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Tonyshuman Wrote: talks about offering veggies


Posted: 25 May 2009 01:50 pm

Yup, that's right. Since she's probably over a year old, the best thing to give her is a pellet that has timothy hay as the first ingredient. Some good ones are Oxbow Bunny Basics T, one by Sweet Meadow Farms, and Zupreem's timothy pellets. Also good is Kaytee's Timothy Complete. These are all not very cheap, and can be hard to find. I personally love Oxbow, but it is hard to find and expensive.

If you're close to feed stores there are some good cheap pellets. These will mostly be alfalfa-based, which is better for younger bunnies, but if you feed them in smaller amounts with lots of timothy hay, they're fine. At the shelter we give adult buns Purina Hi-Fiber Lab Diet, which I think is a really good pellet, although not all feed stores carry it as it is primarily for lab rabbits as the name implies. Another pretty good one is Purina Rabbit Chow (green bag). It's a bit more for younger bunnies, but it can be good for picky eaters or bunnies who need to put on weight.

Seeds and corn and stuff shouldn't be in a good rabbit pellet. They can't digest these things very well, and they could be leading to the excess cecals you're seeing and the mushy poos. A better pellet (I think a 1-2week switch would be ok since she obviously hasn't been on the current pellets for a long time, since you just got her) and lots of Timothy hay will help a lot. You might also offer her fresh veggies since I assume she was eating mostly grass and dandelion leaves when she was outside.
 
When I talk about giving fresh hay. I mean fresh hay for the day- UNLIMITED! Sorry I didn't make that clear. Thanks.
 
Sorry, I hadn't seen a pic of her before and assumed she was older, since few bunnies get abandoned to the wild at that age. Looking at her, she's probably no more than 8 months old, so it's best for her to be eating mostly pellets. She should probably have 1/4c of pellets at this point, and only offer a few veggies--maybe 1/2c a day or less.

Edit: our bunny Frida was released into the wild and she's more than 3 years old we think. Most of the guys I see at the shelter that came in as strays are older as well.

Younger bunnies should get a lot of alfalfa pellets, lots of hay, and limited veggies introduced one at a time. I figured she was older, and that she had been eating grass and dandelions only when she was out in the wild--you don't want to change food types too quickly or you can cause tummy upset. I assumed that the not pooping was from switching to an unfamiliar food too quickly.
 
Thanks so much.
I have been looking back at everyone's posts in the last few days.

The vet estimated 6-8/9 months old.
I give her 1/4 cup alfalfa based pellets, alfalfa hay, and about a 1/2 inch chunk of carrot everyday.
Carrots are like the only veggie she likes so far.

I haven't been splitting up the food, because all of my other rabbits would eat a little every once in a while.

But with Stretch, I guess she thinks she has to eat it all at once.
She might also just be really hungry from the days she stayed outside with very limited food.
 
We actually count carrots as treats, not veggies, since they have a high sugar content. You're not giving too much--that amount is just fine. You might give her unlimited food for a little while since she's so young and perhaps malnourished from being outside. As long as she doesn't leave cecal pellets uneaten, she can have more pellets at her age.
 
Wait?
(Don't think me a noob,) but are the cecal pellets the soft ones?
I was taught that the soft ones are eaten, and the hard ones are the final product, and should not be eaten.
 
Yes, cecal pellets are soft, smelly, and look like a cluster of grapes. They should be eaten. The spherical hard ones should not be eaten, but will not cause harm if they are occasionally eaten.
 
Now it seems that she's getting smaller.
She seems to be skinner each day.
She eats healthily and it active and energetic, but to me her tummy seems smaller.

This could just be my imagination, but is there anyway to tell if she is getting enough food?
 
I think for now she should have unlimited pellets, as much as she will eat. Intestinal parasites will also cause a bunny to lose weight, so if her poos still seem strange after a few days, or smell funny, take her to the vet (with some poo samples) to check for parasites.
 
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