To eat or not to eat! That is the question :-)

[Bunnieshaven]

Hi guys question please. how many of you feed fresh

to your rabbits? I have two Conti Giants who love the stuff but I've justheardabout "notfeeding rabbitscorn" :?I personally can say Ihave never had any problems feeding it to our rabbits .I just wonder what yourthoughts about this are onder:


Thanks every one

Sandy

 

[Happi Bun]

I would definitely stop feeding corn.


Info below from http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

Corn, fresh or dried, is NOT safe for rabbits. The hull of corn kernels is composed of a complex polysaccharide (not cellulose and pectin, of which plant cell walls are more commonly composed, and which a rabbit can digest) which rabbits cannot digest. We know of more than one rabbit who suffered intestinal impactions because of the indigestible corn hulls. After emergency medical treatment, when the poor rabbits finally passed the corn, their fecal pellets were nearly solid corn hulls! Those rabbits were lucky.

 

[Maureen Las]

OMG don't feed corn ..it's a sure way to get an impaction...

you were lucky the first times you fed it...

 

[Bunnieshaven]

Thanks for getting back with your replies , will put the corn on hold from now on

I think below paragraph from the articlelink you gave me could wellexplain the reason I got no problems.

FRESH VEGETABLES
You may have heard it from a breeder, pet store owner, or even a veterinarian who is not as familiar with recent rabbit health information as one might hope: Fresh vegetables will give your rabbit "diarrhea." Nothing could be further from the truth than this old myth. In fact, fresh greens help keep intestinal contents hydrated, which makes them easier for the bunny to pass. Trace nutrients, fiber, and just plain old tastiness are other benefits of fresh greens. After all, what do you suppose wild rabbits eat?

Both our Contis are fed a good selection offresh veg daily

Sandy

 

[Spring]

Fresh vegetables like leafy greens, carrots, cucumbers etc. are great for bunnies. Corn is definitely not a vegetable I'd ever feed my guys because of the risks, there are so many other vegetables that are a lot safer! .

Some favourites of mine are kale, carrot greens, parsley, bok choy, and snowpea pods .

 

[Bunnieshaven]

Spring wrote:

Fresh vegetables like leafy greens, carrots, cucumbers etc. are great for bunnies. Corn is definitely not a vegetable I'd ever feed my guys because of the risks, there are so many other vegetables that are a lot safer! .

Some favourites of mine are kale, carrot greens, parsley, bok choy, and snowpea pods .

Thanks so much Spring for your helpful advice

it was honestly fed them out of all ignorance fortunately me and the buns didn't know any different , please understand what I mean therebecause thankfully they came to no harm and they have been eatingit for months several times a week but no more now I know

Below are their photos taken within this last week, to me they look good (so releived)

Beauty - our 4 month old Yellow Conti giant.

And Billy -our Conti giant Agouti buck aged 6 months

Before I go Spring I found a pdf format article entitled I believe it was called"Rabbit Menue" ( all about safe vegatables for rabbits)
onder: can you give me the link to that again please (still finding my way around here and not sure where it was now ) Thanks. Also could you have a quick look over it please and let me know if it's still current , that is as it been amended in any way because of new reasearch may be , becauseI certainly don't want to make any more feeding mistakes.

Thanks Spring , appreciate your help

Sandy

 

[JimD]

Hi Sandy,

As the others have mentioned, corn isn't good for your bunnies.

With raw corn, the skin from the kernels are very hard to digest and breakdown. They can collect in the GI tract and cause an impaction.
Dry corn isn't really that good either. There's a lot of carbohydrates and starch....neither of which is good in larger quantities.

Here's the link you were looking for.
It's under the Pinned thread at the top of this forum under "Feeding Your Rabbit Q&A"

http://www.mckellier.com/archives/images/2006/RabbitMenu.pdf

 

[Bunnieshaven]

JimD wrote:

Hi Sandy,

As the others have mentioned, corn isn't good for your bunnies.

With raw corn, the skin from the kernels are very hard to digest and breakdown. They can collect in the GI tract and cause an impaction.
Dry corn isn't really that good either. There's a lot of carbohydrates and starch....neither of which is good in larger quantities.

Here's the link you were looking for.
It's under the Pinned thread at the top of this forum under "Feeding Your Rabbit Q&A"

http://www.mckellier.com/archives/images/2006/RabbitMenu.pdf

Morning Jim

thank you , I have now printedoutthis menue to keep at hand What a choice! ,looks like my shopping cart is going to be a little fuller this week

Sandy

 

[FuzzyLove]

I noticed on the list it said "clover, white" was SAFE and "clover,red" was NOT SAFE. I've given my buns red clover sprouts. They seem fine (not like I have given in all that often) Does anyone know why it's not safe??

 

[woodsygirl]

FuzzyLove wrote:

I noticed on the list it said "clover, white" was SAFE and "clover,red" was NOT SAFE. I've given my buns red clover sprouts. They seem fine (not like I have given in all that often) Does anyone know why it's not safe??

I've wondered that myself, I used to have a book years ago that said it was not safe but I saw it on the ingredient list for Oxbow Botanical Hay. I tried looking it up online and I can't find anything saying it's bad for rabbits. Maybe someone can chime in and enlighten us on that one.


*I've searched around online more and it seems that moldy red clover hay is very toxic but fresh is okay.

 

[MyRabbits]

Hi Bunnieshaven --

I love the pictures of the Continental Giants. We have Flemish Giants but are rather new to giant rabbits all together -- I have never seen a continental giant live yet.

I wanted to pass on another cautionary tale about corn, as long as we are on the topic. Do your best to educate neighbors on the matter of rabbit nutrition by asking them never to attempt to feed the animal veggie treats without your knowing it. A friend with a lovely fawn Flemish Giant ended up having to take the Giant to the vet as it developed a serious stomach stasis problem from having been fed cornsilk. She had left the rabbit with her mother over a weekend while she traveled, and her mother's neighbor had fed the rabbit cornsilk. Fortunately, the lovely fawn, Gabbie, survived, but she was very seriously ill. Rabbits absolutely cannot handle corn silk.

That being said, one of our rabbits adored Tostitos Scoops. She stand up on her hind feet begging for them every time we pick up the bag to eat some . . . I am guessing that corn that is so highly processed is not too dangerous for her. . . .