Hey everyone!

[john.p]

Hey everyone,

My wife and I just adopted a bunny (a friend of ours had a bunny that had a litter of bunnies), and I was wondering what brands of pellets you would recommend to feed it?
It is now about 5 weeks old. We think it is an English Spot mix.

I really don't want to feed it the wrong diet.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MikeScone]

john.p wrote:

I was wondering what brands of pellets you would recommend to feed it?

Welcome to RO!

I'd start with whatever brand he or she is used to. Five weeks is kind of young to be away from Mom Rabbit, so I wouldn't introduce any changes right away.

Once the bunny's a bit older, you'll want an alfalfa-based pellet for the first six months to a year at most, then switch gradually over to timothy-based pellets, if the bunny will eat them. The Oxbow pellets have good reviews - Bunny Basics Young for the first year, Bunny Basics Adult later on.

That said, I fed Scone Agway's Big Red Rabbit Choice all of his life, and Natasha gets that now, too. Basically, once the rabbit is old enough to eat hay and vegetables, the pellets are more of a vitamin and nutrient insurance than the primary feed. Avoid the pet shop pellets with "treats" in it.

A rabbit's main food is hay. I'd start making sure the bunny has plenty of alfalfa hay right now. Alfalfa is a legume, and it's too high in protein and calcium for older bunnies. Switch over to timothy and other grass hays (orchard grass, bermuda grass, oat hay, etc.) once the rabbit is mature.

Vegetables can be phased in later on - various opinions differ, but at least by six months the rabbit should be eating leafy green vegetables. Start with one, say Romaine lettuce or kale, and add others slowly for variety.

Hope that's of some help.

 

[john.p]

Thanks for the welcome and advice, Mike!

When should I start phasing in vegetables? I tried giving him some lettuce the other day, and he loved it, but he had loose stool the next day.

Should I just keep trying every week or so?

Also, when does the mother stop producing milk? Hamilton is still in the same cage as the mother, and I was curious to see if the mother still produced milk for him.

Thanks for the information, I was always under the impression that a rabbit's main diet should be pellets and hay, with some veggies on the side.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Mothers usually wean the kits somewhere between 4 to 6 weeks. As to vegetables, we were told to phase them in slowly at 4 months. Lettuce may not be the best starter--too much moisture and you should use the green leafy kind like romaine, not iceberg. Alfalfa is good till they hit full growth at six months--we transitioned ours to timothy hay and pellets at that time. Welcome to the forum. Check out the library here for more info and don't be afraid to ask.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I would like to welcome you to Rabbits Online, my name is Dave and I am a moderator on the forum. So if I can be of any help please let me know. This is a terrific website for rabbits and their slaves, not only is it very active but also friendly. I am so glad you’re here and I know you will enjoy it.

Many bunnies’ recommend their slaves to this site so we may learn of others methods to keeping our furry masters happy.

If you everhave a sick bunny, please post in The Infirmary and include your rabbit's age, breed and health history as well diet and output details leading up to the problem.

Here are somelinks I thought you might find interesting:

*For reference the Library section

*To brag or tell everyone about the antics of your bunny or just to talk about your day here is where to start a Bunny Blog, you can also look back at it later and remember when you had a life before your bunny.

*Now all the bunny’s like talk to each other when we mere slaves aren’t around in the Bunny Chat is the spot to be.

*The House Rabbit Society has a lot of good information on what veggies are safe for bunny’s, etc.

*Here is a link to learn what your furry master is trying to say to you How to Understand Your Bunny's Language

*Rabbits Online also has regional forums , this a good way to find a vet in your area that has experience with rabbits and to find out from other nearby of good sources of rabbit supplies.

The Let Your Hare Down section is for anything non-bunny related.

Here is a link tothat will help you and your bunny to connect, How to Bond with Your Bunny.

Now every forum has rules and ours can be found with this link Rabbits Online Forum Rules. This gives guidelines on what is acceptable, what is not and how we hope everyone will treat each other.

Everyone on this forum loves to see pictures of each other’s bunnies. So if you would like to post a picture this link will help you do that, Upload Photo's to Photo Gallery. Then in the post, you click on the "G" in the tool bar to insert your photo. Many people also use Photobucket. You just copy the img file and paste it into the post.

Don’t hesitate to ask questions and I am glad you have joined rabbits online; I look forward to seeing you around.

 

[john.p]

Thanks Dave!

It's amazing how fast these little bunnies grow (and go)!

I've been taking my time, and taking all the advice that I can get. I'm currently trying to train him to use the litter box correctly, and it's proving to be a challenge!