rabbits not eating hay!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!

sooty and sweep are not having hay. but they like straw. can any one give us advice????????????

I should probably explain - Sooty and Sweep have never been good hay eaters. We've managed to move them onto Science Slelect pellets and are moving them onto AP, but I've never had much success getting them to eat Hay.

We've tried timothy which is the staple diet for Thumper and Ruby, and I've tries the various types of hay offered by the hayexperts and even Readigrass, but they won't do more than nibble at it. BUT the straw we use for bedding they eat!! I've cut down the pellets but all they do is eat more straw? They will nibble the really cheap bedding hay, but that is all it amounts to.

Have sooty and sweep moved home? Im everso confused.

I had this problem with daisy and eventually found oxbow meadow hay which he seems to love. He wouldnt touch timothy hay either.

Katieb wrote:Have sooty and sweep moved home? Im everso confused.

I had this problem with daisy and eventually found oxbow meadow hay which he seems to love. He wouldnt touch timothy hay either.

Sorry, I should have said, the original question was posted by one of my children who are all members as well (Thumpersbro, Thumpersmate and Rubysbro are all mine). Sooty and Sweep are still here with us.

I've tried various varieties of hay, including meadow hay, alfalfa, timothy but to no avail

Okay it might be more expensive, but it is what I have found works is swaping all the straw bedding and use hay everywhere, then they have no other option but hay - however, the fact that they eat straw instead isn't too bad, they may be missing out on the nutrients, but they can get that from another source, and their teeth will be fine as chewing straw will do the same job.

How are you feeding the hay? I find ours eat more 'good/treat' hay if I put it in a bowl rather than a hay rack. The cheap farm hay goes in their litter trays.

Hello Thumper, Sweep, Sooty & Rudy's family!!

Our Pippin is a little fussy with hay. The first thing I have done is decreased his pellet intake. I found that, especially in the evening, I would give pellets and veg plus fresh hay and he would eat the veg first then the pellets and his hay would remain untouched! I now don't feed pellets in the evening. He now eats the veg first and then munches his hay

I am also trying different types of hay to see which he prefers. He has Timothy hay and meadow hay but as he doesn't seem too excited with these im trying alfalfa (Pippin is still young enough that he can enjoy this without needed to be rationed!) and oat hay. When I know which he prefers I'll probably use a mixture of that and timothy hay.

Also try to be inventive with where the hay is. Use it as bedding and litter and also inside toys, hay racks, cardboard tubes, egg cartons etc. And I agree with LilleJente, I would also stop using the straw if that is all they will eat.

Let us know how you get on.

It might be something that comes because mine pair have only really really got into the hay in a big way this winter. Before that, it was hard to see how much they ate. I think because it was so cold this year they ate more and now that Spring is here. I have stopped feeding them as much pellets and cut back drastically. So if they are hungry, they have hay to eat, then a little veg to tempt them to bed.

Hiya Lynne and thupersmate, I would remove the straw all together - this is what Noisette was bedded on at her previous home, and Paula is certain it was the cause of her dental problems because straw doesn't have the same grinding motion as hay! I would personally just remove all the straw and give them hay and tell them to love it or lump it