Too much sugar

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Kweasi

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Hi all,

I'm concerned that I might be feeding my rabbit too many sugary foods. Let me know what you think:

She's about 3 months old now and twice a day (dawn and dusk) she gets fed a small dish (~1cup)which consists primarily of green cabbage and romain lettuce. I also include a bit of spinach. Then 3-4 baby carrots, a tiny sliver of apple, a tiny bit of orange (with the peel), a sliver of banana (with the peel), a small peice of tomatoe (no seeds)and lastly about a tablespoon's worth of pellets.

I had read that variety was important to good health, but is this too much sugar? She's pretty slim (but not skinny), has high energy and her teeth are perfectly white. Yet, some posts of read make me wonder if this is too much sugar.

Thanks,

-Kwe
 
Iavoid any fruits at all in their salad, I prefer to feed them by hand with fruits an other treats. I feed the equivelant of about one baby carrot per day per rabbit. But I feed Romaine, parsley, cilantro, raspberry leaves, carrot tops, dandelions, grass, mint, etc. I stick to lots of green leafy vegetables.

Personally, I think you are feedign too many fruits, especially to a 3 month old baby.
 
MyBabyBunnies wrote:
Iavoid any fruits at all in their salad, I prefer to feed them by hand with fruits an other treats. I feed the equivelant of about one baby carrot per day per rabbit. But I feed Romaine, parsley, cilantro, raspberry leaves, carrot tops, dandelions, grass, mint, etc. I stick to lots of green leafy vegetables.

Personally, I think you are feedign too many fruits, especially to a 3 month old baby.
Click to expand...
:yeahthat....ditto.

Everyone has a different opinion about diets in general, however there are some standard guidlines that most of us follow.

No fruits or veggies for mine until they're about 6 month. Other membershave had no problem with introducing small amounts at an earlier age, though.

Mine get strictly unlimited timothy hay (or alfalfa), unlimited pellets, unlimited fresh water until they reach 6 months.

After 6 months we introduce romaine in small amounts.

Our mature buns get:
...1 cup ofromaine twice a week as a treat/variation.
They get timothy cubes twice a week for treat/variation.
They get some dried papaya once a week for treat/variation.
Daily they get 1/2 tspn of rolled oats as their daily morning treat/variation.
All are on limited pellets (1/2 oz per lb of normal weight)
All get unlimited timothy hay
...and of course....fresh water at all times

~Jim
 
Hi! It sounds ok, but you might be over feeding with the fruits.

Cabbage can be very gassy for rabbits, and is advised tobe fed occasionally to preventgas. Also, 2 cups for a baby and only a tablespoon of pellets in my opinion isn't a good diet for a rabbit that is still growing. Babies need the nutrients from the pellets because they are still growing and I recommend free feeding until 6-8 months old. A tablespoon is not enough fora growing rabbit.

Try only giving 1 or 2of the fruits (including the carrot) a night and rotate what kind of fruit you use. With the sugar, it can lead t o diarrhea, espiecially for such a young bun. Also,I would stop giving the orange with the peel on, because somesites that have the Ok Fruit/Vegetable list says not to include the peel (not sure why).

Do you feed your bun hay? I strongly advise giving all rabbits at any age unlimited supply to grass hay (Oat, timothy, blue grass, orchard ect.. not alfalfa) for roughage and to maintain a healthy digestion.

You're doing a great job with the variety, justcut back a little on the sweets :D
 
Careful with the cabbage - it's known to cause gas. I don't give mine cabbage at all. Also try not to feed spinach every day:

"Kale, mustard greens, and spinach contain high levels of oxalates (the salts of oxalic acid), which can accumulate in the system and cause toxicity over time. Rather than eliminating these veggies from your list (because they are highly nutritious and loved by most rabbits), limit your use of them to 1 or 2 meals per week."
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?articleid=1638

I don't give mine sugar at all unless it's as a treat once every couple days. They get a couple craisins every few days, some papya once a week and that's it. If you eliminate most of the sugar in her current diet, she probably won't miss it.


Edit: Also I agree with everyone else - such a young bun should be on unlimited pelletsuntil she is about 6 months old, and ALWAYS unlimited hay.
___________
Nadia



 
I think the small amounts that you are giving her are fine.

If a large balance of the diet is fruit and the rabbit is having soft droppings, suffering from chronic bouts of GI stasis,then I would be concerned.

I would also add roughage (hay) to her diet. MyBabyBunnies gave some good examples of a variety of dark, leafy greens you can also add to the diet. I'd cut down a little on the cabbage.

Pam
 
Spring wrote:
Do you feed your bun hay? I strongly advise giving all rabbits at any age unlimited supply to grass hay (Oat, timothy, blue grass, orchard ect.. not alfalfa) for roughage and to maintain a healthy digestion.

You're doing a great job with the variety, justcut back a little on the sweets :D
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A lot of members go with the general rule of giving alfalfa hay to buns up to 6 months and then switching over to timothy. I've given mine timothy right from the start, though.

Timothy hay is natures scrub brush for bunnie GI tracts.

I'm not exactly sure where I got this, but I kept it in my virtual "Bunnie Book":

Alfalfa Hay: Young rabbits up to 7 months should always have alfalfa hay available to them. Older, frail rabbits should also be fed alfalfa to keep their weight up.

Timothy Hay: Rabbits from 1 to 5 years should have unlimited access to timothy hay. Western Timothy grass hay has a high-fiber, low-protein and low-calcium content that helps keep a rabbit's gastrointestinal tract functioning properly, prevents obesity, maintains a healthy urinary system and improves overall health.

Oat, Wheat, Barley, Grain, Grass Hays: Should be fed in conjunction with timothy hay to adult rabbits. They can be introduced into your rabbit's diet at 7 months.

~Jim
 
I actually had a very rabbit savvy vet tell me not to feed a 6 week old bunny alfalfa hay at all because he didn't need it. :dunno:And I mean, she seemed to REALLY know her stuff although this is not the vet I took Zoey to.

I started feeding veggies at 6 weeks and my boys were getting veggies from the time they ate solids with no problem, so that really is a matter of opinion and what your rabbit can handle at that young age. But I do agree that you are not feeding nearly enough pellets for a growing bunny, I forgot to make that point last time.

Loading a rabbit up on sugary fruits can cause problems in the GI tract, so be careful.
 
Harper and Haley doesn't get any fruit, except maybe once every couple weeks. Even then, it's only a slice of banana or something.

Harper, my two old, get's a full bowl of vegetables everyday. This includes kale, mustard greens, collard greens, romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, yellow squash, zucchini, parsley, dandelion greens, broccoli, carrots, carrot tops, and green bell peppers.

As a snack during the day, he also gets full carrot tops, and full dandelion greens, not cut up.

He also gets unlimited timothy hay, timothy hay cubes to chew on and throw around, and timothy hay based pellets. To add variety, I also include small amounts of orchard grass, oat hay, and bermuda grass for him to chew on.

Haley, my 8 week old, gets unlimited alfalfa hay pellets, unlimited alfalfa hay, and alfalfa hay cubes to chew on and throw around. I haven't introduced her to veggies yet, I am waiting till she is a little older. She also getssmall amounts of orchard grass, oat hay, and bermuda grass to chew on.


 
Thanks for all the replies, I should have added that she gets unlimited timothy hay and water.

Thanks for all the input, I'm thinking I'll cut back the fruits (and carrot) to treats only. This might also make training easier. I also think I'll increase the romain and pellets (big increase on thepellets)andreduce everything else; only a little cabbage and only a little spinach every other day. Does anyone not think this is the ideal solution?

-kwe
 
MyBoyHarper wrote:
.......gets unlimited alfalfa hay pellets, ......
Click to expand...

Good one MBH!! :thumbup

That's something we all seemed to forget to mention until you did.

~Jim
 
Wow, I had read a couple rabbit books before getting the little darling, they seemed to imply that getting a rabbit off the pellets as soon as possible is important. What I'm hearing here seems to be quite the opposite....

At what age should I cut out the pellets?

-Kwe
 
Are you in Europe? That is the general thought on feeding rabbit there -- veggies and no pellets. Here it's more pellets and no veggies but most of us go hybrid diets with a mixture of both.

Pellets should never be cut out. They should have unlimited until 7 months of age. For anything under 4 lbs is 1/8 cup a day and for anything between 4-8 is 1/4 cup I believe although some rabbits require more or less depending on the individual.
 
I've heard that before about the US, all pellets, no veggies. I've even read books that don't even suggest giving a rabbit hay. Just pellets and fresh water. Hmmm...
 
I've always read when oranges are listed on the safe foods for rabbits it says (without peel). So, I would just be safe and take the peel off. Here's some of the references.

Dangerous, contain toxins: do not feed
  • Rhubarb leaves
  • Raw lima, kidney or soy beans
  • Onions [suP]2[/suP]
  • Citrus peels
http://www.carrotcafe.com/f/veggies.html

"Oranges (not the peel)"

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/safefoods.htm

Orange (peeled)

http://members.lycos.co.uk/diamondstarranch/feedingrabbit.html

Every site that I've gone to that lists oranges says not to feed the peel, so that's enough proof for me that would make me not give them it.
 
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