I have 3 buns, a bonded pair I have had for 18 months and they eat a nice mix of grass, hay and a variety of veggies and herbs and a small amount of nuggets daily and are fit and healthy and love everything.
I have taken on a 'new to me' bun who is 3. I have had him a couple of months now and long story short he came to me needing a substantial dose of TLC, clearly having been passed around a number of breeders and not really having any consistency in his diet. I have had numerous issues to sort out but the main problem has been his constant 'poopy butt'. I have spent the last 2 months getting him off his muesli mix food onto a good pellet, feeding him decent hay, getting him used to being out in a run grazing on fresh grass each day and he seems to have turned a corner. I don't know whether the Oxbow Digestive Support hay cakes have helped too or getting his teeth filed (although the vet I saw initially didn't think his tiny spurs would have made a difference but I had them done anyway) but he is now ok most days, eating his now properly formed cecals and I am not having to clean him at all.
The thing I am working on now is introducing him to some veggies, small amounts obviously, but absolutely tiny amounts of anything upsets him. His previous owner told me all she gave him was dry food and the odd chunk of apple, he hadn't even been out in the run at her house so no grass either. She couldn't tell me about his diet before her. All his other issues were indicative of him being kept in poor conditions for some time (lice, sore hocks, stupidly long claws, etc) so I can only assume what his diet consisted of!
Anyway, I'm sorry for the long post but I would love him to be able to enjoy a small amount of veggies each day like my others do. Does anyone have any suggestions of good veggies to try, things to def avoid? Or does anyone else have a bun that is the same and should I just accept he probably will always be the same?
Thanks in advance for any replies, he is a mini lop or a holland lop if you are in the USA.
I have taken on a 'new to me' bun who is 3. I have had him a couple of months now and long story short he came to me needing a substantial dose of TLC, clearly having been passed around a number of breeders and not really having any consistency in his diet. I have had numerous issues to sort out but the main problem has been his constant 'poopy butt'. I have spent the last 2 months getting him off his muesli mix food onto a good pellet, feeding him decent hay, getting him used to being out in a run grazing on fresh grass each day and he seems to have turned a corner. I don't know whether the Oxbow Digestive Support hay cakes have helped too or getting his teeth filed (although the vet I saw initially didn't think his tiny spurs would have made a difference but I had them done anyway) but he is now ok most days, eating his now properly formed cecals and I am not having to clean him at all.
The thing I am working on now is introducing him to some veggies, small amounts obviously, but absolutely tiny amounts of anything upsets him. His previous owner told me all she gave him was dry food and the odd chunk of apple, he hadn't even been out in the run at her house so no grass either. She couldn't tell me about his diet before her. All his other issues were indicative of him being kept in poor conditions for some time (lice, sore hocks, stupidly long claws, etc) so I can only assume what his diet consisted of!
Anyway, I'm sorry for the long post but I would love him to be able to enjoy a small amount of veggies each day like my others do. Does anyone have any suggestions of good veggies to try, things to def avoid? Or does anyone else have a bun that is the same and should I just accept he probably will always be the same?
Thanks in advance for any replies, he is a mini lop or a holland lop if you are in the USA.