, gizmos belly ballooned right up with it, but thanks for the warning though as i never knew about those veg causing that type of problem until gizmo had it,but it was also about 3 wks after his neautering too, so could of been a coincidence but i'm not willing to take that risk, i think many peeps when they start out don't know about the gassy veg causing illness as i didn't know.so i tend to think it's always worth a mention so that as many peeps know about it as possible

 

[Gothymama]

Mine prefer it stalky too. I've found on the whole with baled hay that stalky tends to equal more golden in colour whereas greener hay is softer. But with the Alfalfa King hay it's stalky whether it's green in the case of the timothy or golden in the case of the oat, wheat and barley.

On the subject of hays, The hay experts do a sample pack - https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hays,+Grasses+%2526+Herbs.4/Select+by+Hay+Type.130/Sample+Pack.23/ - that might help you find what your bunny likes.

thank you for posting the link,had a look at website and it looks good, many thanks

 

[dotdotdot]

Another tip for getting buns to eat hay (sorry if already been posted ) is to mix yummy things into the Hay (pellets, herbs etc) just to get them interested. Seemed to work with my fussy one as he had to pick up the Hay to find his pellets. Also sprinkling a tiny bit on apple juice also may perk interest!

 

[*lily*]

If your rabbit is eating loads of grass then the hay eating isn't a problem. Their teeth are naturally worn down by chewing abrasive plants ie grass or hay so either or both will do the job just fine.

Louie never drinks water either obviously getting all of the moisture he requires from his diet

 

[rabbitholehay]

Different types of hay for rabbits

In reply to a question about the different colors and length of hay, there are different types of hay out there, and they serve different purposes. It is important to know these differences.

If you have a young rabbit that is still active and growing, it is best to feed them Alfalfa hay. It provides more energy and calories for your rabbit. It has a finer texture and can sometimes be greener. You can find out more about alfalfa hay by clicking here: http://www.rabbitholehay.com/alfalfa-hay/

Once your rabbit is a bit older, not as active, and no longer growing, it is best to change to Timothy Hay. This hay is more fibrous, which is good for their teeth, and has less calories so that your friend wont become overweight and unhealthy. Because Timothy Hay is more fibrous, it is often more brown in color. You can find out more about timothy hay here: http://www.rabbitholehay.com/timothy-hay/.

Rabbit Hole Hay is a great website to order hay from and they obviously care about your pet! They are informed about what is best for your rabbit and pass on only great quality!