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bunnys dont like hay!

touie

Wise Old Thumper
I posted this topic a while ago but I'm still not having much luck getting one of my bunnies to eat hay!!! I have two boys that live together and share meals, Treacle sometimes suffers with a runny bum! I have tried getting hay fresh from a farm instead of the pre packed stuff. I have also tried dried grass but he doesnt seem interested in that either.

Both rabbits weigh slightly under 4kg (they are both Satins) and have about 50g each a day of science selective plus a bowl of fresh veg in the morning which they share. They finish the lot and seem starving by their next meal time!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could get them to eat more hay? :?
 
I would weigh the bunnies so that you have a baseline weight for them then cut the amount of SS they are eating by half and make sure they have fresh hay available every day, if they are indoor buns with litter trays then I would place some hay in there as rabbits like to munch while they poop, if you cut down on their concentrates and veggies for a few days and moniter their weight to make sure they don't lose weight too drastically while they get used to eating hay, hopefully they will start to eat the hay when their tummies start rumbling, at the moment they don't need to eat any hay as they are fiilling up on SS and greens.
 
have you tried putting the hay in things like toilet rolls, tissue boxes or a large cardboard box that they can jump into and have a munch :wink: make it a play time hay session :wink: :D

you could try cutting right down on the veg for a while :wink: it will hopefully promote them eating the hay :D :D
 
Just a thought, my bunny Ralf wouldnt eat hay at all, or grass which I thought was a bit weird!! :shock: I took him to the vets for his myxi jab and mentioned about the hay, and she checked his teeth and said he had spurs, so needed a dental.

He has been loads better since this and even though he will not eat it like there is no tomorrow like Poppy, he will eat it, and I got him eating grass yesterday too! :D
 
well I tried the hay in the tube trick but they weren't interested!!! They do eat a bit of dried grass but less than a small handfull each so would like them eating more!!!

They have both been to the vets for a check up and no problems with their teeth!
 
Try mixing the veg and pellets into the hay, that way they have to forage for it so its more time consuming and they might eat the hay by accident especially as it will smell of the other yummy food.

Putting hay where they usually sleep helps too as they munch wilst snozzing and also in the litter tray so they can poop and munch.

Tam
 
Some rabbits are reluctant to eat hay that is lying on the ground and prefer it in a hay rack, bowl or something that they dont normally tred in.
 
Have you tried fresh grass (obviously that hasn't had any chemicals on it such as feed n'weed)? When mine have been convalescing and wouldn't eat properly, they all wolfed down handfuls of fresh cut grass. I mixed that in with the hay. Good luck.
 
yep I can vouch for that........Adele told me I shouldn't be feeding my bunny fresh veg (as he is too young) but irrespective of that I have followed her advice and he is now munching on his hay lots whereas before he wasn't eating hardly any of it at all :wink:
 
This may sound hard but don't give him anything else, then he will eat his hay.
Once he is eating it you can then re-introduce pellets and a little bit of veg.
Sorry, it's the parent in me :lol: :lol:
 
yeah I second what you say Townsbuns............it worked for me at the end of the day it is tough but Hay diets are healthy so I have learned and if they don't have other food they will have to get used to liking hay :shock: Gosh that does sound like I am being very hard :shock:
 
I agree about not feeding them anything else until they eat the hay but I would recommend keeping an eye on their weight and body condition, bunnies, especial then fluffier ones can hide weight loss quite well.
 
I agree , it is so vital that they eat hay, there teth may be ok now but a couple of yrs down the line and they will end up with spurs. Hay only till they get used to eating it, and as mentioned rabbits will not eat the hay much if its on the floor. Get a hay rack or hay ball to keep it off the floor. Rabbits will not starve they will eat when they get hubgry enen if it takes a while. val
 
Princess isn't a huge fan of hay either but she sometimes eats the dried grass. I'm presuming that fresh grass and plants makes them grind their teeth in the same way that hay does? As she loves grass and especially loves my Dad's plants!! :lol:

Also I'm trying her on lots of different hays to see if I can find one she likes, so far no like but still a few more to try!!
 
thanks for all the suggestions :) . they seem to prefer eating the hay off the floor as they throw it all over the floor before they nibble!!! I've never seen them nibbling the grass outside either. I will try mixing it in with their pellets and veg as the next step as Tam suggested. They aren't overweight so I dont really want them to loose much and I'm worried that if I cut out everything that they might!
 
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