I want to go to a pellet-free diet for a couple of rabbits

[TinysMom]

As many of you know - we've lost several rabbits lately - some say it could be a virus - others think it could be the food. I suppose it could be stasis but we check to see who has leftovers when we feed every night (and each rabbit gets a certain amount of food).

A couple of my rabbits are becoming...its hard to explain. They don't want the pellets - but they will eat carrots or banana or lettuce. Harry - aka StudMuffin is one of them.

I want to switch these rabbits to as much of a pellet-free diet as possible - but I am not sure how quickly I can or can not switch them over. I also need an idea of how much they're going to need in veggies and/or hay on a regular basis.

Harry's been very down lately and he didn't even want to look at his food tonight. I threw in some baby carrots and some chopped iceburg lettuce (it was all I had) and he is eating up a storm. He also loves bananas and I'm going to try to order him some gourmet hay since he's not fond of much hay.

Harry is about 4 pounds I think - as is Billy Sunny. These two boys are going to be going to a "pellet free" diet as much as possible I think - along with maybe Harley - I'm not sure about him.

So - how much vegies can they get per night as I switch them over and how long should it take me to switch them to a mainly hay/veggie diet?

All of the boys are around 4 pounds now that I think about it.

(I'm hoping I can afford the veggies for these guys - I'll be at the base commissary twice a week from now on for work and can pick up stuff there and I may ask them if they can hold me some of the carrot tops, etc.)

 

[Maureen Las]

I really don't feel that I'm the person to be answering this as you have had such a serious problem that I am afraid of not giving the best advice,

I am hoping that Angela can see this and possibly respond as she has such a broad knowledge of feeding properly

If you had 1 rabbit that had been on pellets it would be a little easier.
I guess that it bothers me because I don't know if it was the pellets or not that caused the problem
usually if a rabbit refuses pellets they are either going into stasis or possibly don't like the pellets (for ex. if a person fed timothy pellets to a rabbit that was used to alfalfa pellets ) the rabbit might refuse them. If my rabbits refuse pellets it is because something is wrong (usually gas) but there is always something wrong.
if the pellets were "spoiled" in some way I think a rabbit would refuse them but I believe that you have changed brands and they are still refusing.
I am not sure but I think your rabbits diet is mainly a pellet diet ? Am I right ?

In that case I think the switch over would have to be a little slower because your rabbits are not used to high fiber at all.
You need a good quality hay or even better a combination of different types of hay (timothy grass, orchard, oat, brome etc. etc) Randy says that the different types wear the teeth down in different places ; in other words the rabbit chews differently with different types which wears the teeth down better. I don't know what kind of hay you can get but good quality grass hay for horses is fine as long as it is not moldy, fresh and doesn't have alfalfa or too much clover in it. If you could get that it doesn't cost much. I find that the less pellets I feed the more hay they eat.
I have all of my rabbits on a diet as they were all getting fat and I cut their pellets down to 1/8th cup per day . Now that is really not much. Since I have done that I realize that I can barely keep the hay in their areas before they need more; they are going through a lot of hay.
In terms of veggies they do cost a lot (at least for me) and they do have to be fresh. the ones that are the best would be veggies without a lot of sugar( carrots is high in sugar)
good ones would be romaine, italian parsley, cilantro, kale , other lettuces, spinachtops, radish tops etc. ,lots of herbs like basil, mint, cilantro dill
I have a hard time getting a lot of different types because I am wasting the veggie and giving the rabbit the leaves LOL

I know Pipp has arranged to let the produce manager let her go through what the store discard. I asked at one store but was told I could only take cabbage leaves.
Some epeople grow their own but I could never grow enough

I will give you some links on food but before you do anything drastic read a few more respones.

What you have gone through is a total and absolute nightmare and I understand why you want to cut out pellets.

At some point, however, I think rabbits need a small amount of pellets for minerals and vitamin.
here's the links

I wish I could help more Peg

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12046&forum_id=17

 

[Cyara]

Hi there,

I want to grow all my own rabbit food and so found this interesting. I posted the link on another thread about asparagus but thought maybe the vege list would be helpful to you

Found here....http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080116050906AA0I8xj

Vegetables:
Artichoke leaves and Jerrusalem leaves, stems and tubers, Asparagus, Baby Sweetcorns and full size ones, Beetroot, Broccoli (and its leaves, including purple sprouting varieties), Brussel Sprouts (leaves and sprouts), Cabbage (can sometimes cause digestive upsets), Carrots (and carrot tops), Cauliflower (and the leaves), Celeriac, Celery (and its leaves), Chicory (in small amounts as this is a diretic), Courgette ( also leaves and flowers), Cucumber ( also leaves and flowers), Curly Kale (Excerlent for winter use), Fennel, Green beans (including leaves and stems), Kohl rabi, Parsnip, Peas (including the leaves and pods), Peppers (red, green and yellow), Pumpkin ( also leaves and flowers), Radish Tops, Rocket, Romaine (and all other lettuce as this is a diretic), Spinach (only occasional), Spring Greens, Squash (e.g. Butternut, leaves and flowers), Swede (Excerlent for winter use), Turnip (only occasional), Watercress.
Herbs (often powerful tastes so may take some getting used to): Basil, Coriander, Dill, Mint (peppermint), Parsley, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme.
Fruits (should be fed in moderation, due to sugar content): all types of fresh fruit including skin Apple, Apricot, Banana (high in potassium),Blackberries (and leaves – excellent astringent properties), Blueberries,Cherries, Grapes, Kiwi Fruit, Melon, Mango, Nectarines, Orange, Papaya, Peach, Pear, Pineapple, Plums, Raspberries, Strawberries, Raspberries (and leaves – excellent astringent properties), Tomatoes (not the leaves)
Wild Garden Herbs/Weeds/Flowers: Borage, Calendula, Camomile, Chickweed ( in small amounts as this is a diretic), Clover (leaves and flowers), Coltsfoot, Comfrey, Dandelion (in small amounts as this is a diretic), Goosegrass (cleavers) but may stick to coat!, Lavender, Mallow, Nettle (the type with the white flowers), Nasturtium (leaves and flowers), Shepherd's purse, Sow Thistle, Plantain, Yarrow.
Extra vitamins and salt licks are not required. Any changes in diet must be made slowly (green stuffs and prepared feeds) over a period of a couple of weeks, to avoid digestive upsets. Fresh water must be available at all times and renewed daily.
To enable your rabbit to extract as much protein, vitamins and minerals from their low quality food, they digest their food twice, these are soft, kidney shaped droppings which are covered in a small amount of mucous. These droppings are very different from the dry round droppings that you will usually see your rabbit passing. Rabbits are herbivorous and wild rabbits will spend most of their lives grazing on grass, foliage, flowers and roots

Chelle

 

[Cyara]

I wonder if just lawn grass like kikuyu can be used instead of hay?

 

[pamnock]

angieluv wrote:

At some point, however, I think rabbits need a small amount of pellets for minerals and vitamin.
here's the links

A little alfalfa hay is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals for rabbits.

Pam

 

[hartleybun]

TinysMom wrote:

A couple of my rabbits are becoming...its hard to explain. They don't want the pellets - but they will eat carrots or banana or lettuce. Harry - aka StudMuffin is one of them.

this is the part of your post that i have been thru myself. 2 years ago with roxy and her then buck hartley. i had fed the same pellets but noticed that more andmore were been left. hay, veggies and a buns own lawn were available and a checkup by very-bunny vet showed that they were fine - no problems at all. i went thru every brand i could find but not a nibble - i was counting the pellets each feed:rollseyes in the end they were kicking them out of the hutch in temper. another bunny owner recommended science selective - higher fibre %. every pellet went. out of interest i mixed the new with the old - there's a difference in length. the selective were eaten. tried the old brand again- everyone left.

two years on it's still the same reaction if i put anything other than the selective in the dish.

other bun owners i have spoken to think im odd! their buns seem to eat any thing:rollseyes im the one on the guilt trip worried about my buns balanced diet

 

[pamnock]

hartleybun wrote:

other bun owners i have spoken to think im odd! their buns seem to eat any thing:rollseyes im the one on the guilt trip worried about my buns balanced diet

A variety of foods helps to ensure a balanced diet.

Pam

 

[hartleybun]

if they had their way they would exist on carrots - all time favourite and first to be eaten from any bunny buffet. any shop brought rabbit treats are ignored and kicked out the hutch. cant make them understand that variety is the spice of life

 

[pamnock]

If I had my way. . . I'd exist on jelly beans!



Pam

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Hi Peg, as you may know, Hazel has been eating almost exclusively greens and vegetables for most of her life.
She just wasn't interested in pellets (except the banana flovored alfalfa pellets she got as a baby and youngster, LOL).
She gets 2 fairly full baskets of greens every day, morning and evening. Sometimes a little handfull more mid-day.

We give her a variety of store-bought greens, mixed with whatever we have growing in the yard at the time.
Her "staple" veggies are dandelion leaves, 2 kinds of kale, italian parsley, usually 2-3 kinds of lettuce (romaine, redleaf, greenleaf), dill, carrot greens. Then a variety of others is added, different ones each week: endive, radicchio, chicory (=Belgian endive), cilantro, ornamental kale, etc.

In the growing season we add what we have in the garden, so we have a lot less store bought then. I usualy try to grow parsley, cilantro, a lettuce mix, some kale, salad burnet, the different herbs (oregano, marjoram, taragon, rosemary, sage, thyme, chervil), mints, pineapple sage, Japanese edible chrysanthemum, strawberry leaves. My husband grows lots of different kinds of Basil.
Plus "weeds" and wild greens, and flowers: white clover, dandelions, "cheese weed", wild mustard, roses, nasturtium, violets, pansy, whatever we can find or have growing at the time.
We also used to get lots of raddish greens, through the biology department at the Univ. where my husband works.

Oh and she gets some carrot of course too, and fruit as treats.

Hazel is lucky we live in California, produce seems to be a lot cheaper here than elsewhere, and we can grow things nearly year round, so she can get such a huge variety.

 

[luvthempigs]

Some of my buns are better hay eaters than others but I try to keep timothy hay available to them at all times.

I noticed that some will eat their hay from a hay rack/feeder while others seem to prefer to eat it from the floor or a hay box (litterbox)

Since I have eight buns I buy my hay in bales (normally sold for horses) it's much cheaper than store bought and that way I don't mind if it gets wasted either.

 

[TinysMom]

This morning I took Harry in about a cup of Romaine lettuce and 2 baby carrots that were pretty small. The look on his face when he saw them - was worth the extra effort to give him greens....he was SO happy - he almost binkied.

I measured his pellets from last night and he ate about 1/4 of them too...so that made me pretty happy. He also ate some hay - but not as much as I'd like.

Still yet - it was so good to see him so happy.

Once I get started working at the commissary and am in there twice a week - I'm going to see if I can get some of the throw-away stuff and use it for Harry and a handful of others.

I wish it was possible to feed everyone a mainly-veggie diet - but I already spend a ton of money on rabbit food anyway - along w/ hay.