Please please help me try to make a better diet plan for my bunny

[Persie]

I'm having worries about my buns diet! He is not a great hay eater nor has he ever been, always choosing fresh veg and nuggets over hay. He does nibble on hay but never seems to consume what he should

I realise this could be our fault as we do seem to spoil him but I understand this isn't always best for him, but now we have got into a routine and I'm worried about drastically decreasing his food amount in case he is hungry

Right now we give him per day:

1 tealight candle holder size of nuggets (which I now realise is slightly bigger than an egg cup so I will be using egg cup from now on, not a huge difference in amount);

Big handfuls of fresh hay - Ings and Asda's own for a mixture;

Now this is the part I feel we do wrong... he gets veggies morning and again at night. Usually a bowl full of greens i.e. spring greens and fresh herbs, then some cauliflower or broccoli so that amount in morning & again at night and he gobbles it all up but it may be too much?

His poo is awful, so tiny and can either be hard as stone or sticky

 

[Persie]

Just as I posted that an idea came into my head... he loves dried herbs by Woodlands which we also give him daily as a treat and what I have done is put a fresh pile of hay on his mat and sprinkled the herbs on it... phew I would try anything to get him to eat more hay!

 

[tonibun]

I think maybe when you add up the pellets and the veg, he is getting more than enough food and therefore doesn't bother with his hay, and bear in mind all the food he eats is processed and then re-eaten. I know you will feel cruel but I would cut down on pellets a bit and veg by 1/2 then as he starts to feel hungrier he should start to eat hay. The other reason he won't eat hay is maybe he has a tooth problem but I think he is getting enough food this is why he can't be bothered with the hay.

Also a rabbit likes to sit in his litter tray munching on hay while he does his toilet, so if you don't already provide this for him, it might be a good idea to try it.

As you probably know, it is very important for a rabbit to be eating hay to prevent dental and digestive problems. Good luck with him.

 

[Persie]

I think maybe when you add up the pellets and the veg, he is getting more than enough food and therefore doesn't bother with his hay, and bear in mind all the food he eats is processed and then re-eaten. I know you will feel cruel but I would cut down on pellets a bit and veg by 1/2 then as he starts to feel hungrier he should start to eat hay. The other reason he won't eat hay is maybe he has a tooth problem but I think he is getting enough food this is why he can't be bothered with the hay.

Also a rabbit likes to sit in his litter tray munching on hay while he does his toilet, so if you don't already provide this for him, it might be a good idea to try it.

As you probably know, it is very important for a rabbit to be eating hay to prevent dental and digestive problems. Good luck with him.

Thank you for your helpful reply

He has no teeth problems, he was at the vets not so long ago & he is in perfect health, however that's expected as he is only a baby - he will be 1 in April. I want to keep him as healthy as possible and I know hay is vital for their teeth, digestion and so on. I think I will have to cut down the veg, maybe give him 1 sprig of herbs in the morning instead of his usual bowl full then at night I can give him a better helping. Hopefully then he will be hungry enough to eat hay.

Its an awful feeling thinking he may still refuse to eat the hay and then be hungry all day ahhhh I will hope for the best and thank you!

 

[Karen's]

Hi there,
I think pellet amount sounds ok, but veg does seem quite a lot, but it depends on the size of the bowl, but if it's say a normal breakfast bowl then maybe two bowls a day is too much, maybe cut down to one a day.
It's best to try different types of hay to as some buns are fussy, mine love the comfey meadow hay which is cheap and readily available in local pet shops and online. Maybe try readigrass too, it's just dried grass, so as good as hay for nutrition and teeth I think.
To replace his veg, you could try giving him some natural forage, like bramble leaves, dried or fresh, you can still find them if there is any growing near you, and maybe in the next few weeks dandelions and other weeds will start to get growing, always a hit with my bunnies. Have a look at the sticky in diet and digestion section, it's got pictures of bunny safe plants and weeds.
Hoping for nice healthy hay filled poops very soon x

 

[Babsie]

Have you tried different hays? HayforPets do a free sample pack.

My two love their veg, too, particularly spring greens.

I avoid any treats except for dried plantain, etc.

I line two large litter trays with newspaper and then fill up with hay, as most rabbits love to wee, poo and eat at the same time! You need to change the litter trays every day. They ignore anything I put in a hay rack. I also put a large metal, flattish, (?)dog bowl full of treat hay, which I top up a few times a day.

ETA I've just seen your location, so guess you can't use HayforPets!

 

[Noodlebun]

Hi I had the same problem when my preloved bunny came to me he just saw hay as where he pooed. I started by reducing his pellets to about 50g a little high but he's quite a big rabbit. Don't forget it's an egg cup per kg of rabbit I think. I use a tea light holder too! He gets just under one in the morning and one in the evening with a bowl of veg. I changed his hay to stuff from a local farm and put a pile of it outside the litter tray. I sprinkle it with readi grass and dried herbs mix - they're really smelly so runs straight over! His poos are now huge and you can see bits of hay. Hope this helps I would definitely cut out the morning veg and see what happens he hopefully will get peckish in the day and eat hay!

 

[Persie]

Hi everyone and thank you for taking the time to help me out :wave:

I actually ordered the 9.5 Kilos bag of Ings from hayforpets and it was very reasonably priced at £20 delivered to N.I

As a baby we only ever let him have Excel Herbage Timothy Hay as we were advised that it was ideal for growing buns because of the dandelion and merigold, he never ate much of it so we eventually changed to Alfalfa King Timothy Hay which again he didn't eat much off. We are now on to the Ings and discovered he also likes picking at Bob Martin My Little Friend Meadow Hay from Asda.

This morning I have give him a little parsley and 1 small cauliflower leaf, he is not amused :lol: although already it has worked as he is eating his hay, probably more hungry for it now. I hope we can keep this up

The bowl we use for his veg is just a standard bowl from Pets at Home which reads "Nibble" although we fill it right up until it is almost over-flowing and baring in mind he is a lionhead/netherland dwarf mix that is probably far too much

I will definitely try the readigrass and comfey hay! Thanks Karen

I don't want to increase his nuggets to twice a day as these aren't great for him as it is to be honest and he is a small rabbit Noodlebun. I have even seen many people removing nuggets from their rabbits diets completely. I won't go this far though, I think in small portions they are fine and do have nutrients in it which are good for buns

 

[elmoandfern]

Hi I had the same problem when my preloved bunny came to me he just saw hay as where he pooed. I started by reducing his pellets to about 50g a little high but he's quite a big rabbit. Don't forget it's an egg cup per kg of rabbit I think. I use a tea light holder too! He gets just under one in the morning and one in the evening with a bowl of veg. I changed his hay to stuff from a local farm and put a pile of it outside the litter tray. I sprinkle it with readi grass and dried herbs mix - they're really smelly so runs straight over! His poos are now huge and you can see bits of hay. Hope this helps I would definitely cut out the morning veg and see what happens he hopefully will get peckish in the day and eat hay!

I think it's actually a tablespoon per kilo which works out as about an eggcup per rabbit :wave:

OP I hope cutting down veg and pellets helps and he starts munching hay soon :thumb:

 

[Tamsin]

As he loves his fresh greens, have you tried fresh grass? It needs introducing slowly but once they are used to it then it can completely replace hay and has all the same benefits to digestion and teeth wear.

Another question, how much of the day does he only have hay available? If the fresh greens last all day then I would cut back and see if you can leave him with hay only for part of the day (preferably a part where he's quite active) as that will encourage him to eat more.

 

[Persie]

That's a tough question - from Mon-Fri we are at work and I give him his fresh veg in the morning and by the time we get home it's gone so he gets more for dinner time but at weekends when we are off I do the same, morning veg but he doesn't eat it right away as he has full run of the house when we are around and he tends to love being upstairs whereas his cage, food etc. is in the kitchen so he only comes back down when he is hungry or needs to jump into the cage to pee or poo :lol:

I have just went on a little online spree for him and bought some readigrass and comfey hay, I'm hoping now that we are cutting back his veg, we can introduce a few varieties of hay & grass to make him eat as much as possible

I just went and told him "mummy has bought you lots of new treats!" but he was just grumping at me as if to say "oh yeah you put me on a diet and I seen YOU eating a big slice of cake earlier"

 

[dasiychain]

My bunny biscuit is the same, his poo is tiny! he won't really eat hay and we have hay everywhere- by his food, litter tray, in his castle even a massive hay box with hay inside it and he still just nibbles but our other rabbit Lucy loves the stuff and runs and then stops to nibble a bit of hay that's on the floor and then carries on. We reduced his pellets and he started to eat more hay but we found mixing herbs like rosemary and thyme inside his hay so he can smell it really helped! Try given that ago!


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[Persie]

My bunny biscuit is the same, his poo is tiny! he won't really eat hay and we have hay everywhere- by his food, litter tray, in his castle even a massive hay box with hay inside it and he still just nibbles but our other rabbit Lucy loves the stuff and runs and then stops to nibble a bit of hay that's on the floor and then carries on. We reduced his pellets and he started to eat more hay but we found mixing herbs like rosemary and thyme inside his hay so he can smell it really helped! Try given that ago!


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We have been doing well cutting down on his veg and he now only gets 1 bowl per day. He has a variety of 3 hay's and readigrass now also but we still only see him nibble here and there. I guess I have to accept he may never be a great hay eater.

It's quite unusual watching him eat hay, he won't just gulp it down, he picks about and is very particular about which bits he eats. He shoves his head right in the hay pile and pokes about to find bits to nibble :lol:

 

[Karen's]

It may just take him a bit of time to get into the swing of eating hay, it's good he is getting his nose in there and eating bits, hopefully he will gradually eat more and more.
I have some different hays for my buns and I tend to give them one type on a morning, a different one at tea time and then a different one at bedtime, then he will have some new interest at different times of the day. And do try mixing some herbs in, or even a bit of grated apple, to make it even more appealing.
Keep us updated.

 

[tulsi]

Glad he is eating a bit more hay. He is such a beautiful little rabbit. I have just bought some dried herbs for my lot. Going to hide it in their hay for variety and entertainment.

 

[SJH]

I'm having worries about my buns diet! He is not a great hay eater nor has he ever been, always choosing fresh veg and nuggets over hay. He does nibble on hay but never seems to consume what he should

I realise this could be our fault as we do seem to spoil him but I understand this isn't always best for him, but now we have got into a routine and I'm worried about drastically decreasing his food amount in case he is hungry

Right now we give him per day:

1 tealight candle holder size of nuggets (which I now realise is slightly bigger than an egg cup so I will be using egg cup from now on, not a huge difference in amount);

Big handfuls of fresh hay - Ings and Asda's own for a mixture;

Now this is the part I feel we do wrong... he gets veggies morning and again at night. Usually a bowl full of greens i.e. spring greens and fresh herbs, then some cauliflower or broccoli so that amount in morning & again at night and he gobbles it all up but it may be too much?

His poo is awful, so tiny and can either be hard as stone or sticky

Before my current rabbit, I had never even thought there were rabbits out there who didn't eat hay. I genuinely don't believe that it's always just because they are "spoiled" either; I've not done anything different with him to the other buns although he was younger when he came to me. Hector has always picked at hay; lost weight if I've reduced veg/pellets to increase hay; and cost a small fortune in buying heaven knows how many different varieties. It just didn't work. I now have a balance of pro-fibre pellets and unlimited forage which, to all intents and purposes, replace his hay. It's still available to him and he picks at it but, despite what everyone is keen to tell me and my own knowledge of many years of bunny-ownership, I've had to find a new way forward. It's great news that putting some herbs in hay is helping but don't just feel like you need to keep banging your head against a brick wall of received wisdom; it really doesn't always work.


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[Persie]

Before my current rabbit, I had never even thought there were rabbits out there who didn't eat hay. I genuinely don't believe that it's always just because they are "spoiled" either; I've not done anything different with him to the other buns although he was younger when he came to me. Hector has always picked at hay; lost weight if I've reduced veg/pellets to increase hay; and cost a small fortune in buying heaven knows how many different varieties. It just didn't work. I now have a balance of pro-fibre pellets and unlimited forage which, to all intents and purposes, replace his hay. It's still available to him and he picks at it but, despite what everyone is keen to tell me and my own knowledge of many years of bunny-ownership, I've had to find a new way forward. It's great news that putting some herbs in hay is helping but don't just feel like you need to keep banging your head against a brick wall of received wisdom; it really doesn't always work.


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Thank you for this insightful comment. I must admit I have heard others talk about their bunnies who flat out refuse to eat hay.. Persie wouldn't be that bad, he does nibble throughout the day but we never notice any difference in the size of the hay portion we give him so it must not be very much, however like you said I have tried so many hays now, none of which have made him completely scoff on it so I have come to terms with the fact that he eats what he can of hay but he will always prefer veggies, dried herbs and nuggets. Oh and fenugreek crunchies :lol:

Even the little bit of hay he does eat I hope will help his digestion and keep his teeth healthy. I often wonder if it's to do with us getting him at a young 6 weeks old or if like you said he is just a bunny who doesn't particularly care for it. I wouldn't cut it out completely though as he does like a nibble

 

[Karen's]

How is Persie getting on? Is he a hay monster yet?
I totally agree with SJH, I had a rescue bun who I only saw eat about 3 strands of hay in the 2 1/2 years I was lucky enough to spend with her. She didn't eat grass either! You can lead a horse to water.....