Switching back to loose hay for your rabbit

So you're moving your Silver back to loose hay bales after a stint with compressed blocks — good call. Hay needs to make up around 80% of a rabbit's diet. It's not a treat or a top-up; it's what keeps the gut moving and wears down those continuously growing teeth. Compressed blocks can work in a pinch but loose hay is far better for encouraging natural foraging behaviour and getting adequate intake. Before I point you toward the right product: how old is your rabbit, is she in good health, and what does the rest of her diet currently look like — pellets, fresh veg, anything else?

That's a solid setup overall — the pellet quantity sounds sensible for her age and the veg variety is fine. The lack of enthusiasm for the compressed blocks is telling. Loose hay gives rabbits something to root through and pull apart, which compressed blocks simply can't replicate. For a 5-year-old with no dental concerns, you want a good-quality Timothy hay — it's the right fibre length and texture to keep teeth worn properly without being too rich. What were you using before the blocks? I want to make sure I'm not just sending you back to something that didn't work well the first time.

That makes complete sense — dusty hay is genuinely a problem, especially long-term. It can irritate the respiratory tract and put rabbits off eating it altogether, which defeats the whole point. The answer isn't compressed blocks though; it's sourcing better-quality loose hay. I'd recommend Burgess Excel Timothy Hay. It comes in a good-sized bale, it's consistently low-dust and kiln-dried, and it's proper long-strand Timothy rather than the chopped or mixed meadow hay that can be hit and miss in pet shops. It's widely available on Amazon UK and the quality is reliable batch to batch — which was clearly the issue with your local supplier. Start offering it alongside the last of your blocks if you have any, and she should transition across within a few days without any fuss.

No, leave everything else as it is for now. You're fixing one variable at a time, which is exactly right. The only thing I'd watch is pellet portion — at 5 she doesn't need much, around a tablespoon per kilogram of body weight daily is plenty. If her hay intake goes up once she's back on loose, you may find she naturally eats slightly less pellet, which is perfectly healthy. Keep an eye on her droppings for the first week or so; they should be plentiful, uniform in size and dry. If they get smaller or fewer, she may need a bit more encouragement to eat the hay freely — try spreading it around her space rather than piling it in one spot.

Great choice. She'll almost certainly take to it quickly once she can actually pull it apart and forage through it properly. Stick with it consistently and the combination of good loose hay, light pellet ration and fresh veg will keep her in excellent shape well into old age.