what to feed when shedding

[purplepeacock]

so Liffy has started shedding. i figure it must be stressful for her so is there something that i should be adding to her diet to help the stress and also for her new fur to grow in shiny??? She's still a baby so she always has her hay and bunny food. veggies i'm still working on....slowly. i did read on here somewhere that someone gives their buns a tablespoon of oatmeal 3 times a week for a shiny coat but i can't remember where on here i saw that post. any other suggestions??

thanks!

becca

 

[EmilytheStrange]

A tbsp of oats 3xs a week might be too much for a shedding bunny. I tend to lay off of all carbs when my kids molt. Take away pellets one or two days a week depending on the severity of the molt. Encourage lots of water, maybe even change the bowl/bottle once a day so it stays fresh and she's more inclined to drink. Veggies are good, you are smart to start her off young and sounds like you're easing her into it. Try to avoid the dark greens like spinach, they have a lot of calcium (or is it iron?) in them. I feed romaine every morning, my buns' favorite.
Most importantly, just feed LOTS of hay. Try different kinds, see if she has a special favorite that you could use for a "treat" for those shedding times. Since she's young she can still probably have a little alfalfa. Hay cubes are a big hit in our house and a good way to encourage feeding.

 

[purplepeacock]

thanks for the advice...yes i'm starting her off slowly. she wasn't even getting hay at the place that i bought her from so veggies are completely new. i read that you have to introduce one at a time and feed that same veggie for a week or so before moving on to the next veggie. so far she eats basil. and the occasional blueberry. and green lettuce. the only hay she'll eat is timothy hay. she won't eat any of the others. i just wasn't sure if there was somthing else that i was supposed to be supplementing her with. maybe i'll try that vanilla water thing to encourage her to drink more although she's pretty good with that anyway. thanks for the info!!

bec

 

[gwhoosh]

I don't know if this is recommended, or good or anything, but when my bunny sheds, I take care to give her canned pumpkin. I usually give it to her anyways, every other day or so. But when she sheds, I do it like everyday. It's supposed to have fiber to move things along. It has to be canned though, like you use to make pumpkin pie. I spoon it out into an ice cube tray so they freeze into good sized pieces and stay good. Otherwise it gets moldy in just a few days. My bunny didn't like it right away, but now she looooves it!

I also have a furminator. I take her outside on the patio and brush her with it and take out giant giant piles of fur! I figure the more I can take away, the less she can swallow. And the fuminator really does work very well.

I don't know about shiny fur though. Mine's always had really slick shiny fur I think. Just her genes.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

i feed canned pumpkin a tablespoon every few days, lots of water, lots of hay, sometimes an apple slice too, high fiber to get that gut to move that fur through. Brushing. Ha it seems there are a few different things people do to

 

[purplepeacock]

thanks for all the advice. i ended up getting the furminator and it works GREAT!! Liffy flinched a lot when i brushed her but she didn't make any noise or try to get away and when i put her back into her pen she just layed out all relaxed so i guess the brushing didn't hurt her. i'll have to get some canned pumpkin tomorrow =)

 

[EmilytheStrange]

Oh and also papaya tablets are good! You can one or two a day. Keep in mind that they do have sugar so go easy. But the papaya helps break down the fur and move it along.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Nothing actually "breaks down" the hair, there are things like the Papaya that "helps" but doesn't break it down or move it through the digestive tract. Here's a post from Pam from awhile ago...

A healthy rabbit eating a balanced diet including a small amount of commercial pelletsdoes not require any additional mineral or vitamin supplements.

Papaya enzymes cannot digest or break down hair, nor can it break apart the mucous coating feces or trichobezoars. Bromelain is also not known to be effective. It takes very strong chemicals to quickly break the chemical bonds of hair, and we can't feed any of those chemicals to rabbits without killing them.

Nature's "scrub brush" is fiber - available in many forms to a rabbit through a balanced diet. An adequatesource of moisturein the diet is also essential, especially for rabbits on a dry concentrate diet.

There are a number of causes of peristalsis in rabbits including hereditary disorders that effect the nerves lining the intestinal wall, parasite infections, stress, viral infections,growths or defects in the intestines or mesenteryand disease. Excessive weightandhigh carbohydrates diets can also be factors.



Pam