Consumption of Vegetables

[@licia]

How many cups of vegetables per day should I be feeding my female Holland Lop? I have researched this and found that 2 cups per 6 pounds of bunny weight is often suggested, which should include 3 or more types of vegetables, but since I do not know her weight or age (we are assuming she is no more than two to three years of age), how do I go about doing this? The past few days I have been giving her 1 cup in the afternoon and the other cup before bed. Is this okay or should I only be giving her maybe 1 cup to 1 and 1/2 cups per day?

 

[Runestonez]

Hey!

We tend to feed alot of greens at our house...we free feed pelletsand hay as well.

I think how many greens you feed depends on how much you are willing to spend on your bunn! We feed a mostly hay and greens diet with few pellets...some of our Holland lops will get as much as 7 cups of veg at bedtime (we began feeding greens at bed because the bunns seemed to eat them more/faster than during the day)...

This is pic of our boy Dandelion...he was a 3 pound Holland Lop and the dish he has is a dog dish about 9" across, it holds about 7 cups of veg...he would eat one of these everynight and still want more the next morning!

I would suggest starting your girl off with a couple cups of veg a day and if she eats it all gradually increase it. I think it is more about personal preference though...most of our kids right now eat around 5-6 cups of veg per night...and with 10 bunns we easily spend $60-80 a week just on bunny greens!:shock:

But you should also try to vary your greens (wefeed 5 types of greens each night but change one or twoeach night)...with an increased amount of greens some bunns will reduce the amount of pellets they eat so you should provide an assortment of greens to provide different vitamins etc...and it gives bunn a bit of variety too!

Danielle

 

[@licia]

Hi, Danielle!

I must say, Dandelion (and the rest of your bunnies), eating habits really impress me! Who would of known such little animals could fit in so many vegetables, eh?! They sure are spoiled and lucky to have a good owner like yourself!

For now, I think I am going to continue with the 2 cups of vegetables a day. Like your bunnies, Marmalade eats her vegetables super fast during the day aswell, and that is why I have now split it up in to two meals: one cup in the afternoon, and one cup before bed. How does that sound? I also should state that she does get quite the varitey of vegetables of up to 3 of the following per day: romaine, escarole, carrot tops, parsley, bell peppers, dill, etc. She also appearently likes cilantro, rappini and dandelion, according to her foster mom. Right now, the ones I listed is what I myself am currently giving her for now. I will gradually increase the amount once she settles in, especially considering how she still needs to put on a bit more weight (she was severely underweight when arriving to the rescue group I adopted her from and while she has put on the weight, she can still stand to gain a bit more).

PS - Thank-you so much for your reply, it was extremely helpful to both Marmalade and I.