What to feed my buns

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spankypod

spankypod

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i recently acquired 2 holland lops. they are about 3 months old. they were fed "oxbow bunny basics T" and timothy hay before i adopted them.

i was recently told my a guy who shows rabbits not to ever give them greens, except after 6 months, and then only a sprig of parsley and occasional piece of pineapple. he said he has seen rabbits die from diarrhea from eating fresh greens.

i've read online about timothy v. alfalfa, with some sites saying one or the other is better for either pellets or hay. i've also read just about everywhere that rabbits should be fed fresh greens.

SO MY QUESTIONS!!

1. is the brand of food i'm feeding them good? (oxboy bunny basics T)
2. is the kind of hay good in conjunction with that food? (timothy hay)
3. should i start giving them fresh greens when they reach 6 months??

thanks!
 
1. I'm not sure (as I don't feed Oxbow) but many members here feed their bunnies it. ;)
2. Timothy hay is the best for rabbits ;)
3. You can start giving them greens when they are 6 months, yes. When you first introduce them do it slowly, because they can get diarrhea, but after a while their systems will adjust to it. You can give them fresh greens, daily if you like, after they're used to it.

Alfalfa has a lot of (sometype of mineral? can't think of it now) that isn't too good for rabbits if fed all the time (unless they're outdoor bunnies, it's an exception; at least that's what i've heard). My bunnies are outdoors in a shed, and I feed them unlimited Timothy/Grass hay and ocassionaly some alfalfa, maybe once or twice a month, as a little snack. And they get a small handful, instead of unlimited.

Emily
 
What they are on is good. Oxbow bb/t is considered to be a good quality food. If you have trouble getting it, or the cost is too much, there other other good brands. As they are young, you could give them an alfalfa based pellet, Oxbow 15/23 is their alfalfa pellet. They should be on a timothy pellet once they are about 6 months old. I don't think that having a timothy pellet at their age will do any harm. For now, you can give an many pellets as they can eat, but when they get older, limit the amount to about 1/4 cup per 5 pounds of body weight.

Timothy hay is great. Give as much as they want every day. Again, you can give some alfalfa as they are young. I would not give more than about 50% of their hay as alfalfa. When they get to be about 6 months, limit or eliminate the alfalfa as it has too much calcium for adult bunnies. If you can get other grass hay in your area, you can give that too. Some types are bhrome, oat, and bermuda.

You can start introducing veggies when the buns are about 4 months old. Introduce one at a time and monitor for diarrhea and mushy poops. If they are OK with one veggie for a few days, you can give them another one. Do one at a time until you have 4 or 5 that they can eat. The recommenced amount is about 1-2 cups of veggies per 5 pounds of weight. You can give more than that if you want. Rabbits were meant to eat veggies and other fresh vegetable matter (like grass). As long as you go slowly with it, you should be able to give your buns lots of veggies.
 
Heya!

1) I feed supa rabbit excel junior and dwarf pellets, which is Burgess. I find it really very good and it seems to be a very popular brand.

2) Yep your rabbit needs an unlimited supply of fresh hay. This is essential.

3) Yes start introducing veggies slowly. Dark leafy greens to begin with and then slowly introduce more things. See what your bunnys like, and what they don't. Introducing them slowly and separately tells you what your bunnys can have and what might upset their stomachs.
Eventually you should be able to give them lots of veggies (every rabbit is differnet and you need to see what yours can cope with). But mine have a variety every day, with a little bit of fruit, and they absolutely adore it.

Avoid things like iceberg lettuce- it's just water with no nutrional value and with not be good for ur buns stomach.

Jen

 
jcottonl02 wrote:
Heya!

1) I feed supa rabbit excel junior and dwarf pellets, which is Burgess. I find it really very good and it seems to be a very popular brand.

2) Yep your rabbit needs an unlimited supply of fresh hay. This is essential.

3) Yes start introducing veggies slowly. Dark leafy greens to begin with and then slowly introduce more things. See what your bunnys like, and what they don't. Introducing them slowly and separately tells you what your bunnys can have and what might upset their stomachs.
Eventually you should be able to give them lots of veggies (every rabbit is differnet and you need to see what yours can cope with). But mine have a variety every day, with a little bit of fruit, and they absolutely adore it.

Avoid things like iceberg lettuce- it's just water with no nutrional value and with not be good for ur buns stomach.

Jen
Click to expand...
My little bunnies are on this diet.
 
jcottonl02 wrote:
Avoid things like iceberg lettuce- it's just water with no nutrional value and with not be good for ur buns stomach.

Jen
Click to expand...
It's time to put this myth to rest.

If you look up the values on http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ ( the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference ) you will see that the nutrient values for Iceberg lettuce differ very little from those of other lettuces.

The water content of Iceberg lettuce is EXACTLY the same as for Redleaf lettuce, and very little lower ( less than 1% or 1g per 100g) than the other lettuces.
Same with the nutrient contents: not that much lower at all. For some like: total fiber (HIGHER than redleaf), folate, alpha carotene, vitamin E, the values are all higher in Iceberg lettuce.

Yes, it is true that some rabbits have problems digesting Iceberg lettuce, but many have no problem at all. The same however is true with many foods: some rabbits have problems with them, others don't.

Iceberg lettuce is an excelent source of extra fluids if your rabbit needs them, provided (as with all greens) your rabbit tolerates it.
 
I feed my adult rabbits Oxbow BB/T, and unlimited timothy hay,and they do fine on it. They also each get about one to two cups of assorted veggies each morning.

I agree with everyone else who has said to introduce veggies slowly, and let your buns get used to them.

My Nick has a sensitive tummy, so I have to be careful about what he gets. It was trial-and-error to find out what he's sensitive to. I'd suggest not introducing a whole lot of new things at a time, so you'll be able to tell if they're having problems with something. Every bunny is different, you might not have any problems at all, or you might find something they just shouldn't eat.
 
My rabbits get Purina Advanced show formula, and it works GREAT. I have never had a single problem with weights, bad condition, anything, using purina, and I absolutely recomend it.

I couldn't answer your next question. I feed bermuda grass on the side and everyone loves it. It's also great in nests.

YES. They should be fed greens SPARINGLY though, because it can cause diaharea, and many breeders I have talked to say that they have noticed a direct link between GI Stasis and the all veggie diet. Breeders often know their stuff- if they do something wrong, they could lose their whole herd. Even if they could keep their rabbits healthy on an all-veggie diet, they wouldn't win anything, because rabbits on pelleted feed are usually in better conditon.

I DO give my rabbits veggies- very sparingly, though. They'll get a leaf of dark lettuce, or a carrot, or, on occaision, banana, maybe once every other week (of course there is nothing wrong with giving a pet rabbit a veggie every day- I have seen rabbit THRIVE on this, and it's what I give to myy nursing/pregnant does.

The last thing I would recomend to anyone with rabbits is an all-veggie diet. I could give you a whole list of reasons not to, and an even bigger list of people who would back me up. I know

Good luck, I think Oxbow is a good brand and should be okay.
 
Hazel-Mom wrote:
jcottonl02 wrote:
Avoid things like iceberg lettuce- it's just water with no nutrional value and with not be good for ur buns stomach.

Jen
Click to expand...
It's time to put this myth to rest.

If you look up the values on http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/ ( the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference ) you will see that the nutrient values for Iceberg lettuce differ very little from those of other lettuces.

The water content of Iceberg lettuce is EXACTLY the same as for Redleaf lettuce, and very little lower ( less than 1% or 1g per 100g) than the other lettuces.
Same with the nutrient contents: not that much lower at all. For some like: total fiber (HIGHER than redleaf), folate, alpha carotene, vitamin E, the values are all higher in Iceberg lettuce.

Yes, it is true that some rabbits have problems digesting Iceberg lettuce, but many have no problem at all. The same however is true with many foods: some rabbits have problems with them, others don't.

Iceberg lettuce is an excelent source of extra fluids if your rabbit needs them, provided (as with all greens) your rabbit tolerates it.
Click to expand...

I have heard this also ....but I still don't recommend iceberg because it doesn't have much in way of nutrition and any lettuce that is "White" like romaine hearts can cause some digestive issues.to some rabbits

but overall I agree with this, however some people will give too much soI would say don't give iceberg

I would love to know where the iceberg lettuce info initally came from ????????????????
 
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