A. Coarse Timothy Hay is known for its high fiber and low protein, making it a great food source for adult rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas. By late spring or early summer the hay is ready to be harvested for the first time of the growing season. It’s usually by mid June that the farmer cuts the first growth of the year. During this early growth the plant grows long thick stems, short broad leaves, and long seed head (flowers) making it coarser than the two later cuts. When this is harvested it is commonly referred to as First Cut Timothy Hay and is a great choice to maintain healthy teeth and digestion.
Medium Timothy Hay is known for being a softer hay with its long thin stems, short seed heads, and broad flat leaves making it easier for rabbits, guinea pigs, and chinchillas to eat. After the first harvest of Timothy Hay, the hay is then left to regrow and is harvested a second time usually by late summer, commonly referred to as Second Cut Timothy Hay. Medium Timothy Hay is also high in fiber and low in protein making it a great choice for your small pet’s dental health and digestive system particularly if they are aging and need softer hay.
Soft Timothy Hay is known for containing mostly leaves with very few stems or seed heads. This grade of hay comes from the third seasonal harvest of Timothy Hay or an exceptionally soft second harvest. Stems, if any, will be thin and occasional seed heads will be short. The key to this grade of premium hay is that it is made up almost entirely of soft leaves. It’s good for small pets that have soft or weak teeth which makes it hard for them to eat more coarse types of hay. Soft Timothy Hay offers all the nutrients and fiber that are required for digestive health, but due to its softness it doesn’t cover dental health. Therefore, we recommend investing in chew toys, such as Apple Sticks, or mixing in some coarse hay such as Coarse Orchard or Coarse Timothy to maintain healthy teeth.
Soft Orchard Grass is known for being the softest hay that we carry. For pets and owners who are allergic to Timothy Hay, Orchard Grass can be a great alternative. Orchard Grass is great for digestive health and can be fed free-choice to your rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas. Soft Orchard Grass has long soft grass blades, minimal seed heads and fewer stalks than other types of hay. Due to its softness, we recommend investing in chew toys or supplementing their diet with a little coarse hay to keep their teeth in good health.
Coarse Orchard Grass is very similar to Coarse Timothy Hay and is known for its large seed heads and more fibrous leaves and stems. For pets and owners who are allergic to Timothy Hay, Orchard Grass can be a great alternative. Orchard Grass can be fed free-choice to your rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas. Coarse Orchard Grass provides long strands that promote natural chewing behavior. It holds a great balance of roughage and nutrition to benefit both dental and digestive health.
Alfalfa Hay is full of protein and nutrients, making it perfect for growing rabbits between the ages of 3 weeks and 7 months. Alfalfa Hay has a thicker stem and lots of elliptical leaves compared to the long thin leaves found on grass hays. Mature rabbits can only eat a limited amount of Alfalfa due to the high levels of protein and calcium. Adult rabbits also require more fiber than alfalfa can provide to maintain healthy digestion. Transition your 7 month old rabbit off of Alfalfa Hay and onto a grass hay (such as Timothy or Orchard).
Mountain Grass is high in fiber and low in protein and calcium content, ideal for keeping the digestive tracts of rabbits and other small animals functioning properly. It's made up of a variety of wild grasses that grow in a mountain meadow. Mountain Grass contains a variety of textures and colors, which your small pet will enjoy. Typically it has leaves that are fine and coarse in texture with almost no stems. It's known for being a grass hay that wild rabbits would naturally feed on with an added benefit of being coarse enough to wear down their teeth.
Oat Hay is known for containing mostly stems, long seed heads, and leaves. This grade of hay comes from the first harvest of Oat Hay. The key to this grade of premium hay is that it’s made up entirely of coarse stems and leaves. Near the end of the growing season the plant begins pumping sugars up into the seed heads to help them finish maturing. This causes our hay to taste great despite having more yellow than other grass hays.
A. Baby Rabbits (Birth to Eight Weeks)
Baby Rabbits, or kits, between birth and three weeks old should be fed solely on their mother’s milk. By three to seven weeks of age, rabbits should still feed on the mother’s milk as well as very small helping of Alfalfa Hay and Pellets. When rabbits are about seven weeks old, they should have access to unlimited Alfalfa Hay and Pellets. Kits are usually weaned from their mother’s milk by eight weeks of age, depending on the breed.
Juveniles (Eight Weeks to Seven Months)
Between weaning and seven months of age, the juvenile rabbit can have an unlimited amount of Pellets and Alfalfa Hay. At three months of age, start introducing small amounts of vegetables into your rabbit's diet. Introduce one vegetable at a time, if any vegetable seems to cause digestive problems, avoid feeding it in the future.
Young Adults (Seven Months to One Year)
Young adults (seven months to one year old) should feed mainly on Timothy Hay. Timothy Hay is extremely important for rabbits at this age because it keeps the rabbit healthy and at the right weight. At this time in their life they should be eating fewer pellets (½ cup of pellets per every six pounds of rabbit’s body weight daily). Because of the decrease in pellets, along with the unlimited Timothy Hay you can increase the amount of vegetables to make up the loss in nutrition. Fruits can be given, but no more than 1-2 ounces (2-4 tablespoons) per every six pounds of body weight daily.
Mature Adults (One to Five Years)
By the time rabbits reach one year old, they should be fed an unlimited supply of Timothy or grass hay. You should decrease the amount of pellets to be ¼ cup per every six pounds of body weight daily. As vegetables are introduced and after your rabbit has deemed them tolerable, you should feed them 2 cups per every six pounds of body weight daily. Fruits can be given sparingly (a max of 2 tablespoons per every six pounds of body weight daily).
Seniors (Six Years and Older)
Senior rabbits can be fed the same as mature adults but keep an eye on their weight. If they begin to have weight loss issues and can’t maintain their weight, you can increase the amount of pellets they have. Alfalfa Hay can also be given to underweight rabbits in order for them to gain weight, but only if their calcium levels are normal. To determine senior’s calcium levels and other components of their blood it’s recommended that they receive annual blood workups.
To help you out further we have put together a simple feeding calculator, that will help you figure out how much hay, pellets, veggies and treats to feed your rabbit.
A. It’s easy and simple with no extra touch needed!
All you have to do is add products from the approved list below that you’d like to purchase to your cart as normal. Once you have everything you’d like, click on the Cart Icon at the top right-hand side of the screen. Then click on “Checkout” where you will see that your discount has automatically been applied to your cart.
We did everything we could to make sure it’s simple and easy to save on the products your small pets love!
Bundle & Save is available on the products and sizes listed below:
| All Ultra Premium Hays | All Natural Hay Cubes | All Natural Alfalfa Pellets | All Natural Chew Sticks | Food Grade Bedding |
| 2oz (Sample Size) | 4oz (Sample Size) | 4oz (Sample Size) | Single Pack 30 Sticks | 2oz (Sample Size) |
| 4oz | 12oz | 12oz | Bundle 125 Sticks | 2.0 cu. ft. (în Natural) |
| 12oz | 24oz | 24oz | Bulk 250 Sticks | 2.5 cu. ft. (în White) |
| 5lbs | 5lbs | 10lbs |
A. We monitor our inventory carefully, so if we don’t have what you are looking for in stock, we will not allow you to purchase it. Our goal is to have your product to your doorstep within no more than 5 business days of your order. We do our best to keep everything in stock, but some products are outside our control.
A. Yes we do ship internationally, but only to a few countries. Shipping a natural product, such as hay, can be difficult as many countries are protective of what plant products (hay is considered a plant product) can be important.
But - good news, we so many wondering if we could send our hay directly to customers in countries other than the United States we've created a definitive list of which countries we can and cannot send our products to. You'll find the article on international shipping here.
If you have any other questions regarding International Shipping, don't hesitate to email support@rabbitholehay.com and someone from our team will help you.
A. Rabbits should have fresh hay available 24 hours a day. Hay should make up 80-90% of a bunny’s diet because it’s rich in fiber and provides the roughage that helps reduce the danger of hairballs and other blockages. Hay also helps maintain the length of their continuously growing teeth–if uncomfortable chewing is an issue, a visit to the vet is mandatory. If this isn’t the problem, try feeding her in her favorite areas––like her litter box or the couch, as she may only want to eat there. If that doesn’t work, have her play! There are many rabbit-safe toys on the market that are designed to help encourage play and eating that might help you turn the corner. Sometimes, especially if you haven’t always fed your rabbit the best diet they will take time to acclimate to their new diet. Stick with it, and try to not give back in to their old unhealthy diet. Many rabbits are stubborn, but hunger generally rules the day.
You should also check the hay you purchase. Large scale providers do not hand-pack hay, and it’s typically shipped many times before it gets to you, and can arrive damaged. Rabbits will usually not eat powdered hay and will search through it to find larger strands. This is why it is important to get the best quality hay affordable, which is dust-free/sweet smelling/slightly green with long strands. You should also try a variety of hays to find which one your furry friend will enjoy most. You can flavor the hay by adding things like sage, rosemary, basil, parsley, peppermint and cilantro. Rub the hay and one of the additives to release the oils––remember that a little goes a long way. If this doesn’t seem to work, look to see if the rabbit is more focused on other tasty food and treats, and reduce those to redirect them.
If the issue persists, your bunny may be ill. If you don’t find stool in her litter box, or you find diarrhea, take her to the vet (the one who does her annual checkups) and go over stats and symptoms. NEVER try home remedies on a (potentially) sick bunny, unless recommended by your vet. Waiting for remedies to work will give your vet less time to help your rabbit.
It’s important to know that rabbits have difficulty passing gas; if you feed your bunny foods that cause gas, she might be in pain. If you spot her hunched over and looks like she is trying to press her belly to the floor, then she might have gas pains. You can speak with your vet to see how to help relieve her pains so she can eat again.
A. Our food grade paper bedding is super absorbent and has quick action odor protection. Because it is super absorbent, it can last much longer than other beddings including, shredded newsprint, wood shavings or clay based litters (please never use clay based litters with your small pets, they can be extremely dangerous). Did you know that our paper bedding can absorb 6 times its own weight?!
If you worry about the environmental effect of the bedding, you can relax because the bedding is tested dioxin free! It’s 100% environmentally friendly, and FDA approved food grade virgin paper! Now that’s a deal! You no longer have to worry if your small pet nibbles or consumes it because it’s safe for them to ingest.
What could be better than environmentally safe bedding? Comfort! It’s soft and gentle, and is resistant to matting. So, when they snuggle up and dream of the dance of the Timothy Hay Fairies, they will not wake up due to a clump causing discomfort.
Additionally, they won’t be disturbed by dust from sand, dirt, or grit because there is none! The bedding is 99.9% dust free, something that you cannot expect with other beddings.
A. At Rabbit Hole Hay, we want our customers know we are in close contact with the California Department of Fish and Game (the agency that is monitoring RHDV2 in California) and to date there have been NO reported cases of RHDV2 in the Northern California areas where we source our hay and where our warehouse is located.
All Rabbit Hole Hay product currently in the marketplace is from our Northern California 2021 growing season, but again there have been NO reported cases affecting our area of the country.
The USDA estimates the virus can remain stable for up to 3 months. Taking into account the dates of the recently confirmed cases and dates of harvest, along with the location of the harvest, we can safely reassure you that no Rabbit Hole Hay product that is available is currently at risk for being a carrier of RHDV2. Even with that being said, all of the hay that is currently available has been being held indoors for more than 3 months making our hay very safe.
We are committed to remaining vigilant both in how we monitor and how we move forward with product safety as it relates to RHDV2. Click here to read about the virus and other questions asked about it.
A. First of all, it is important to remember that the products we sell are direct from the farmers, and the quality varies based on weather patterns, including drought some years and an overage of rain others! Having said that, if you have received hay that you are dissatisfied with, please email support@rabbitholehay.com and let us know. You can also take a look at our shipping and returns page. We will do whatever we can to ensure you are pleased with our product.
A. Yikes! We apologize! Throw the offending hay away and let us know so we can send you a replacement!
If you are curious how this happened, the simple answer is that we receive our hay in 100 pound bales directly from the farm and break it up to provide you with the amount that you ordered. While we try to make sure this doesn’t happen, occasionally in our larger boxes, something like this sneaks by. At least you know it came straight from the farm! Oh, and sorry again.
A. Just because we haven't answer your question on this page doesn't mean we can't help you out! Head on over to our Contact Us tab (you can also click here) and ask us!
