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Denise

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My new Lolly is 4-5 weeks old and she has already been eating.... greens, pellets, carrots, and some orange peppers. I just read that she shouldnt have been eating veggies til almost a year. should she not be doing this. ?

I also assume she needs "hay"? and what purpose does the hay provide.... eating or chewing purposes. ?

THANKS. and forgive me for all the questions.
 
I'd cut back on the veggies for at least a few weeks, then start introducing them slowly and only one at a time. You don't really need to wait till 6 months as many people recommend, but 5 weeks is really early for an already-weaned rabbit that probably didn't have veggies before. Her GI system is likely to be more sensitive due to her young age.

Hay provides fiber, some vitamins and such, and something to chew on and wear the teeth down. Since she's a baby you can feed her either grass or alfalfa, although when she's 6 months to a year old you should switch her to eating only grass hay such as timothy. Alfalfa is too rich for adults.
 
It is generally not reccomended to start a rabbit on greens until about 6 months of age. But if she is having no problems (no soft stools, etc.), then I would just keep her on a simmilar diet to avoid further digestive upset. The shelter started feeding Devon greens at a young age, and he has had no problems whatsoever.

Hay is very important. It serves as a chewing exercise and a source of long-strand fiber to keep their GI systems moving.
 
Hay provides fiber and also helps to move everything along in the gut. Works kind of like a gut scrubber.

I always give my buns, babies and adults, free access to as much hay as they want.

With young babies, I free feed pellets, and my older bun is now on a restricted diet of pellets (still free access to hay).

I haven't had any problems with feeding young buns veggies, but I do watch carefully for signs of upset tummies, like mushy poos. I give them some veggies every couple days, leaving a day or two in between to watch for mushy poos.


--Dawn
 
Wow... ok. she hasnt had any problems with running poos at all. ! I will add the alfalfa today, is it ok to keep her pellets and alfalfa in there at all times during the day for her. ? and is there a difference in the hays. ?

you guys are all a big, big help. ~!:colors:
 
Leaving food and hay in the cage at all times is reccomended for young rabbits.

Here's a couple pictures of how I have my cage for my foster mom and her babies. (clickable for bigger picture)






I have the food dish and hay racks full at all times, and the only way to access them is by going into the litter boxes. It really helps with litter training, expecially with babies.

--Dawn
 
oh cool. thats so neat. unfortuenatly, Lolly is going to be set up in my daughters room. ! your area for your bunnies looks so spacious.
 
Yeah, my buns have an extra large NIC condo. There are six of them in there, so anything any smaller would be just mean. I still feel guilty for not having more space to build them an even bigger cage...

Here's the full cage:



And are you able to see the pictures now?

This was a handmade cage, and it's something you could build (or a variation that works in your space). Do a search for NIC condo's on Google or your favourite search engine, and you should come up with tons of information.

--Dawn


PS: Yes there is a difference in the hay. Alfalfa tends to be rich in protien and high in fiber, excellent for young growing buns. While grass hays, like Timothy, provide lots of fiber and not so much protien, good for an adult bun because it won't make them fat.
 
Well Alfalfa is hay... But yes, you are correct. Just Alfafa for now is fine. At about six months you can switch her over to a grass hay, like Timothy.

Good luck, and you should start a Blog in the Blog section and post some pictures! We all love pictures...

--Dawn
 
Denise, if you're interested we can help you make a cage like that. They're really easy to make and lots of us have them. They're also usually less expensive than cages bought at pet stores.
 
Yah, we just got back from the petstore and grabbed her alot of cute things, but we are noticing that the cage should be bigger. HA. ! I already want a double decker. of course my daughter had to rush a week ago and we got one of those that comes with most of the starter things in it, but its PLENTY big for her at the moment.

we did get her the "alfalfa" hay, a salt and mineral lick, some toys.... and liter box and some of the yesterdays news liter. oh and a walking leash. ! HOW FUN. !

you guys are awesome at responding and I may just take you up on the cage when she gets a bit bigger.
 
You can buy a bag of timothy for her to eat along with the alfalfa. You don't really need salt or mineral licks, there's enough of that in pellets. Careful what foods/treats you buy from the petstores because most treats are very unhealthy.

Sounds like your doing good! Ask as many questions as you like!
 
Just a tip, the Yesterday's News for rabbits is IDENTICAL to the Yesterday's News for cats, but the cat variety is less expensive for a larger bag. It's what I use for Oswald.

-Amy
 
I started Gretchen slowly on greens when I got her. She was probably about 2 months old. She is 6 months now and eats an adult diet--except I still give her protein rich alfalfa pellets--1/3 cup a day.

The only trouble I had was with broccoli. Since I introduced the veggies slowly and I knew it was the problem so she doesn't get broccoli at all.

I wanted to get her used to a healthy bunny diet as early as possible. That's the reason I did it.


 
I started greens as early as 6 weeks without a problem and my boys were eating veggies from the time they were eating solidsbut there are some rabbits that can't handle veggies even as they get older so you do haveto be cautious and add them VERY slow when they are young especially.

As for the rest of it, it sounds good. I've been told that a baby does not necessarily need Alfalfa hay if they are being free fed Alfalfa pellets but it wont do any harm to feed both! I've fed Alfalfa pellets and Timothy hay to all of mine as babies but I know plenty who feed Alfalfa hay instead.

Are you sure she's 4-5 weeks old? That seems awfully young, especially to be away from her mom! I saw a 4.5 week old bunny yesterday and was so tiny. He was still being hand fed pellets and milk. That's why I wonder if perhaps the age is wrong.
 
Well, long story short my daughter had rescued a wild baby rabbit a few weeks ago, it had hair and the ears were up and eyes open... no mommy around for the longest time and the nest was pretty much gone, well a cat was getting it, we took it in.... dropper fed it and all and it was doing awesome, but then the next day when my son was holding it at a friends andhalf of the fur just came right off.... like literally, so he motioned it outside. Im afraid that he probably didnt make it, but atleast we tried.

anyhow..... to replace the loss and to ease my daughter crying a whole day and a half my husband brought Lolly home from someone he knows that raises them. He said that she was about3 weeks when we got her and weve had her a week, we mistook him saying that he was feeding her carrots and greens, so we were giving them to her, but shes been eating them and the pellets and has no probs at all. but everyone kept saying she was so young and they guessed she was around 4-5 weeks, guess well never know for sure. as long as she is eating and drinking water I assume she is doing fine. we just wont introduce her to anymore veggies until she gets older so her tummy can handle it. ! but she eats like a horse I tell yah. ! hee hee
 

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