Key health BENEFITS of hay

As the owner of a bunny, or any small herbivore pet, you know the importance of hay in their diet. If you have ever wondered WHY hay is so important I am going to go into further detail about how hay keeps your pet happy and healthy and its specific functions in your pets daily health.

Mental health

• Hay encourages natural foraging behaviours in bunnies. It provides hours of mental stimulation a day
• Access to a variety of grass hays provides different tastes and textures for your bunny, keeping them interested, active, and healthy. 
• Place hay toys/racks/cubes in as many locations as possible throughout your bunnies enclosure/space to maximize mental enrichment. Even if you just hide toilet paper tubes or brown paper bags of hay, it will keep you bunny happy and out of trouble!

Digestive health

• The fiber in hay facilitates the constant digestive movement that bunnies need to maintain gut health.
• If they don't hay hay pushing everything through, even for a short time, it can lead to a number of potentially life threatening issues, such as bloat or G.I stasis.

Dental health

• Bunnies require constant chewing of fibrous foods to provide proper, and necessary dental wear. Hay is the ideal material to serve this function.  
• Bunny teeth never stop growing, making it critical to provide a proper diet centered around hay.
• a diet lacking sufficient hay intake can lead to dental issues such as disease, tooth elongation and malocclusion.  

Tips on preventing G.I. stasis

Gastrointestinal stasis is a serious condition that occurs when the digestive system slows down or stops. As a bunny owner, there are key steps you can take to minimize the likelihood that your bunny experiences this condition.

• Feeding a high fiber diet with lots of grass hay (at least 70% of their daily intake)
  
• Annual vet checks with your exotics/rabbit savvy vet.
  
•  Keep a watchful eye out for any underlying health issues such as visible pain, dental issues, infections etc.
• Make sure your bunny has unlimited access to two sources fresh clean water
• Make sure they get plenty of exercise.

Top 5 reasons to give your bunny more than one type of hay

1. It keeps mealtime fun and enriching. Eating the same food all the time can become boring! Try adding an herb mix, a hay topper, mixing different hays, and providing multiple sources of hay to keep them excited and busy. 
2. Hay supports nutritional needs. Every hay has different vitamins and minerals and cycling through different types of hay helps them to regularly get a variety of nutrients that keep your bunny and their digestive tract healthy.
3. It can strengthen your bond with your bunny! Giving them a new meal is fun for them, but it also tells you a lot about your bunny, It's fun to watch them get excited about something, and figuring out what their preferences are tells you more about them. Try mixing different hays to figure out their favourites. 
4. It helps prevent picky eating. Access to different hays helps expand their palate and helps them manage the natural variability that can occur between bags of hay.
   
5. Encourages foraging. The ancestors of your bunny would forage in the wild, through different plant material. This helps them tap into those behaviors and stay busy.