REFUSES to eat Hay!!!!

[bettyrocket]

 I have recently adopted a three year old male and the person who had him before me fed him an all pellet and corn diet. He is overweight, so I have cut back on his pellets, completely eliminated the corn, and have tried to introduce hay into his diet. I started out with oxbow timothy hay. He wouldn’t touch it. I tried placing it in places he frequents, stuffing it a cardboard tube, spraying it with apple juice and even mixing in a little chopped bell pepper, still nothing. So then I tryed the kaytee timothy hay and purchased the oxbow orchard and oat hays. Did the same thing with those and he still won’t eat it, I ‘ve even tried giving him different mixtures of it and it’s just not working. I really don’t know what else to try and was wondering if any of you had anymore suggestions? 

[LongEaredLions]

Could you perhaps find a local feed store to find some fresh hay? Some bunnies, like mine, prefer the fresh stuff. How much pellets does he get and how often does he get them?

[bettyrocket]

Unfortunately,  the only thing our local feed stores carry is cattle hay, which is a disappointment since I live in a rural farm town. :/ Right now he’s getting about an eighth of a cup of pellets, maybe a little more and that’s split into two feedings. he usually doesn’t finish all of them.

[Deleted User]

About how much does he weigh? Have you had his teeth checked? Some times chewing the hay can be painful and since he had a pellet only diet he may have teeth problems.

Hay that is fed to dairy cows is fine for rabbits so if that is what is available locally for you do give it a try. I’m presuming he has constant access to the hay? (And have you put it in his litter box? That can be a good start to getting them to eat it.) If he does then perhaps offering the pellets only at set times may encourage him to sample the hay, provided his teeth are healthy and he can eat it comfortably.

Have you tried feeding him any greens? Perhaps getting him interested in different foods would be a good first step.

[bettyrocket]

he weighs about three and a half pounds. He gets about a cup and a half of a mix of fresh greens which he loves. so he starting to eat some food that isn’t pellets, which I’m thankful for because I really want him to be healthy. He does have constant access to hay and i’ve placed it in all the places he frequents like where he likes to lie down, near his food bowl, and in his litterbox(which he promptly threw out all over his pen >.< lol) and I do change it everyday.

I have not had his teeth checked yet and the previous owner had never taken him to the vet. I was trying to get him to trust me a little more before I took him to his first visit, but  If trying the fresh hay doesnt work, then I definitely want to go ahead and get him to the vet because I’d hate for my poor little bunny to be in pain.

[Monkeybun]

Grey dove, cow hay actually isnt very good for bunnies, what you want is horse hay. Cow hay is kind of the leftover stalky stuff, not the nice fresy leafy stuff our bunnies need

[Eepster]

I see you’ve tried adding stuff to the timothy hay to make it more appealing, and various brands, but have you tried different types of hay? Porky is partial to meadow grass hay, and refuses both oat grass and orchard grass. (He doesn’t get timothy, b/c my husband is allergic to it.)

[Deleted User]

bettyrocket, its great that he is eating the greens. I believe (since I take it he is tolerating them well) you could be giving him more, and possibly more pellets. I’d like to recommend this article for more detailed information on the amount of different foods that will work for his weight. http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/ The lists are helpful but I believe it the article that will have the most information for you.

All things considered I think it would be a good idea to get a vet appointment ASAP. Getting him completely checked over will insure there isn’t anything you don’t know about and could be doing to help him. It will also sort out whether or not he really dislikes hay or isn’t eating it for a treatable medical reason. Please do let us know how things develop.

Oh and just a thought, does he like to chew other things, … cardboard, twigs etc.? You could try giving him a hay mat to lie on, … least it would be used either way, and if its presented as something else entirely maybe he’d take a nibble.

Monkeybun, I specified DAIRY cows, dairy cows are fed a high quality of mixed grasses at least on a reputable farm it is an equivalent to what a race hourse would be fed. I have no knowledge of feed for other cattle but would be suspicious of it and only recommended what I am confident of being high quality. We alternate between hay bales from local dairy farms and a race horse stable and if there is a difference in the quality it is invisible to me, and both my rabbits adore their hay (irrespective of its origin) and eat masses of it.

[bettyrocket]

Grey Dove, He loves cardboard and he likes willow balls, and has them placed in the room he is in, so he is chewing other things. Last night he ate all of his pellets and instead of eating the hay, he chose to start eatting his bedding(kiln dried shavings), chewing on his bowl, and chewing on his pen. So i did end up giving him more pellets. I’d give him more and different kinds of greens, but im worried about introducing too many into his diet, because I don’t want to upset his tummy. rabbit.org recommends trying new greens on a rabbit that has been eating hay for at least two weeks, which BB hasn’t.  I am going to make an appointment with the rabbit vet as soon as possible, unfortunately he is only at the vet’s office a couple days a month because he travels around between the other veterinary offices in the county. I will keep you all updated on his health. fingers crossed that he’s just a picky bunny and not an unhealthy one.

MonkeyBun,  that is the only kind of hay that we have here and it comes in giant round bales that require tractors and heavy machinery to lift. I also read that it was not good for rabbits to have, but knowing my luck, if i tried to give it to him, it’d be the only one he’d eat lol.

Eepster, I have tried giving him other types. I have tried orchard hay and oat hay, as well as timothy and different mixtures of the three, but it seems he would rather eat literally anything else lol.

 

 

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Try botanical hay too the sweet smell seems to help a picky rabbit eat it. Meadow hay is another one. Some buns just like the softer hay, others like the straw like, crunchy hay. Luckily my buns love both. I like to have a mixture of multiple hays together to give them options of textures and favors for what they might be craving.

[Bam]

Bunnies can be very picky with hay. It took me more than a year before I found a type of hay that my picky bunny Bam would eat more than the tiniest bit of. It’s an organic meadow hay. I’ve had it explained to me that organic hay contain a greater variety of grasses and herbs than conventionally grown hay. I don’t know if it’s true.

[bettyrocket]

BB HAS EATEN HAY!!! IT’S A MIRACLE. it was only a little bit, but it was better than none!

[manic_muncher]

yay!

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Good! Maybe since he has at least learned it is indeed food he will grow to love it!

[bettyrocket]

I think he has realized it is either eat the hay, or have to eat more of those icky healthy pellets his slave has been giving him.

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