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Buttercup garden!

Cornishlass

Mama Doe
HELP! I've just been out to see what Smudge is actually enjoying most in the garden and I think it is buttercup leaves!!! I know they aren't supposed to eat that but I can't help it our whole garden is COVERED in dandelions and these buttercup leaves. What can I do? I want him to enjoy free run of the garden mut not if it will make him ill!
 
I've got ragwort all over my garden, plus buttercups - If I let the bunnies out there I would do some weeding first, but since they are all manic diggers it's out of bounds anyway - your only option is to do some weeding, and keep doing it as little shoots will grow again :(
 
buttercups pull up ever so easily - they don't have deep roots and they grow long runners from each plant - half your garden's probably just runners laid on top of the grass - easy to pull them all up and stick them in a bin bag - you might even enjoy it :D

I would meanwhile keep your bunny off the garden, and if today's his first day on there keep an eye on his poops and behaviour for a couple of days - if he's ill at all then you need to tell the vet he's eaten buttercups.

having said that, even a day on good grass will upset their tums if they're not used to it - it's very rich in spring, and you need to start them off slowly with a handful of grass, then give them half an hour on it, and gradually increase their time on the grass.
 
Sorry.............................:oops:

it's wierd because that's an American list I have from a different website, and the bit about 3% of bunnies etc. isn't on the original list at all - she must have added that herself - strange :shock:
 
It does say this on wilkepedia though:


" their acrid taste and the blistering of the mouth caused by their poison means they are usually left uneaten. Poisoning can occur where buttercups are abundant in overgrazed fields where little other edible plant growth is left, and the animals eat them out of desperation "

If he is enjoying them then maybe best to pull a good patch up and put a run on it but then again some buns just have a good constitution...
 
When my goats ate honeysuckle, which can cause stomach upset and diarrhoea, I was advised by the vet to feed only hay for 3 days and give them pro-rumen, this is a ruminant probiotic. On day 3 Waffle had a very upset tummy, but was bright within herself, she was the only one to show any symtoms though, so I would guess it would be a good idea to do the same with your bunny, hay and biolapis or fibreplex, to "dilute" any ill affects. Would you be able to put some slabs under a run for him, so he can get out but not eat the weeds.
By the by, I had a terrible problem finding out if honeysuckle was poisonous to goats and ended up calling the vet on a sunday, who then called the London poisons unit. The internet said it was good, mildy toxic, toxic to highly toxic, on different sites, you can't trust what you read.
 
Yes, I could move the run to the paved area but as Smudge doesn't eat hay, he'd be bored. He loves to nibble grass and dandelions. WHEN I can afford it I want the whole garden returfed and beautiful for him to play on. BUT that won't be for some time yet! We've just had repairs to the house £350 and a car repair bill £600!!!
 
I reckon your rabbit would probably leave the buttercups alone, and go straight for the dandelions. Perhaps let him out and follow him around for a while to see what he eats?

I've got ragwort in my garden as well. It's probably the worst weed because animals actually seem to like eating it :shock: Fortunately it doesn't have very deep roots and pulls up quite easily
 
I think they'd leave the butter cups alone too but why not start on a buttercup irradication program by sectioning off a bit of lawn & skim off the turf. Replace with some compost and then sow grass seed ontop. Water often for the first month or so) & when the grass is starting to look quite robust (maybe 6 weeks or so) let the bunnys have access and move on to the next patch.
 
My garden has very little grass because the dogs have churned it up. Inside my rabbit run I have a couple of plastic underbed storage trays which I filled with soil and then grew grass in them.

Could you move the run to the paved area and use some of these trays?
 
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