CANNOT make rabbit eat hay!

[saphnprincess]

Hello!

I have a rabbit (Princess) who’s just about a year and a half old. I adopted her a few months ago – her previous owners didn’t seem to take such good care of her, and she was pretty overweight (probably too many pellets and not enough hay!)

Anyway, she’s lost a lot of weight now, had absolutely loads of exercise (she has free roam of the entire house). The problem is, I absolutely CANNOT get her to eat hay. I’ve tried:

1. Loads of types of hay 

2. Taking away pellets completely 

3. Covering the hay in her favourite veg, blended up (she just licks it off)

4. Mixing in treats/dandelions/forage/herbs (she just picks through for the best bits)

She just won’t touch it. Anyone have any advice at all? Getting really desperate. 

Thanks! 

[Deleted User]

How long do you go between non-hay feedings? If you spread out the non-hay feedings, it gives the bun a chance to be hungry enough to only eat hay. For example, I feed my boys pellets at 5:30am and greens around 7:00pm. They have 13.5 hours and 10.5 hours where they have absolutely nothing to eat but hay, so they eat the hay. He won’t like it at first, but if he’s hungry enough he will eat it.

[Sirius&Luna]

It’s great that you took her in from a less than ideal situation! And it’s great that you realise the importance of hay to a bunnies diets. Unfortunately they can be extremely stubborn animals. She may well not realise that she can even eat it if it wasn’t offered to her from a young age. It sounds like you’ve tried all the usual tricks!

Will she eat fresh grass? That would be a good place to start Fresh grass has the same tooth-wearing properties as hay, so it’s a good substitute, although obviously its difficult to pick an adequate amount of fresh grass (that is untreated, and not been touched by wild animals) to feed a bunny.

If you discover that she does like fresh grass, then you can try and transition her from that to readigrass, which is a pure dried grass, and which bunnies that don’t like hay will often eat. It shouldn’t really be the only source of hay, but if she’s not eating hay at all, it’s a good place to transition from.

You can also get hay cubes, which lots of fussy buns enjoy.

How often do you give her veg and pellets? Ideally, it should be no more than twice a day, so that for the majority of the day the only option is hay and they no there’s no point holding out.

[saphnprincess]

I’ve made her go up to 48 hours with no pellets or veg (just hay) to attempt to make her hungry enough to eat it. During this I’ve left different types round the cage, in toys, in bowls, and in the rack. Still nothing! 

[Wick & Fable]

I’m actually very surprised when people say sprinkling non-hay food items on hay ups their rabbit’s hay consumption. If a rabbit is a selective hay eater/non-eater (like my Wick), doing that actually heightens the selective eating (eating only the bits you want).

I second A&B’s inquiry about the length between non-hay feedings. When push comes to shove, if the rabbit is hungry and there’s only hay, it will learn to eventually eat hay. Do not give into begs for treats or otherwise.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Deb]

She’s young, so this might not be an issue. Still, it could be worth getting her teeth checked to make sure there’s nothing physical that prevents/discourages her from chewing hay.

[GarfyTheLop]

Please please get her teeth checked, my rabbit was exactly the same and had a genetic teeth issue

You can read my previous post here https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/164261/Default.aspx

[Stacey]

I had sort of the same issue with both of my bunnies. I started them on alfalfa until they were 1 years old (which they both love) and then I tried to introduce timmothy hay & they wouldn’t eat it. I tried oat hay and meadow grass as well. They would nibble at it but that was about it. My bunny George ate alfalfa his entire life (with a small bit of pellets a day and spring mix salad at night) that’s the only things he ate his entire life as he was very stubborn. He really didn’t have a big appetite though he was a small bunny.

My other bunny Sammy is less stubborn & im in the process of switching her to timmothy hay. I’ve been mixing it with some alfalfa & so far she’s eating eat (though not happily haha)

My sister in law has a female holland lop & she has never eaten hay. Not even alfalfa she doesn’t like it. She eats pellets and salad & the weird thing is she’s pretty healthy & shes 6 years old.

Wishing you luck with your bunny eating hay! I feel your struggle.

[saphnprincess]

Thanks for all the help! Unfortunately when I got her her teeth did have some spurs – they’ve been filed now and are completely normal! (Until the lack of hay makes them grow back…. which I’m trying to avoid.

She has one small bowl of pellets in the evening with some leafy veg or broccoli, which she eats fine. At bedtime if she’s still hungry she gets some dandelion forage. So she has the full day with only hay available and still won’t touch it! I’ve tried hay cubes and she’ll have a little nibble but usually just ends up throwing them around….

I want to try grass, but I live in an area with lots of wild rabbits everywhere, so I’m a bit concerned about the risk of passing on any diseases!

[Deleted User]

Instead of grass you could give readigrass a try. Your bun might prefer it a little more than hay too.

[Megan143]

My girl Aurie had similar issues when we first got her. She was on a pellet only diet in the shelter and was either not eating hay or her body couldn’t absorb nutrition from hay, she lost a lot of weight and was extremely boney and weak (at one point she was 0.9kg. She couldn’t even hop anymore because she got no strength in her legs… breaks my heart still just to think about it). We ended up giving her oxbow critical care and that worked magic. She started to eat and gained her weight back, now she’s over 2kg and very strong. We just have critical care stocked in our house at all time now, every now and then bunnies can have a little bit as a snack. If one of them have to go on any medication for other health issues, we also give them critical care just in case the meds mess up with their appetite
Hope this helps

[September]

My Timothy wasn’t a big hay lover. It was a real struggle sometimes. I found rubbing a tiny bit of banana into the hay worked wonders. If you put it on the very end of the stalks, and start off by waving it in front of her face like you are playing a game, she might just grab at it and get a taste for it. It’s just a case of getting her in the habit of eating it and I know using fruit isn’t ideal, but anything is better than her not eating hay at all

.edit…sorry about the multiple posts. I had trouble submitting and then it went a bit crazy!

[September]

My Timothy wasn’t a big hay lover. It was a real struggle sometimes. I found rubbing a tiny bit of banana into the hay worked wonders. If you put it on the very end of the stalks, and start off by waving it in front of her face like you are playing a game, she might just grab at it and get a taste for it. It’s just a case of getting her in the habit of eating it and I know using fruit isn’t ideal, but anything is better than her not eating hay at all.

[September]

My Timothy wasn’t a big hay lover. It was a real struggle sometimes. I found rubbing a tiny bit of banana into the hay worked wonders. If you put it on the very end of the stalks, and start off by waving it in front of her face like you are playing a game, she might just grab at it and get a taste for it. It’s just a case of getting her in the habit of eating it and I know using fruit isn’t ideal, but anything is better than her not eating hay at all.

[September]

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[September]

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[JackRabbit]

It took cutting the hay into short pieces (about 2 inches long at first!) and serving it in a casserole dish to get one of my girls to become a big hay eater! Lol! I was able to slowly start giving her longer pieces, but still have to put it in her casserole dish. My little diva Kieko!

[Author]

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