rabbit wont eat new bag of hay.

[pumpkinbumpkin]

My rabbit will only eat oxbow hay. Today I got her a new bag because she ran out, and now she won't eat it. The new bag looks the same as the last one did to me but it's not good enough for her. She hasn't eaten a single bite of hay all night. She does this almost everytime I have to get her a new bag of hay. She wont eat it, then I have to go and buy different bags until I can find one that she will eat. Sometimes when I do this, once I try to get her to eat the 2nd or 3rd bag I've bought, all of a sudden she'll start eating from the 1st bag I got her. Does anyone have any ideas how I can get her to just eat it? I can't keep wasting money and hay like this. I've tried every brand of hay available near me and she will not eat anything except oxbow. I've also tried gradually switching to the new bag of hay and it doesn't work, she just picks through and eats the pieces from the new bag and leaves the rest. This isnt a dental problem, I had a small handful of her old bag of hay left and when I gave it to her earlier she ate it all. She's just extremely picky. Does anyone else have this problem?

The bags of hay I buy are not completely wasted, I have a guinea pig that will eat it. She's just so small that it takes her a long time to get through just one bag.

 

[Blue eyes]

I'm wondering if where you are storing the hay is giving it a different odor than what it has at the store. Maybe a new bag still has lingering scent from the store that makes her reject it, but once it's been in your home awhile, that scent is replaced with whatever she's used to in your home. Just brainstorming here...

 

[pumpkinbumpkin]

I'm wondering if where you are storing the hay is giving it a different odor than what it has at the store. Maybe a new bag still has lingering scent from the store that makes her reject it, but once it's been in your home awhile, that scent is replaced with whatever she's used to in your home. Just brainstorming here...

Hmm that could be possible. I usually have it in my bedroom or right outside in the hall. I went and bought another bag today and she's still not eating from this one either. If I hand the pieces to her she's eating some of them, but if I just give her a pile of it she grunts at me and turns her back to it. I am a little worried because if I cant get her to eat any tonight, it'll be 2 days without hay now and she's shedding at the moment so I'm worried she might get sick from the sudden decrease in hay. I might try decreasing her pellets for a few days and see if that helps, she only gets 1/2 a tablespoon in the morning and another 1/2 tablespoon in the evening.

I'm letting her eat from the bag to see if that changes anything but she's just eating small bites off some pieces then dropping them and not eating the rest.

 

[Diane R]

Hmm that could be possible. I usually have it in my bedroom or right outside in the hall. I went and bought another bag today and she's still not eating from this one either. If I hand the pieces to her she's eating some of them, but if I just give her a pile of it she grunts at me and turns her back to it. I am a little worried because if I cant get her to eat any tonight, it'll be 2 days without hay now and she's shedding at the moment so I'm worried she might get sick from the sudden decrease in hay. I might try decreasing her pellets for a few days and see if that helps, she only gets 1/2 a tablespoon in the morning and another 1/2 tablespoon in the evening.

I'm letting her eat from the bag to see if that changes anything but she's just eating small bites off some pieces then dropping them and not eating the rest.

It could be a coincidence that it's a new bag of hay. Picking up hay and dropping it can indicate dental problems.

 

[Blue eyes]

The brand of hay isn't as important as the type of hay (timothy, bermuda, meadow, brome, oat, orchard, etc) and the cut of hay (1st, 2nd, 3rd). You may want to consider looking for a feed store that sells hay by the bale (or half-bale). If you let them know you're looking for something for your picky rabbit, they may let you gather some handfuls of loose hay -- one handful from each of their different hay types as "samples" for your rabbit to try. Just keep track of each sample and label it (maybe using a sandwich baggy).