Lettuce fed to 4 weeks old babies?

[Marietta]

Hi!

This morning I went to the pet store to buy hay for Vitto. The pet store sells animals, among which rabbits (I've mentioned in another thread that in Greece we don't have rescues and shelters, whoever wants a rabbit has no choice but buying from a pet store. The majority of the rabbits sold are not even bred here, they're mostly imported from Belgium and the Netherlands). I saw in a cage 8 Netherland dwarf babies of about 4 weeks of age eating 3 lettuce leafs. When I called the manager and mentioned that I'd read multiple times that lettuce can cause diarrhea -even fatal- to babies, he insisted that these were the instructions from their breeder in Holland, who said that, to the contrary, lettuce is beneficial to their intestines, because it gives them the moisture lacking from the hay and pellets. I asked him if he had any diarrhea problems with the babies and he said "I had before feeding lettuce, now I don't".

This is the first time I hear of such a thing...Does anybody know if it's safe to feed lettuce to babies?

Marietta

 

[pamnock]

Feeding lettuce to young kitsis generally not a problem if those greens were also part of the dams daily ration.

Here in the states, extruded dry pellets are the most common ration and most breeders rarely feed lettuce, so greens can be fatal in young kits. For this reason, feeding greens (especiallyiceberg lettuce)to youngs kits is generally discouraged. Any diet changes, such as adding greens to the daily ration, should be done in moderation. I have seen young kits on pellet rationsdie from enterotoxemiaafter gorging themselves on greens which they were not accustomed to.

When I was little, my mother worked at a restaurant and brought home heads of iceberg lettuce daily, which we fed to our rabbits (in addition to grains, vegetables and grass). The rabbits were used to this diet, so didn't suffer any ill effects fromlarge amounts of lettuce.



So, to answer your question "Does anybody know if it's safe to feed lettuce to babies?" . . . Yes and No



Pam

 

[Marietta]

Thank you very much, Pam, for a very knowledgable and accurate answer (as always!!!).

So, generally speaking, it depends on how and what is the baby accustomed to eat, i.e. pretty much as with adult rabbits, with the extra care of the age factor.

Marietta