Too much vegetables?

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katiecrna

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If your rabbit eats adequate amounts of hay, is there a limit on how much vegetables they can eat? I understand that if you are feeding them too much veggies and they aren't eating hay that's a problem.
 
A rabbit should eat about 10% of their weight in vegetables (2/3 leafy greens, 1/3 other vegetables), less if you give pellets too (mine eat about 8% of their body weight because they get about 10g of pellets each). Hay should be given at all times, while vegetables / pellets are preferably given twice a day (morning / night). If the amount is correct, the vegetables should be eaten quite quickly, leaving the rabbit with only hay to eat the rest of the time. Giving too much vegetables can indeed decrease the will of the rabbit to eat hay, causing risks of GI stasis, and a lot of vegetables like carrot or parsnip are fattening if given too often or in big quantities (making a rabbit lose weight is really hard, so better be careful from the get go)
 
To put cup measurements to that, it would be 2-4 cups daily.

You already mentioned (and Aki further explained) that the idea is to not feed too much of anything that would cause any significant reduction in hay eating.

The more greens (and more variety) they eat, the fewer pellets they will need.

Here is a relevant article from the House Rabbit Society:
http://rabbit.org/natural-nutrition-part-ii-pellets-and-veggies-2/
 

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