Hay cubes vs loose hay for German Lops

You're thinking about compressed hay cubes as a cheaper alternative to loose hay — that's a question worth working through properly. Before anything else: hay needs to make up around 80% of your rabbit's diet. This isn't a guideline you can trim back on — it's what keeps the gut moving and what wears the teeth down correctly. Pellets are a small top-up, not the main event. To give you a useful cost comparison, tell me: how old is your German Lop, are they in good health, and what are you feeding them at the moment?

Good — a healthy 2-year-old German Lop with no dental history is a straightforward case. On the cubes question: the compression works against you here. Loose hay does two jobs simultaneously — the chewing action grinds the molars down laterally, and the long fibre strands keep gut motility going. Compressed cubes are too dense and too short once broken up; the chewing is over too quickly and the fibre length is compromised. Vets generally steer away from cubes as a primary hay source for exactly this reason. The real cost problem you have is buying small bags. What's your storage situation like — do you have room for a large sack or a bulk box?

It absolutely is, and that's where your saving is — not in switching format, but in switching quantity. My recommendation is Oxbow Western Timothy Hay in the large 1.13kg box, or better still the bulk option if you can stretch the upfront cost. Oxbow is consistently good quality — right length, good smell, low dust — and German Lops do well on it. Buying a 3–4kg equivalent versus those small pet shop bags can cut your per-kilo cost by more than half. She should be getting a pile roughly the size of her body every day, so you'll go through it, but bulk buying is genuinely where the budget win is. I'd avoid the cubes — the cost saving isn't real once you factor in that she'd need more supplemental hay anyway to meet her fibre needs properly.

Straight Timothy is perfectly fine as her staple — it's actually the gold standard for adult rabbits because it's lower in calcium and calories than alfalfa and has excellent fibre length. If you want to add variety, a meadow hay blend occasionally is fine and some rabbits find it more interesting, but it's not necessary for health. For a 2-year-old German Lop you're not trying to solve a problem, you're just maintaining good gut and dental health — Timothy does that job well on its own. Stick with the bulk Oxbow Timothy and you'll see the cost come down noticeably.

Good call. Search for Oxbow Western Timothy Hay — it comes up easily on Amazon UK and the larger sizes are the ones to go for. Check the weight-per-pound cost before you click, because sometimes the medium size sneaks in cheaper per kilo depending on promotions. Your German Lop is at a good age and if she's healthy now, keeping her on high-quality unlimited Timothy hay is the single best thing you can do to keep her that way long term.