New doe refuses to eat hay

[KerrBear]

Hi everyone,

I read the advice given in similar threads but wasn't sure it would help my unique situation:

I adopted a female dutch rabbit on Sunday. She had been passed around a bit between homes before I adopted her and from the vague answers I've been given, it would seem she is about 5 months old.

She refuses to eat her hay. Here in South Africa there simply is NO timothy hay anywhere :evil:

For that reason, I am importing timothy hay but until it arrives, the only thing we get is something called "Mountain Hay" (I have no idea how good/bad it is???) which my Netherland dwarf buck has been living on successfully for 6 months.

She had a monster appetite the day she arrived and will eat her pellets with great gusto (again, I'm importing better ones but she has to make do with the slightly poorer quality ones for now). She also loves, loves, loves all the fresh greens I give her.

She has an ample supply of hay, including in her litter box, but she spreads it around as bedding rather than eating it. When I try to give it to her by hand she just snaps it in half and stomps off.

She is a ferocious little character, very brazen and sassy and is going to be spayed in about a week's time.

I do know that young rabbits should have an unlimited supply of pellets so I am scared to remove them from her entirely. When I do, she won't eat anything else and looks at me in such a mournful hungry way that I relent. I am terrified that her stubborn personality will mean she develops GI stasis rather than just resorting to eating hay with no pellets at her disposal.

Other info: She has been to the veterinarian (very rabbit experienced) and had a full evaluation. Her teeth are perfect - no molar spurs etc, but she does have a slight eye infection and is on baytril and eye drops for the next week.

ANY advice would be SO welcome. I really have no one down here in SA to chat to as house bunnies really are seen as abnormal and exotic here.

Thank you SO much.

Kerr, Wilbur and Emily the stubborn bun.

 

[KB]

Sometimes when buns have been passed from pillar to post they haven't always been cared for so well. Some may have never even been offered hay. One of my buns was like this. Gradually he 'learnt' to eat hay & now loves it. I just kept offering it & I actually think his partner taught him :lol:
He is an adult bun so I was able to limit his pellets which probably made it easier than your situation with a young bun.
We have a similar situation to you re hay. Some farmers actively grow lucerne/alfalfa for hay production for winter feeding. Which is obviously unsuitable for adult buns. Others cut & bale early summer pasture grass aka 'meadow' hay. It contains whatever grasses & herbs growing in an individual paddock.
Your mountain hay sounds like the same/similar thing. IMO its possibly not as bad as you may think! I find our meadow hay often contains many beneficial wild herbs & my buns actually love it.
Because our Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries doesn't allow the importation of any product that may be risky from a biosecurity perspective I actually have to use this meadow hay for my buns. I am really careful with my choice. I won't buy if its stalky or dusty or doesn't smell right.
I think your girl will eat hay once she gets used to it. I've read posts on RU where people have suggested mixing grated carrot or greens through hay to encourage buns to start eating their hay.
RU is a great support for me as like you buns are not such common pets & are certainly not often given the same respect as other companion animals in NZ. Its great you have a good rabbit vet though, they can be hard to find outside of the UK & the USA it would seem.
Best wishes for your buns spey & welcome to RU.

 

[KerrBear]

Hi Kiwi Bron :wave:

Thank you so much for your wonderful advice! I'm a bit of a paranoid bunny mum especially with my little Netherland dwarf having epilepsy.

The Mountain hay (literally the only hay I can get) is dry and golden brown (with a little bit of green) and looks like straw. It isn't made up of different kinds of grasses either. My dwarf eats it all the time so I'm hoping his good habits will rub off on her.

Come onnnnnnnnnnnn timothy hay shipment! When will you get here!!!???

Is it normal to be absolutely terrified about my little buns going for their operations? I get nervous just thinking about it.

 

[Amy104]

I do know that young rabbits should have an unlimited supply of pellets so I am scared to remove them from her entirely.

I have never fed any of my young rabbits unlimited pellets because I think it effects the hay consumption in a negative way. They are all healthy happy adults. I would advice cutting down gradually and see if it improves.

 

[areia]

AHHHHH the stubborn female dutch syndrome i have 2 of them, both indoors:lol:

as other have suggested just reduce the amount of pellets so she is forced to eat hay if she gets hungry

its nice you do have a rabbit savy vet in your area as it is hard to find one, try not to be nervous of a spay, yes there are risks as with all operations, they are rare and quite often linked to hidden problems a bun may of had, instead of the op itself, but as i said rare, if you are nervous talk to your vet, ask about pain relife during and after the op, as some vets dont bother, ask how many successful one have they done, bit of a cheeky question but if its a concern why not ask

welcome to forum :wave:

 

[KerrBear]

Thank you all so much. Your advice and support is invaluable. I promise to post pictures of my two naughty buns when they have both healed after their operations!

Thank you again!

 

[jassie]

I have always had the same problem and have tried all sorts of hay, but Ling Jai doesn't even see it as food, the only hay I could even get him to put into his mouth for a few seconds was oxbow alfa alfa which is not even supposed to be good for him, I still put some out for him after all these years just incase he will have a chew on it:roll:

 

[tintin]

Our 2 dwarf netherland rabbits don't go much for hay either. The only way I can get them to eat it is by limiting the pellets. I have tried cheap hay and posh hay and they will only eat any of it when it is the only thing available. They eat it overnight, I suppose when they get really hungry, but hardly seem to touch it during the day.

I would really like to find a hay that they actually like eating, but no luck so far. I have been sprinkling dried herbs (dried parsley so far, but I'm going to try dried corriander too) into the hay to see if this helps - no luck so far.

If I put it in a bowl or inside a toilet roll tube with treats, they just pull it out and it ends up all over.

 

[georgie_f]

I got an RSPCA rabbit many years ago that wouldn't eat her hay. I tried mixing all sorts of stuff in with it but she'd just dig about and fish those bits back out again! :lol: I figured she'd never been given hay before she arrived at the rescue and as she was three, I wasn't sure if I could teach her it was yummy.

In the end, I randomly tried sprinkling drops of fresh pineapple juice over it (my vet has always recommended mixing a little with medicines for fussy bunnies as they like the sweet taste) and she ate a little bit! I think that first little bit was enough to get her started as she eats an enormous amount of hay now - I still sprinkle a little pineapple juice on it occasionaly.

Might be worth a try for your bunny. Just make sure to remove it again after a couple hours incase the juice goes off.

 

[jassie]

I will try the pineapple juice trick too, it's worth a shot

 

[*lily*]

Does your rabbit have access to grass? The jaw action required to eat hay is the same as for eating grass thus helping to keep the teeth worn down and being nutritionally good for the rabbit as well.

 

[ecudc]

at 5 months she doesn't need to be on unlimited pellets, try cutting them down to a very small handful once a day over the next few weeks. Make sure she has hay all the time, even if it doesn't look like she is eating it.

See if you can get some grass to feed her (although introduce it gradually and only give her as much as she can eat in a few minutes if you have to pick it). You can also grow your own grass in pots. Gradually she should begin to work out that grass and hay are similar.


Try and steer her towards veggies (leafy green ones especially) although introduce each veg one at a time, in small quantities over about a week for each new food.

the juice trick mentioned often works as does grated carrots