twistedtiggerz69
Mama Doe
I couldn't find a thread on this but wanted to say to Tonibun we are all sending you vibes for your doe getting her spay tomorrow if she still is. Chief and Lils send nose bumps to her ❤
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I am also sending lots of positive vibes for an eventless spay and quick recovery!I couldn't find a thread on this but wanted to say to Tonibun we are all sending you vibes for your doe getting her spay tomorrow if she still is. Chief and Lils send nose bumps to her ❤
I apologise that I may have missed replying on your thread properly as my head is all over the place atm but I have read your post.I suspect that the sticks you tried previously might have been dry and so possibly not very appetising for them. I get all of our sticks from our garden, so if you have any friends or neighbours with rabbit friendly trees, you could ask them for a few to try. My rabbits like, apple, pear, willow, hawthorn and hazel, along with a few others.
I had a look online to see what was available and sadly most of them did appear to be all cut to the same size. There's also a question then of where the sticks have come from. Anyway, these two sites looked very promising for uk grown willow. One of them also had some very nice looking willow toys, which they can of course nibble.
So I would happily get the blackberry leaves, willow sticks and fresh willow from this place http://www.rossrabbits.co.uk/fresh-willow.html
And this is the place which sells the willow toys as well https://willowsnursery.co.uk/product-category/willow-for-rabbits/
Regarding hay, I agree Excel timothy hay is very nice, but in my view also very expensive. I would say that this company's timothy hay is equally as good, but not as expensive https://www.timothyhay.co.uk/ I have been buying hay from them for years and several other members also use them. I have sometimes experimented and tried other companies, but always came back to them. We get just the regular timothy, which is in fact quite stalky.
Good to read that they've had a good day today. And have been running about and eating their hay.
Re the hay, my rabbits won't eat soft hay, so I have to get some that's stalky. They also like it green, like Mischief as well. I've never tried this company's mature stalky hay, as it's described as brown and I don't think they would like it as much. I find this one to be long, green, stalky strands with a small amount of leaf and seed heads and so it fits what my rabbits like.I apologise that I may have missed replying on your thread properly as my head is all over the place atm but I have read your post.
I looked at the willow you suggested plus the timothy hay. The willow branches sound nice for them so we are ordering some. They do have a couple of willow toys atm. One of them is a ball with very thick willow. They are taking ages with this one. Is it better that the willow is thick like that? We did buy a willow tunnel with thinner willow and Chief and Lils chewed it apart in 2-3 days and cost us £25. But this willow ball on the other hand is taking ages for them to eat and was around £10 I think. I hope the willow they cut for us will be fairly thick so they get some benefit as they chew it.
Those toys look a fantastic deal aswell and a good size for my buns. We will get some next month for them as we are ordering the timothy hay and willow branches this month.
What timothy hay would you suggest of the 3 types? I would say probably not the soft hay. They also offer brown, mature stalky timothy hay. Would that be best or is the timothy hay shown first stalky enough? I know Chief likes the green timothy hay. I will order some of this hay later today instead of the Science Selective as it is cheaper per kgs and if you and other members of RU use it the hay must be good..
Thank you once again for your help in this Omi.
I am really so pleased The 'pussy willows' are the Timothy grass seed heads. Our bunnies certainly prefer hay on the ground, but it may be that that's what they're used to. They have large litter trays (hamster cage bases), where they get most of their hay. Fresh hay gets put at one end and they poop at the other It seems to suit them. We've tried putting fresh hay on one of their blocks, but they're not really interested.I just wanted to let you all know that the timothy hay came on Friday. It is so green and spiky and has what we call 'pussy willows' in it that Chief loves. We used to feed them to him when he was a baby. Unfortunately that hay was stopped from our local horse feed shop. I don't know what they are called though.
Our two love it! I leave some on a tray as a treat and they have been eating the lot. And leaving most of the hay in the bags/hay rack. I think they prefer hay in the ground but we will keep leaving some clean hay in hay bags next to the litter tray as well.
But thank you to Omi for the link as they are now eating more hay because of it. I will do a post on the willow sticks when it arrives which should be next week some time.
I just wanted to update you Omi.I am really so pleased The 'pussy willows' are the Timothy grass seed heads. Our bunnies certainly prefer hay on the ground, but it may be that that's what they're used to. They have large litter trays (hamster cage bases), where they get most of their hay. Fresh hay gets put at one end and they poop at the other It seems to suit them. We've tried putting fresh hay on one of their blocks, but they're not really interested.
And the best news of all is that they're eating lots of it
I 100% support Omi’s post. It’s so refreshing when someone puts in the effort to try to address the dietary and weight problems of their Rabbits. Diet is such a huge part of what contributes to the health of our Rabbits. Whilst it can be hard to resist giving in to the pleading eyes and begging for treats, by giving in we are not doing our Rabbits any favours in the long-run. Feeding a diet that is as close to that of a wild Rabbit is one of the best things we can do for our fury friendsThank you for the super update I don't think that I could have wished for a better result and I am really so pleased. It's so much better in all respects and also they have improved so quickly too. Well done bunnies
It's disappointing that the lady with the willow and blackberry is taking so much time. I hope that her weather is better today. It certainly isn't here!
There are different views on the benefits and suitability of snuffle mats. I am aware that some members like to use them, but I have never been tempted. I think that is probably because I like to care for my bunnies in a way that is as natural to them as possible. So we don't have anything like that here. I am also fairly confident that my bunnies wouldn't much care for them either and I can imagine that Froe might pick it up with his teeth and toss it around The only bowl we use is for water and so forage etc just gets left in a pile on the ground. I realise that hand-feeding is also not a natural concept, but we make an exception for this, as it is so helpful in stopping over-greediness by one bunny and also prevents either eating too quickly. I also consider it a good bonding experience between them and us. So, if you consider the methods you are using now are working well, then possibly consider not changing to snuffle mats?
Your documented experience will, I'm sure, be very useful to other members, who have bunnies who do not eat as much hay as they should
When are they due a weight check?
Oh mine do that! Mischief especially eats all the hay frantically as we sweep it up. We only put the hay onto the litter trays as we clean the big tray so we don't actually take it away They also like to play with the brush and the plastic litter scooper and shake the dustpan to knock the hay out so I have to sweep it all up again. Lillabelle especially loves to pick them up and drop them again. She also loves playing with the coconut shells and we hide food in them for her to find which she does straight away. It's not a taxing game for her really.It is good to read your bunnies are eating more hay and fewer treats.
Mine prefer hay on the floor or in the litter box too. Though I laugh that they decide to eat the stray hay when I am sweeping.
I had to reduce the number of treat pellets my lionheads got. These two are very good at pretending the other person forgot to treat them, so now I portion out their ration every day, so no more double helpings.
Yes we now have given up on the bags and hay net. They have a little on their litter tray to prevent Chief from getting dirty paws as he has a habit of getting them dirty otherwise and we add a little hay through the day to ensure it is not wet or dirty. They have a main area for hay which they now eat off a tray and is much easier to clean and keep tidy tbh.It is far more natural for a Rabbit to graze hay from the floor than from a hay rack or bag. Also, there’s less chance of hay seeds getting into the eyes if the Rabbit grazes from the floor. Obviously it’s very important to insure the hay is free from urine contamination, which you are obviously doing