Food for Younger Buns

[sephira]

Hey all...Most of you know I have some very young buns and I'm still learning so much about them. They just made 2 months yesterday!! Woohoo!!

I'm wondering if I'm doing all I can to give them a proper diet, especially to make up for their lack ofmother's milk, so please let me know your thoughts.

I give them unlimited pellets Peter's Growth Formula; unlimited Timothy Hay; and they also get a handful of Parsley or Cilantro. We just started to try the Cilantro yesterday and it seems to work well for them, also. (I started them on parsley when they were much younger and I didn't know to wait until they were alittle older. :nerves1)

They will also get a piece of a carrot every once in a while--again, another thing I did before I learned so much here!!

They seem to be healthy and are growing fast. Their eyes are bright and their coats are really lustrous. But, I just want to make sure I'm being a good surrogate mom, since they've been with me since they were 3 1/2 weeks old!!

Any opinions on their regimen??

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I think you are doing fine if they are looking good, seem healthy..... hay, hay and more hay.,

 

[sephira]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

I think you are doing fine if they are looking good, seem healthy..... hay, hay and more hay.,

Thanks Bo,

Do you think I should stick with just the Timothy or try adding other varieties to it?

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Maybe when he's older. I waited a bit then started offering orchard, oat and brome hays from Oxbow. They LOVE oat hay and Tony likes Orchard grass a lot.

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

You can actually give them alfalfa hay at this age. I still feed one of my Flemish alfalfa....she is about 5 months old. As she reaches 6 months or so.....we usually back off the alfalfa and use it as a treat...mostly because it adds too much weight. We also feed a "buffet" of grass hays....timothy, orchard grass, brome, oat, bermuda, etc. All of these hays are low protein, high fiber like a rabbit needs for a happy digestive system. Hay is also the primary way to keep the teeth worn down. It's not how hard something is, it's how chewy it is. Each type of hay....and each cut of hay.....has a slightly different texture that requires a slightly different chewing mechanism. And by offering a "buffet"....you encourage a more natural foraging type behavior.

And it's OK to give greens.....in moderation. I wean my cottontails solely on greens and hay. They do not get pellets. I start feeding baby rabbits greens as soon as they start taking solid food. The key is moderation. The long held notion that you can't give greens until they are a certain age is unfounded. But....small amounts are the key.

Randy

 

[sephira]

Thank you for the info Randy!!!! :biggrin2: