2Qs on diet: Calcium and alfalfa pellets

[philososaurus]

Maybe I should post these separately. Help with either or both is greatly appreciated:

1) I was chatting with a friend the other day and she said that one of the issues she had with her rabbit (male, now 11) was that she kept feeding him kale after age 3 and he ended up getting huge calcium build ups.

Yoshi (F, Norwegian dwarf) is nearing age 3 (I adopted her at 1ish and I've had her for about 1.5ish so it's sort of hard to say) and kale is her FAVORITE (mine too!). Should I stop feeding her this? Is this true? Is it a male rabbit thing?

2) Same person also told me to make sure (and I'm trying to remember this one, I should have written it down!) her pellets are NOT alfalfa based and that her hay is timothy (which is already true) after about age 3ish as well. I thought alfalfa pellets were the best?! =/

 

[Sweetie]

Alfalfa pellets are best for young growing bunnies and breeding does. Adult rabbits need a pellet which is high in fiber and low in protein, but not too low. I am not sure what the ratio is fiber to protein. But a good pellet high in fiber is the best.

Rabbits do need calcium, but they don't need huge amounts of it.

How often do you feed Yoshi kale?

 

[philososaurus]

Do you have any brand recommendations for pellet food? Currently I do Oxbow, and love them.

I eat kale every other day, and Yoshi may get a leaf or two then, but I keep it pretty sporadic. She loves it so!

As she gets older should I just make it more and more sporadic?

 

[Sweetie]

I would do it more and more sporadically if Yoshi starts having problems with it.

I hear that Oxbow is a good pellet. Very high in fiber. There are members who feed their rabbits Oxbow.

Do you feed any other kinds of veggies? A variety is very good for bunnies.

 

[philososaurus]

Oh most definitely. She gets a tons of different veggies. Less a little recently. I've had to rely on bodeggas for her veggies since I haven't ordered substantial veggies yet for me.

How would I know if she is having calcium problems? Eek. There aren't any problems yet and I'm already nervous!

 

[Sweetie]

Well I have read on hear about calcium related issues, like bladder sludge. I think that in the library on here there is a thread about bladder sludge and its symptoms. I would read up on rabbit health that way you can recognize any issue with your rabbit.

 

[Sweetie]

That is good that Yoshi gets a variety.