Grass or Hay?

[Chocoteddy0]

Can normal green garden grass be a substitute for hay?

 

[pinksalamander]

I'm not sure what some others will say but as far as i'm concerned yes, because hay is just dry grass. You just need to make sure you can get enough of it so its always there.

I provide my rabbit with hay all the time, and he eats fresh grass when he goes outside.

 

[Chocoteddy0]

Phewf!



Now I just have to watch out for possibly poisonous weeds and like weedkiller and stuff..

 

[Pipp]

Grass should be good, yes.

Tinyamounts of a variety of food may be your best bet. A baby bunny's diet really depends on what s/he's used to, so best to just follow your instincts and feed him what the market people feed the local rabbits. I suspect that grass ispart of their diet.

Also, hewill be more inclined to eat what's familar.

Don't load him up on fruit and other treats, and avoid breads and cereals -- just give him a few flakes of oats, not a bowl full.

Milk isn't that great, but my friend George fed all his bunnies a baby formula for months, and they were all fine, it's not always a problem. Did he like themilk? I'm not sure about that one, the danger isthat it's easy to throw a baby's gut out of whack at that age with anydiet changes. But aside from the gut imbalance, the milk issue from what I understand is more that bunnies grow intolerent tolactose as they age.

Rule of thumb is that you have to start out feeding only tiny amounts of any new food and carefully watch their output -- if they have mushy poops, you have to stop feeding it to them.

As far as no poops goes, as long ashe's eating, he should start pooping. Just make sure s/he's has access towater. Are you giving her water in a bowl? Some baby bunnies may not know how to work a water bottle.

If he really isn't pooping, you're going to need to keep him moving, rub his tummy, and make sure he drinks a lot.

Don't worry about him sleeping a lot, babies do that. They're only active and hour or two a day when they're that young.

Hope he is okay! This bunny is very young and that may be a problem, butit's awsome you've taken him, he has his best chance with you.

Let us know how he is.

sas :clover:

 

[Chocoteddy0]

Thankles!

Sugar seems okay with lettuce, but he doesn't eat on his own. He only eats when I hold him and hand feed him. I can't do this everyday! And he seems to be hopping (or sort of crawling, he can't really hop too well yet) about more than 2 hours, maybe I should let him sleep. Yeah I have water in a bowl, but it hardly has any water cos its so shallow (he can't get up to the bigger bowls). I'll get him drinking more, and continue rubbing his tummy.

 

[Leaf]

I may be out of line in this suggestion (someone correct me if I'm wrong) - but regular iceburg lettuce may not be the best type to feed the bunny.

Do you know what type of lettuce you're offering?

 

[gentle giants]

Yes, regular lettuce is not good, it can cause runny poos.

 

[Chocoteddy0]

any poo better than no poo! well, i think its regular lettuce.

 

[pinksalamander]

My rabbits love cauliflower. Whenever we buy a cauliflower for dinner, we'll buy the big ones with all the green outer stuff which usualy gets thrown away. Then my mum will pick out all teh cauliflower from the middle and we give the rabbits the outer layer. Its nice and thick but not too watery.

There are loads of things you can think of. You just need to think, 'is this really watery' (like an icebery lettuce or a cucumber) or, 'is this really sugary?' like apple and carrot and most fruit.

If its too watery, then its a no. If its too sugary, then only in very small amounts, maybe one a week.

The simple fact is that for the first few months you may just have to be feeding him yourself. I know its annoying when you need to be doing things, but think, if you don't hand feed him, will he survive?

 

[Chocoteddy0]

I think I'll try the cauliflower.

Poo is very very hard, is this normal? If not, how can I change the diet?

 

[Michaela]

Chocoteddy0 wrote:

any poo better than no poo! well, i think its regular lettuce.

Is it Romaine lettuce? This is very good, but Iceberg is a big no.

 

[Chocoteddy0]

yeah, i think its romaine. not too watery.

by the way, my rabbit sometimes appears to be chewing, even like 10 mins after mealtime. eh?

 

[pinksalamander]

Sometimes grinding their teeth means they are happy

And most poos are hard and small, like pellets. This is good. Although you want to see at least one squishy one every now and again!

 

[gentle giants]

Chocoteddy0 wrote:

yeah, i think its romaine. not too watery.

by the way, my rabbit sometimes appears to be chewing, even like 10 mins after mealtime. eh?

It could also be what is called bruxing, where they sit and rub their teeth together to wear down the surfaces. As long as it's not a loud grinding noise along with hunched/painful stance, you don't need to worry.

 

[Chocoteddy0]

Yeah, its not loud. I can't hear it, but I see it.

By the way, I think he may be a she! Well, its hard to tell but he/she doesn't have a, er, male reproductive organ. I read that to sex a rabbit you have to like press down a bit and the thing pops out. But nothing happened with mine. So must be girl? Or is it too young to tell? Confused!:?

Anyway, good to know that the chewing + pooing is good.

Also, my rabbit poops everywhere! Not just one corner. Because it has the run of my room all day long (yes, before you ask, I rabbit-proofed it) it just poos as it goes. And boy, can that thing RUN! So there are little poos dotted around everywhere. I have to go in my room with plastic bags tied round my feet and the thought of sleeping in my bed after I let it run and poo all over it that onetime disgusts me so I sleep in the spare bedroom. How can I litter train it?

Lastly, this weekend I'm going to get some proper hay and also visit the vet.

 

[gentle giants]

Ahh yes, the littertraining. Well, he (I'm gonna say "he" until we know, if you don't mind) will be easier to litter train once he is a little older, it's kinda like potty training a small child, they have to learn the control. Also, even once he is trained to pee in the box, he may still drop at least some pebbles on the floor. I just think of it this way: they are nice and dry and don't stain anything or really even have a smell. You can clean them up with a whisk broom and no one would ever know they were there, even on carpet.

 

[Baby Juliet]

My first rabbits lived a year on grass and schrubs before I got them any hay.

You need to be carefulfeeding vegetables to baby rabbits. A whole litter died on me after they atesome of the bell pepper I gave to their mother. At 1 month you may want to just limit to hay or grass and plain pellets. He'll eat if he's hungry. Don't worry unless he doesn't eat all day.

He may be just tasting you and not really biting to hurt you.

Rabbits poop like a dripping faulcet.I don't mind them pooping on my bed. It's when they pee on me in my sleep that gets me. When they do it right in the middle of the bed I have to get up and change the sheets. Only baby rabbits that don't hold much water gets to sleep with me these days.

 

[Chocoteddy0]

Thanks for the advice! I'm certainly less squeamish about the poos now. I really can't wait until he settles down and decides on a corner, though! Well, my rabbit seems to really like eating veggies, and veggies haven't altered the amount of poo much or anything. Likes munching lettuce, sometimes buk choy.