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BinkyBunny

BinkyBunny

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Charlie has really taken to his greens and he tolerates them well. No soft stools or any change in behavior. Is it ok for him to have MORE than 1 cup of greens a day if he would like? I know some people who do the pellet free diet give something like 6 cups, but he does receive pellets. Is there any harm in increasing the greens as he likes. Speak as if cost is not prohibitive please.
 
How does someone decide how much to feed? Why do many recommend 1 cup? I ahve read up on greens and introducing and this question doesn't seem to be adequately answered.
 
Its like one cup per 6 lbs of rabbit or something like that.

I think that giving him more greens is fine. It won't hurt him, just make sure that his poops are okay. You just have to make sure that he is eating enough hay too. Its all about balance.
 
I offer about 1 cup in the morning and one cup at night. As long as it's a good variety and he's otherwise healthy, it shouldn't be a problem.
 
Opinions vary on quantities. Binkybunny.com site says 2 cups per 6 lbs of bunny and then refers to HOuse Rabbit Society. HRS says 1 packed cup of greens per 2 lbs. So it's just a guestimate as to what is best.
My prior buns used to only get greens a couple times per week. But my bunny care has changed as I've learned more and as the bunny world's knowledge has grown too.
 
according to the HRS guidelines, a rabbit on a non-pellet-free diet should get a *minimum* of 1 cup (packed) leafy green veggies per 2 lbs body weight per day. there's no harm in giving more than that if he's tolerating them well, as long as he's still eating a good amount of hay (a minimum of a pile of hay the same volume as his own body per day, preferably more). my rabbits are in the 3-4 lb range and I probably give 5-6c total per day (for both rabbits to share).
 
Thanks guys! All this feedback is fantastic, quick, and so helpful :) I'm glad I decided to find other Lagomorph lovers this time around. I worry a lot less because I can get others opinions :)
As far as greens that are good staple greens what do you like? I know many feed cilantro often. What else do you like to feed often? I have a big list of veggies you can/should feed frequently but I am curious what everyone's personal practice is :) thanks!
 
I feed a lot of romaine, red/green leaf lettuce and also basil from my garden. I'm growing more, but my herb garden is still young. I've still been able to feed basil from the garden even though it's now January.

I'm hoping to increase enough of my garden that I won't have to purchase from the store.
 
I usually buy either romaine or green or red leaf lettuce every week and then switch around between cilantro, parsley, spring mix, and some others. I also grow parsley, basil and oregano in my backyard.
 
I don't give a lot of variety, as Nala is absurdly picky. I feed kale probably more often than I should, just because it's the one thing I can always get her to eat. they get maybe 1/3 to 1/2 a bundle of kale a day most days, a full bunch of cilantro and a couple cups of lettuce (romaine, green leaf or red leaf).

I *used* to have two basil plants, mint, orange mint, fennel, sage and raddicio growing in a bunny garden, but **** caterpillars killed all but the sage and now the sage seems to be dying for no apparent reason :(. I've recently gotten dill, a fancy kind of basil that has purple on it, mint and some salad greens mix plant that I'm trying to grow despite the season... they're all very new, though.
 
does anyone's rabbit eat parsley? Mine liked silantro (recently introduced) but ignoring parsley. Does anyone feed bell peppers? I offered a small piece but they didn't touch it. And they still don't eat bananas (which is not a big deal and even good, but I am surprised)
 
All mine love parsley and also basil (flowers as well), I sometimes buy the plants from the local supermarket and put it down for them as they are really cheap and I just love watching them pulling it off and munching. They also really like cilantro and I bought some sage and tarragon a couple of weeks ago and they loved that as well.

I also feed red and green chard, rocket, watercress, carrot tops, endives, dandelion and apple twigs with the leaves. There are some great sites which list everything and when I´m out and see something they might like, I check first before buying. I used to give them cauliflower leaves but have cut back on them as I think it´s giving one of them gas.

I have tried bell peppers but not really liking them and banana...well the first time they looked and smelt it and turned away and now they just can´t get enough although I feed it very sparingly about two or three times a week depending how good they are.

Sorry if this is massive but photobucket won´t cooperate so I can make it smaller so here it is. Three boys nomming happily:

Basilforallsmaller-1.jpg
 
When people say to limit the kale or mustard greens or other calcium high greens how much limiting are we talking about? The way they stress it some places you'd think you feed your rabbit some spinach and its going to immediately have some sludge!
 
They usually suggest you only feed those kind of greens a couple of times a week in moderation, parsley is also in that group. as with any greens, introduce them gradually to see how they react. I haven´t had problems with runny poops with any of them.
 
The most frequent veggies I buy are cilantro and romaine. I also rotate between turnup, mustard, and collard greens just depentind on what looks good at the store. When I got their veggies today I bought 3 bunches of cilantro (HUGE bunches), 1 bunch of turnip greens and 1 thing of romaine. I also got a little mint to see if they would like it. For treats this week they are getting grapes and banana.
 
Is there a reason people say no lettuce for rabbits? I see many on here give their rabbits lettuce! Maybe they just mean no iceberg?
 
I believe that is mostly the case. As with us, the darker green the veggie the better the contents are. I know that for reptiles (bearded dragons, iguanas..) iceburg has addictive tendencies with VERY little nutritional value. It's basically all water.

I have read that Romaine is alright, i believe in moderation though? I haven't really memorized the good vs bad veggies, I rely on a picture I and some other members have on our phones or printed out that details good vs bad and frequency
 
Its the iceburg you want to stay away from. Other lettuces are fine. Like, romaine, green and red leaf, butter, frisee, and many of the 'artisian' lettuces. The darker the green, the more vitamins it has in it.
Kale, spinach and the other high calcium greens can be fed like 3 times a week to adult rabbits. Since Charlie is still young and not fully grown(under 6 months) he can handle the calcium better than an adult. Just because you feed the buns kale and high calcium things more than 'recommended' doesn't mean that they'll immediately get sludge. Bladder sludge doesn't always happen because of food, sometimes it happens to breeds that are predisposed to it. Sometimes it just depends on the bunny.
You want to watch out for things that are high in oxalic acid. They happen to go hand in hand with the things that are high in calcium too.
I limited the high calcium/OA stuff to every other day and mixed into the rest of the salad so it wasn't just that one thing.

The list that I've compiled, the things that are high in oxalic acid are:
parsley, spinach, mustard greens, beet greens, swiss chard, kale, raddish tops, sprouts(1-6 days after sprouting, that have a high level)
 
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