How do I wean my Flemish Giant Rabbit from Alfalfa Hay?

[pugzy]

I have a Flemish Giant Rabbit who's about 8 months old now. He may be mixed with a Giant Chinchilla rabbit but I'm not sure if that's relevant. I can't seem to get him to eat more hay. His main diet is 16% rabbit feed (pellets) and romaine lettuce. The only hay he'll eat is alfalfa hay. He'll barely touch the timothy hay. I heard that the older he gets the worse alfalfa hay is for him. (Something about being too rich in calcium & calories). What should I do to get him to eat more hay, AND the right kind of hay?

 

[Marinea]

Welcome Pugzy to RT!

There are lots of people who feed no hay at all. So, withholding alfalfa hay is not a terrible thing. After a few days of no hay, he might very well enjoy some plain old timothy hay. Maybe start it out mixed with the alfalfa and slowly change it over to straight timothy hay.

I hope you will stick around here and share your rabbit experiences with us. And we love pictures of rabbits here

 

[WildWolf]

Welcome!!
If he's eating pellets, then not eating hay is OK. Pellets have shredded hay in them. And I don't think that eating alfalfa hay is bad once they get older... but if he's a pet (as opposed to a breeding rabbit), then he might not be exercising enough to need all those calories.

 

[pugzy]

I'm having trouble understanding how to navigate some of the features here but hopefully you guys can see this thank you message from me. I'm also running into difficulty with uploading my rabbit's pic as my avatar because I don't know how to resize it to the pixel limitations. But thank you for your advice and response. Your comments are very helpful!

 

[Flemishstar]

I had the same trouble with resizing...edit the pic in paint...then go to resize image..then type in the maximumn pixels the website will handle..then re saver it under a new file name.... My bunnies eat alfalfa all the time.. I never had a problem...just make sure its not Alot and they get excersize...but I guess its all individual preference...

 

[Bad Habit]

Rabbits do need long stem hay, it helps with digestion and the prevention of wool block, and something with the teeth. I second withholding alfalfa in exchange for timothy. I personally buy alfalfa/grass mix hay which is great for all types of rabbits.

 

[pugzy]

Thanks everyone! I went and bought some fresh timothy hay. I couldn't find a place that mixes timothy & alfalfa together but I guess I can do that myself? I resized the avatar of my rabbit using lots of trial and error but it seems kinda small to me. No worries. It works. The pic is from when he was 2 months old. And yes, I'll try to withhold some alfalfa but only after I get him use to his new aspen bedding in his litter box. I don't want to make too many sweeping changes all at once. He's had CAREFRESH Natural Premium bedding but that was getting too expensive for me (even though the retail price is fairly cheap). Lastly, he's a house rabbit and does not live in a cage; but he likes to sleep under the coach most of the day and comes out to eat...so he sorta exercises of his own accord? I let him play in my VERY SMALL dirt patio area whenever possible; but it's not big enough for him to run around. He's growing up to be fairly large. So...I hope I'm doing everything right so far as a bunny owner with limited resources.

 

[Marinea]

Your bun is a cutie!

You can upload a bigger picture of him here directly to the site if you like.

And if your bun is happy and healthy and active, you're doing it right

 

[Flemishstar]

your doing a perfect job!!!

 

[Peach]

You seem to be doing just fine to me I would probably switch him from Aspen to Pine. Aspen isn't good for their lungs even though it smells great to us.

Have you considered going to a feed store? I've surprised a lot of people when I tell them they can get better quality feed, in 50lb bags, for $18 vs. the 10lb "junk food" pellets for $15-$20 at the petstore.

I find that shavings and caging are also really overpriced. You can get the big bag for $5 and a bale of hay (stored properly/ 50lbs of so) for about $10.

So worth looking into to make your rabbit journey more affordable