HELP!

[horselvrkc]

I was just reading in a rabbit book, that you should NEVER EVER EVER give your rabbit under 6 months of age any greens such as carrots, it said that could kill them. I HAVE BEEN GIVING RILEY A 2-4 INCH CARROT PIECE EVERYDAY! Is he going to die from the drastic change in diet? I mean, he likes it?! thanks for your help!

 

[tundrakatiebean]

First off as long as he is pooping alright and he isn't acting differently he should be ok. Secondly that is a lot of carrot, carrots have a lot of sugar and should only be given as treats. That's like a person eating half a cake a day.

How old is Riley? I started feeding my bunny greens (lettuce, parsley, basil ect) when he first came home (he was about 5 months old at the time) and it didn't seem to do him any harm.

 

[horselvrkc]

Well, his poops are fine and he is only 3 months old.... and WOW thats A LOT of cake! He is acting fine, and I should stop feeding him those carrots. Thanks for your help though!

 

[we3pnuts]

I started greens when i first brought our bun home (3 months old). I started with carrot tops and romaine lettuce. I did that for about 3 weeks before I introduced anything else. Now I give her 1-2 inch piece of carrot 1-2 times a week and maybe a tiny piece (about a table spoon) of apple or orange once a week. Starting small and slow is the best way to go to make sure their tummies can handle it.

Editto add:Greens are the best for bunnies. Fruit and veggies are for treats.

Like the other poster said, as long as your bun is still using the bathroom ordoesn't seem lethargic it's fine, you won't kill it. Just cut back what you give.

 

[tundrakatiebean]

we3pnuts wrote:

Starting small and slow is the best way to go to make sure their tummies can handle it.

:yeahthat:That is true with any kind of food, make sure any change is gradual!

we3pnuts you're so smart

 

[HoneyPot]

Hey there - your bun will be ok. No more carrotd though! Have you read the list of safe bunny vegetables?

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=16340&forum_id=48

If you're going to try him with a bit of vegetables, give him a tiny bit a day and watch to make sure he is pooping ok adn it's not soft and mushy.

Eventually when he is old enough (over 6-7 months) you can start cutting back on his pellets and giving him about 1-2 cups fo vegetables a day or so.



Nadia

 

[riley_rulz]

Thanks everyone!!! Ill tell ya, this site has helped me SO much, you all are so smart!!:biggrin2:

 

[MsBinky]

OY!

Who wrote that book?! LOL. I worry about other things you might read in there. Hehehe.

The reason the book said that is because, especially young bunnies, have a very sensitive tummy. All that sugar is harsh for the bunny's system. It doesn't help that rabbits are feeling more stressed because they find themselves in new surroundings, especially young babies who have just left their mom. What then happens is that oftentimes the bunny can have diarrhea. Diarrhea in rabbits is more serious because they are so sensitive and can get dehydrated quickly.

That is why proper nutrition is important for our buns. You'll find a lot of conflicting information from various sources. However, look at the members here and see how many rabbits they have and the years of experience they have with them. My vet knows less than these members. Lol. What I love about the forum is getting different opinions from different people. Sometimes one person will think one way, and then a member will come and say yes, I understand why you say it, buuuuuut you didn't think of this...

It's really fun to watch people going through their first experiences with rabbits :biggrin2:

 

[riley_rulz]

Lol yea there were some other things that were not true in that book. It said bunnies are extremely easy to care for... WRONG!

 

[horselvrkc]

whoops sorry i wrote that above... i was on my buns screen name!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Bo and Clover get a half of a coin of banana most mornings for breakfast and they do ok..... this is about a 1/4 inch thick coin. THat's actually quite a bit of a treat when it's everyday, but it seems to keep them happy and they don't have any issues with their poos when they get the banana.


We don't use carrot a lot since they aren't fond of them. Green Greens has been questioned by many. Wild bunnies get green grass at a very young age, but that's wild bunnies.

I waited until Bo was about 6 mos before I gave him a nibble of cilantro. For a long time they got salads each day but it seemed to give them wet poos. Now, they get a nibble here and there. They eat their hay better too.

 

[Michaela]

I've started all my bunnies on veggies early on, Maddie about 3 months, maybe younger, and Pebble and Ebony always had them since they nibbled at Berri's (their mama). The domestic rabbit is the seem species at the wild European rabbit, which we have here, and they are eatinggreen plantsfrom babies.

All of my rabbits are perfectly healthy and I have never had even a hint ofa GI issue with any of them. My rabbits all enjoy their veggies very much, and are all gobbled up before they even look at their pellets.

Some people like to wait until six months though, and think that's the best thing to do, I don't agree though. But you have to keep in mind that some rabbits will have more sensitive stomachs than others, so be careful.

You must start off with little bits, parsley is good, and introduce them gradually. Carrots are a treat, and must be fed like that. My girls get some carrot a few days a week, and they love it.

 

[horselvrkc]

So does greens count as grass? cause i took riley outside for the past 2 days, he loved eating the grass. Is that good for him? Also (this is off subject) when i was out with him i got probably 8 mosquito bites from sittingf on the grass. Could riley get that too?

This is off subject too, but id like to knoww: Since i got him, each time he pooped he pooped like, 20 poops!! is that normal? And since he is almost completely litter trained (I am SO happy for him) i just saw him go out of his litter box and there was 1 poop! which one is normal? Thanks!!

-Kat

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

The more poop the better, as long as there is lots of poop you can be assured he is healthy. That's not to say that only one poop is a bad thing either, I have rabbits who do that all the time. You need to look at the total for a couple hours, not for one bathroom run.

Grass is fine, and I'd say it does count as greens because it's fresh. I'm not really sure how greatordinary grassis for them (and of course nutritional values will vary by type of grass) but it's definitely not bad for them. One thing I should emphasize is that under no circumstances should rabbits eat grass that has been sprayed for weeds or fertilised.

I find that young babies (over about 7 weeks old in my experience) tend to be very clean about litter habits, it's once they reach the teen stage that they get messy. And his litter habits may never return to 100% as an adult, a lot of adult rabbits don't use their litter boxes 100% of the time to poop in, but that's easy enough to clean up. I think most of us consider them litter trained if they pee in the box most of the timeand poop in it some of the time.