Not Eating His Hay

[RemixMom]

Hello ,I adopted my rabbit a few months ago from a shelter and i'm worried that he's not getting enough nutrients because he doesn't touch his timothy hay. I have a feeling that his previous owners only fed him alfalfa because he will eat that, but i don't want him to get overweight so I don't wan't to give him much alfalfa. I bought vitamin drops made for rabbits and ive been adding that to his water for some extra nutrients. Should I try something else? Will he be okay not eating his hay?:?

 

[JBun]

Does he get limited pellets too? If he's older than 6 mo. he really shouldn't be getting alfalfa hay anymore. It's too high in calcium and protein for an adult rabbit. Feeding hay is actually to supplement their diet. You're mostly feeding it to them because they need the roughage and fiber in their diet. The essential nutrients are something they get from the limited pellets that are fed and any veggies that you feed. You could try a different kind of grass hay like bermuda, coastal, early cut oat without seed heads, or some other grass.

 

[Imbrium]

yes, ANY kind of grass hay will work, it doesn't have to be timothy (mine don't like timothy). if you have any feed stores (ie horse/farm supplies) in your area, that's the cheapest way to buy hay if you can manage to store a bale (you can buy an entire bale for the same price as, if not less than, a large pet-store bag) - most places like that will let you take a sample of each of their hays free of charge so you can try them out on your rabbit and find out which one he likes before committing to buying a bale.

some hays are softer than others, some are sweeter or heartier, etc. so chances are you can find a hay that appeals to him other than alfalfa.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We severely limit pellets and give unlimited orchard grass. Works fine for ours.

 

[Blue eyes]

^^ agreed. I think if a bunny gets too much pelleted food, he's less likely to eat his hay. Limiting pellets (on adult bun) will encourage hay eating.

 

[ldoerr]

You could try this http://store.binkybunny.com/new-oat-pellet-treat-floppers-garden-p155.aspx. The next time I place an order with them I will be getting some to try. It seems like a decent product. I just have a good fealing about it. No actual experience using it though. Read the discription on there.