Feeding my bun too much veggies

[DuncanTheDutch]

Everyday I give Duncan2 carrots, 2 broccoli trees, and a grape tomato cut in half. and maybe a piece of fruit.

Is this too much? Duncan is about 2 months old and is a Dutch.

I dont want to overfeed him and he get fat. I know thats dangerous.

Sara and Duncan

 

[Snuggys Mom]

Hi Sara,

I wouldn't give fruit and carrots every day. They are high innatural sugar and too much is not good for your rabbit'ssystem.

Have you tried Duncan on things like romaine lettuce, parsley,cilantro, mustard or turnip greens? Those are some of mybunnies' favorites!

Laura

 

[Orions_girl16]

Hey! just stick with 1 baby carrot a day likebefore or give him some parsely, that sounds a little too much for himwhat your giving him right now..So just stick with the baby carrot

 

[ken]

i would give him 2 lettuce leaves, a grape tomatoor 2 cut in half, and a tiny piece of broccoli. as bi said, carrots arehigh in sugar so you shouldn't give them too much of it. maybe 1/2 acarrot once a week is good

 

[DuncanTheDutch]

Ok so Ill cut down his veggies. 1 broccoli tree, 1 carrot, and 1 grape tomato cut in half.

Thanks

Sara and Duncan

 

[ken]

well i wouldnt give that many carrots because of the high sugar content

 

[bluebird]

If you mean regular size carrots two is toomany.one baby carrot is enough.my rabbits love dandelion greens if youpick them out of the yard be sure they have no sprays on them.bluebird

 

[ken]

dandelions are good because they have a niceamount of fiber. however, the size of indigestible fibers in it issmaller than fiber in hay so it doesn't work as effectively as hay inthe digestive tract. also, hay is more of a universal source of fiberfor rabbits compared to dandelions depending on the breeds. you shoulddo some research on your bun and it's natural diet.

 

[Carolyn]

ken wrote:

you should do some research on your bun and it's natural diet.

She's trying to do that. That's why she's here and askingthese questions. It's not a clear cut answer as to what dietis best for rabbits. Everyone has their own way of doingthings and you have to put it all together and decide for yourself.

-Carolyn

 

[DuncanTheDutch]

Thanks Carolyn. And thanks for the other post.He is so sweet he loves everyone he meets. I want to try to bring himto that confrence I read about the other day. Just need some convincingon my mom, lol.

But....

Im going to play with them someand see what happens. I knowcarrots are high in sugar so maybe every other day I will switch itwith something and so fourth so I can see what he likes best and such.

Thanks

Sara and Duncan

 

[Carolyn]

Hi Sara,

No worries.

In my experience, I've heard a lot of breeders say just give rabbitspellets and very little on treats - such as fruits for vegetablesbecause of their high sugar content. Have also heard from alot of farmers that they'd only give their rabbits crops from thefields. Have had rabbit specialists and vets tellme to give them both.

Sometimes the best you can do for your rabbits is to put all theinformation together and decide for yourself. You'reobviously very aware that sugar isn't good for their systems.I give my little ones some fresh lettuce of different variety every dayin addition to their pellets. That was advised to me by KathySmith, the author of Rabbit Health in the 21stCentury. Pamnock, our resident expert on thisforum, also suggests that it's not a bad idea to give them somevegetables/greens.

Personally, I'd cut down the menu on Duncana tad, as thefruit and carrots do have a lot of glucose in them. I'd gowith one or the other, but not both. That's justhow I'd do it though.



-Carolyn

 

[DuncanTheDutch]

Yea im going to cut it down someand maybe give it every other day.

Thanks

Sara and Duncan

 

[ken]

Carolyn wrote:

In myexperience, I've heard a lot of breeders say just give rabbits pelletsand very little on treats - such as fruits for vegetables because oftheir high sugar content. Have also heard from a lot offarmers that they'd only give their rabbits crops from thefields. Have had rabbit specialists and vets tellme to give them both.

the reason vets and specialist say to give both is because they assumeif you feed them normal fruits and veggies, you're going to be feedingthem food from an ordinary supermarket. ordinary fruits and veggieswon't have all the vitamins and minerals that the bun may need so thepellets would suppplement that. feeding a mix is a good diet, but allpellets isn't that great. however, if you choose to go by an organicfruits and veggies diet, then you won't need pellets.

in soil, there are several different kinds of vitamins and mineralswhich go into the fruits and veggies. however, for most farmers, afterthey harvest the food, they only replant about 4-7 diff vitamins intothe soil so overtime the count continuously drops. this is the mainreason i switched to feeding them organic food. another reason isbecause of all the pesticides that go into ordinary fruits and veggies.

 

[JimD]

DuncanTheDutch wrote:

Everyday I give Duncan2 carrots, 2 broccoli trees,and a grape tomato cut in half. and maybe a piece of fruit.

Is this too much? Duncan is about 2 months old and is a Dutch.

I dont want to overfeed him and he get fat. I know thats dangerous.

Sara and Duncan

Hi Sara! Hi Duncan!

He's so cute! I love Dutch bunnies!!!!!

IMO....At 2 months old he should be getting unlimmited alfalfa hay & unlimited alfalfa-based pellets. He's still a baby.

If he does ok with fruits and veggies that's good, but..... as has already been stated...give them in moderation.

Our Binkie is 4 months old now and is on pretty much the same diet as the other 6 buns.

Unlimited timothy hay,

alfalfa-based pellets (1 to 2 oz / lb),

1 to 1 1/2 cup of greens (any combo of romaine, cilantro, parsley, basil, carrot tops, dandelion greens).

I alternate treats... one day they get some fruit (slice of banana) orveggie (1 baby carrot).............The next day they get rolled oats (1tspn) and some raisins/craisins (1/2 tspn)

And then there's the occasional "Bunnie Brownie"

~Jim

 

What is this ,rotating crops tend to ADD! minerals andvitamines to the soil geesh getthe facts straight .

 

[JimD]

gypsy wrote:

What is this , rotatingcrops tend to ADD! minerals and vitaminesto the soil geesh get thefacts straight .

I was also getting a little upset at some of the info given....

..........but notice he's been banned!

 

[DuncanTheDutch]

Lol yea I noticed that too!