Krissa
Well-Known Member
I've noticed that every time adding greens to a young rabbit's diet is mentioned the consensus is to wait until around 4m old. I was wondering what the medical rational is for this - not trying to start any heated discussions if this a hot topic.
I have had 5 rabbits so far and every one I have given greens as a baby from the day I got them. I have always started them gradually on the greens. My rabbits eat a lot of fresh greens daily with no poop problems. My Californian eats 5 cups of greens, 1/4 c pellets and unlimited Timothy Hay. He weighs 8lbs.
For example: day one is 1 tiny stem of parsley. Day 2 is slightly more, every day I check poops. My current baby, a flemish, is 12w old and is eating 1c of greens a day now. I have never had any gastric problems from this method on any of my rabbits. I know they need bacteria to help digest the greens (humans do too) but going slowly allows the culture of bacteria to grow enough each time to handle to new food.
Until I got this new rabbit I did not realize that most people avoid greens until almost adolescence.
Another note: I have found that baby rabbits are much less picky about food. They will pretty much eat any green you put in front of them. While trying to introduce a new green to an older rabbit isn't met with much luck.
Example: I purchased Swiss Chard for the first time and give it to my baby Willow and two year old Zander. Willow at it up, Zander would not touch it. It also took me weeks to get Zander to eat dill, which now he loves, where Willow at it on the first try.
So I was just wondering why people wait to feed the greens and for those who start greens sooner - do your rabbits eat a wider variety of greens?
I have had 5 rabbits so far and every one I have given greens as a baby from the day I got them. I have always started them gradually on the greens. My rabbits eat a lot of fresh greens daily with no poop problems. My Californian eats 5 cups of greens, 1/4 c pellets and unlimited Timothy Hay. He weighs 8lbs.
For example: day one is 1 tiny stem of parsley. Day 2 is slightly more, every day I check poops. My current baby, a flemish, is 12w old and is eating 1c of greens a day now. I have never had any gastric problems from this method on any of my rabbits. I know they need bacteria to help digest the greens (humans do too) but going slowly allows the culture of bacteria to grow enough each time to handle to new food.
Until I got this new rabbit I did not realize that most people avoid greens until almost adolescence.
Another note: I have found that baby rabbits are much less picky about food. They will pretty much eat any green you put in front of them. While trying to introduce a new green to an older rabbit isn't met with much luck.
Example: I purchased Swiss Chard for the first time and give it to my baby Willow and two year old Zander. Willow at it up, Zander would not touch it. It also took me weeks to get Zander to eat dill, which now he loves, where Willow at it on the first try.
So I was just wondering why people wait to feed the greens and for those who start greens sooner - do your rabbits eat a wider variety of greens?
