Rabbit not eating enough Hay?

[fournations93]

So I only give my rabbit about a cup of pellets a day, however he doesn’t really eat that much hay. I’ll be lucky if he eats a handful of hay in a day and a half. I used too put in a handful or two on top of his pellet bowl, which he seemed to eat. Should I go back to doing that? As the past few weeks he seems to ignore the hay feeder. I’m also feeding him store bought timothy hay if it could possibly be him just not liking it :/ Any suggestions of how I can make it more enticing to him? 

[Deleted User]

Hi fournations93! It would help to know what age your bunny is and maybe breed? Only cause different breeds of bunny’s and age can make the difference in advice that we can offer. Hope to hear form you soon…. cheers.

[fournations93]

Posted By AndHenry on 8/15/2014 9:59 AM

Hi fournations93! It would help to know what age your bunny is and maybe breed? Only cause different breeds of bunny’s and age can make the difference in advice that we can offer. Hope to hear form you soon…. cheers.

I unfortunately was a very poor rabbit owner and bought mine from a pet store. And was pretty ignorant about it, and about rabbits in general. (Sorry) So I do not know the age or breed for sure. However I’m almost positive he’s Rex Rabbit, as well as is over 6 – 11 months old. Not sure if it’s relevant, but I had him spayed a month or so ago.

 

 

[Deleted User]

Cool! And that’s ok fournations93 – I have a mini lop and didn’t know what he was till we had a ‘guess what he is’ on BB, ha ha ha ha! So much fun! Lol! (maybe you could post a picture of him???).
Ok, I know nothing about any bunny except mini lops (lol!), but you only just posted, so give it time for other BBer’s to post on your thread – sorry that you got stuck with me for now. Anyhow…. If your baby is over 6 months of age, you should be limiting his pellets to maybe (?) a quarter of a cup. I had to reduce my boy’s intake to 1/8 of a cup cause he wasn’t eating enough hay (naughty boy!). And he still has his moments. Do you give your bunny veggies/salad yet? If not, you can/should – but only introduce a veggie at a time to see how he reacts. Not all bunny’s like every and all veg/salad – crazy, I know! Once you have him all sussed out, you can give him a good variety of veggies every night/day.
I’ll just tell you what I do with my Henry…. and if it’s not appropriate for a rex, I’m sure someone will/can correct me. Henry has 1/8 cup of Oxbow adult rabbit food pellets in the morning – unlimited hay available ‘fresh’ daily – then 2 cups of a variety of veggies/salad each night and a treat of either a thin slice of apple, bit of banana or a craisin piece for dessert. When he gets hungry, or wants to snack – it’s hay!
AND how awesome are you for having your bunny desexed! AND don’t say you think your a poor bunny parent cause you got your bunny from a pet shop – you saved a bunny from an existence I wouldn’t wish on any animal (not fussed on pet shops, I bet you guessed that??? Lol!). Good for you and your bunny! By the way, what’s his name? (if I don’t ask, the next poster will) ha ha ha…..

I’m not sure if I was that much help, but its a start. Like I said, give it time and others will contribute to. Take care fournations93. Cheers.

[JackRabbit]

Good job AH! No difference in a rex and a lop foodwise. One of my bunnies was a pet shop bunny, and we also don’t know exactly what she is. We’re pretty sure she’s a mix — the store sign used to say Dwarf Rex, then it changed to Dwarf, and now the sign says Bunny Rabbit. So I think it’s safe to say that my Kieko is a bunny rabbit! (Kieko was saved from being in a glass aquarium with no hay.)

[Deleted User]

Thanks JR!!!! (big smile)!

[RabbitPam]

If he was eating the hay when you used it to top off the pellet dish, I think that’s a good idea and I would try it again.

Bunnies prefer the taste or texture of some hays over others, so I definitely would experiment with small bags of other kinds, to see if he likes one more. My bunny actually loves Oat Hay, which looks very dry, but she goes nuts for a special taste it seems to have. Other bunnies love a very soft hay, like “second cut” timothy, or Orchard Grass, and they eat more of those. There are some different kinds in the BB store here online if you don’t care for what’s sold near you locally.

Remember that bunnies graze, so they won’t finish any of it all at once. Plus, we’ve joked here about how our bunnies will demand fresh hay from the bag, after the current batch got old, ie. sat there for 15 minutes. They are finicky.

[fournations93]

Thanks so much for the tips everyone! And I apologize for the late reply. And upon request, here’s a few pictures of Mr. Business. :p

 http://i.imgur.com/y3cHWum.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NL1qiNu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/N7aE6cW.jpg

 Forgive me, I couldn’t figure out how to make the picture appear in my reply. So I uploaded them to imgur. >.< Also fairly off topic, but since everyone gave such great advice about the hay. I was wondering what's everyone's experience with carefresh? My rabbit seems to eat his litter. I wouldn't say a lot of it, but enough to cause concern. I was thinking of switching to yesterday's news, but I figure he'd just eat that too. And that might be even worse for him. I would use timothy hay for his litter box, but I couldn't find any local stables that sell it on google. And buying it by the bag I think would be too pricey. :/

[Stickerbunny]

Carefresh is too pricey for me and … as you say, they eat it, since it’s paper. I use WSP (wood stove pellets). If he eats pelleted litter though, you can always put a litter screen over it so he can’t get to it.

Farms sell hay, or you can order large bales online – even oxbow hay can be bought by the 50lb box and it’s way cheaper than buying the bags (some sites offer free shipping). Tractor supply and other places like it also sell hay. Also, some growers will sell hay on craigslist. 

Note: You want to ask if they sell horse quality hay, not just timmy as the type of grass varies by region. For example, my buns eat mainly brome hay, since that is what grows locally and I buy orchard/oat as treat hays. 

[Clarajb]

Ralphie has always been a terrible hay eater. When I adopted him he hadn’t been given anything except pellets for his whole life. He begrudgingly began eating oat hay and some of that botanical blend hay that oxbow makes- I tried orchard grass hay because of my allergies but he barely touched it. So now I take a daily allergy med and he eats Timothy hay- usually best if I mix it with Botanical blend.
I use carefresh in the litter pans, Ralphie had a medical issue with wood stove pellets but we never used a screen.

[JackRabbit]

FYI, Petco puts there Carefresh on sale for 30-40% off every few months.

Edit: online only, and free shipping

[Silverpaws]

Grass is also a good substitute, I have some very picky buns. dried grass will get scarfed down as soon as its on the floor, but I’ve had to develop a trick for hay – I slit the bag open and leave it there. Five mins later, Merlin will be ear deep in it, digging and rootling around. I don’t know whether he prefers ‘forraging’ or if he thinks he’s being naughty and is getting one over on his old mum?! Either way! Try making hay a game, or trying different brands and if all else fails, dried grass is just as good.

[Author]

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