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Whats best Veggies to give Simba?

laurafoz

laurafoz

Warren Scout
I dont think my 3 year old lionhead, Simba can tolerate veggies! I am trying to identify which veggies give him a sticky bum and grape like poos! I have only just adopted him a week ago so im still not sure whats going on!
I have so far fed him carrot, swede, mini corns and white cabbage and whenever he has them( which is every other day) he has the above symptoms! I am even weaning him off waggs onto supreme selectives pellets to increase his fibre.
anyone have any tips?
 
laurafoz said:
I dont think my 3 year old lionhead, Simba can tolerate veggies! I am trying to identify which veggies give him a sticky bum and grape like poos! I have only just adopted him a week ago so im still not sure whats going on!
I have so far fed him carrot, swede, mini corns and white cabbage and whenever he has them( which is every other day) he has the above symptoms! I am even weaning him off waggs onto supreme selectives pellets to increase his fibre.
anyone have any tips?
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How many carrots do you give him? Sometimes, when giving a little Rabbit to much it can cause a sticky Bum.
The Grape type poos, can sometimes be normal (if it's the poo i'm thinking of ;)) Sometimes they regurcetate (eat it again)

Hope that helps.
 
You should introduce veg slowly and one at a time so you can tell if there are any affects. You are also trying to change pellets at the same time. A bunnies diet should be 80-90% hay so make sure you are giving Simba enough hay.

Mine mainly get spring cabbage and they seem to be OK with that. I too find that carrots can contribute to excess caetrophs (grape poo). Yes, they do eat these as it acts like a pro-biotic and they are normally passed during the night.
 
Berty'smum said:
How many carrots do you give him? Sometimes, when giving a little Rabbit to much it can cause a sticky Bum.
The Grape type poos, can sometimes be normal (if it's the poo i'm thinking of ;)) Sometimes they regurcetate (eat it again)

Hope that helps.
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Simba has 1 small carrot about twice in a week, i knew they could cause probs so only giving him limited amount!
 
bunny babe said:
You should introduce veg slowly and one at a time so you can tell if there are any affects. You are also trying to change pellets at the same time. A bunnies diet should be 80-90% hay so make sure you are giving Simba enough hay.

Mine mainly get spring cabbage and they seem to be OK with that. I too find that carrots can contribute to excess caetrophs (grape poo). Yes, they do eat these as it acts like a pro-biotic and they are normally passed during the night.
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he has had veggies all his life according to his last mummy, but she gave him lettuce which I dont like to give animals due to its high water content! I will try him on spring cabbage!
He never seems to eat his caetrophs, should I give him some probiotics?
I am also going to try some different hays as i have never seen him eat hay, i have tried him on meadow and tim hay.
 
If he isnt eating hay, I would have thought perhaps its too much protein in the way of dry mix which is causing the uneaten ceacotrophs as well as the veggies.

How much dry mix does he get in a day? Potentially he is having too much dry mix so he just cant be bothered to eat the hay. Although if he has not been fed hay before then he may not realise what its all about! (ETA perhaps reduce his dry mix gradually and make sure hay is always available. I have 13 bunnies so I just get big bales of stalky horsey hay that my buns love but there are some fab hays you can get from people like The Hay Experts etc)

Many people here I think give hay in the buns litter tray or in a rack near it as many buns like to sit and munch on hay while they poop!
The greener longer and stalkier the hay the better i think. Hay is not only crucial in providing fibre and maintaining a healthy digestive tract but is also needed to keep the teeth of a rabbit healthy as they are constantly growing and the grinding action of the jaw the rabbit makes when eating the hay helps to keep them worn down and even.

How old is Simba? If you're not sure if he's ever eaten hay well it may be worth having a vet check his teeth and make sure there are no spurs developing on any molars which are making him reluctant to eat hay.

With the veggies maybe try a small amount of one veg in the evening evening for a few days, just a tiny amount and go from there to identify if any of them are causing a problem. I think there are a few buns here that just cant tolerate veggies, but I do think it helps to have quite a steady routine in place, eg. my buns have hay and a small amount of pellets in the morning (they've usually eaten the pellets within an hour and munch hay or grass if their out) and munch hay for the rest of the day til teatime when they get usually spring greens or similar and more hay overnight. There are many variations on that but you kinda get the idea.

I think its good that you're changing from Russell Rabbit to the Science Selective as it will be better for him but I cant help wondering that maybe the hay/fibre issue needs addressing as well as the veg as he still wont get enough fibre in his diet by having the SS if he's not eating hay.

Sorry, I've rambled on, hope some of thats helpful, let us know how he gets on x
 
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Fairy13 said:
If he isnt eating hay, I would have thought perhaps its too much protein in the way of dry mix which is causing the uneaten ceacotrophs as well as the veggies.

How much dry mix does he get in a day? Potentially he is having too much dry mix so he just cant be bothered to eat the hay. Although if he has not been fed hay before then he may not realise what its all about! (ETA perhaps reduce his dry mix gradually and make sure hay is always available. I have 13 bunnies so I just get big bales of stalky horsey hay that my buns love but there are some fab hays you can get from people like The Hay Experts etc)

Many people here I think give hay in the buns litter tray or in a rack near it as many buns like to sit and munch on hay while they poop!
The greener longer and stalkier the hay the better i think. Hay is not only crucial in providing fibre and maintaining a healthy digestive tract but is also needed to keep the teeth of a rabbit healthy as they are constantly growing and the grinding action of the jaw the rabbit makes when eating the hay helps to keep them worn down and even.

How old is Simba? If you're not sure if he's ever eaten hay well it may be worth having a vet check his teeth and make sure there are no spurs developing on any molars which are making him reluctant to eat hay.

With the veggies maybe try a small amount of one veg in the evening evening for a few days, just a tiny amount and go from there to identify if any of them are causing a problem. I think there are a few buns here that just cant tolerate veggies, but I do think it helps to have quite a steady routine in place, eg. my buns have hay and a small amount of pellets in the morning (they've usually eaten the pellets within an hour and munch hay or grass if their out) and munch hay for the rest of the day til teatime when they get usually spring greens or similar and more hay overnight. There are many variations on that but you kinda get the idea.

I think its good that you're changing from Russell Rabbit to the Science Selective as it will be better for him but I cant help wondering that maybe the hay/fibre issue needs addressing as well as the veg as he still wont get enough fibre in his diet by having the SS if he's not eating hay.

Sorry, I've rambled on, hope some of thats helpful, let us know how he gets on x
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Thanks Fairy13, That is really kind of you to reply and offer all that advice!
Simba is 3 years, and has had dental probs in the past, I am going to have to see a vet just in case it is spurs! He wont let me check his mouth.
I am going to order a trial pack from hay experts to see if there is any hays he fancies!
I am also worried because he seems to have weeping eyes and tiny poo's. I thought it must be normal to have small poo's but people on here seem to mention that is bad.
I just remember how expensive vets can be so I will take him for his myxi and vhd vaccine and he will get a health check done wont he?
 
Oh the weeping eyes could also be an indictation of tooth or tooth root problems. The small poos also indicate a slowing of his digestive tract which could lead to GI stasis. I would definitely make an appt with your vet about it.
To see his molars your vet will need to use an (i've forgotten the word! Thing to look through and into his mouth to see the molars, octoscope? endoscope? gosh I'm so dense when it comes to proper terminology! :oops: :lol:) its not something you'd be able to do at home without one.

The myxi and VHD vaccine will need to be given at least 2 weeks apart I think, and I believe will only be given if the bun has a clean bill of health otherwise. If you're happy with your vet great, if you're unsure you could always post where abouts you are and someone here should be able to recommend a good one near you. Unfortunately when it comes to bunnies some vets are so much better than others!

Yep, if your vet is rabbit savvy they will give Simba a full health check, weigh him etc but I would definitely book him an appt asap really to check his teeth as it does sound a bit suspicious with the weepy eyes as well and lack of hay eating and him having problems before etc, and plus the risk of myxi is quite high at the moment with the warm spring season, so if he is healthy to vaccinate I'd def do that too.

Good luck, I hope its nothing too awful going on and you can get him hay eating and with a happier belly soon x
 
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I had this problem turns out I was giving him too much too soon introduce them slowly like introduce some veg and stick to that type of veg for a week start by giving him like a small slice of carrot, then see the next morning if he's okay, then give him the same sized amount or make it a tiny bit bigger and gradually build it up over the week ect :)
 
Fairy13 said:
Oh the weeping eyes could also be an indictation of tooth or tooth root problems. The small poos also indicate a slowing of his digestive tract which could lead to GI stasis. I would definitely make an appt with your vet about it.
To see his molars your vet will need to use an (i've forgotten the word! Thing to look through and into his mouth to see the molars, octoscope? endoscope? gosh I'm so dense when it comes to proper terminology! :oops: :lol:) its not something you'd be able to do at home without one.

The myxi and VHD vaccine will need to be given at least 2 weeks apart I think, and I believe will only be given if the bun has a clean bill of health otherwise. If you're happy with your vet great, if you're unsure you could always post where abouts you are and someone here should be able to recommend a good one near you. Unfortunately when it comes to bunnies some vets are so much better than others!

Yep, if your vet is rabbit savvy they will give Simba a full health check, weigh him etc but I would definitely book him an appt asap really to check his teeth as it does sound a bit suspicious with the weepy eyes as well and lack of hay eating and him having problems before etc, and plus the risk of myxi is quite high at the moment with the warm spring season, so if he is healthy to vaccinate I'd def do that too.

Good luck, I hope its nothing too awful going on and you can get him hay eating and with a happier belly soon x
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he is booked in for tommorrow, so hopefully that will identify a prob if there is one!
 
Fairy13 said:
They are Lettice, Picollo, Willow, Hazel, TamLin, Rowan, Niamh, Hector, Biscuit, Daisy, Holly, Lilly and Boots!
I'm a bit pants at posting piccies but I did just put some on recently of them here:
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=179563
:wave:
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wow you have 13 rabbits! You must be a big fan of rabbit! I must admit they are interesting animals, and after 1 rabbit i want another as a mate for Simba! he 3 years old though and dont know if I can have him neutered at this age, how many rabbits do you home together?
 
laurafoz said:
wow you have 13 rabbits! You must be a big fan of rabbit! I must admit they are interesting animals, and after 1 rabbit i want another as a mate for Simba! he 3 years old though and dont know if I can have him neutered at this age, how many rabbits do you home together?
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they are all lovely! you must have to keep on top of their health otherwise it would cost you a fortune in vets bills!
I am a big animal lover but my hubbie is moaning already that it may cost a vets bill for filing simbas teeth down! We will have to see, hopefully it wont be molar spurs or anything and hopefully just him settling into his new home! I changed him to SS from waggs food and have cut down his veg! I am going to try and tempt him with different hays from hay experts and see how we go on! have you ever given your bunnies avipro or fibreplex to help there digestive system?
 
laurafoz said:
they are all lovely! you must have to keep on top of their health otherwise it would cost you a fortune in vets bills!
I am a big animal lover but my hubbie is moaning already that it may cost a vets bill for filing simbas teeth down! We will have to see, hopefully it wont be molar spurs or anything and hopefully just him settling into his new home! I changed him to SS from waggs food and have cut down his veg! I am going to try and tempt him with different hays from hay experts and see how we go on! have you ever given your bunnies avipro or fibreplex to help there digestive system?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the vets bills are at times unavoidable and particularly where the rabbit is concerned to seek vets advice sooner rather than later generally pays off in the long run.
What time is Simba's appointment today?

I would have thought Simba could be neutered still in the future though your vet would confirm that too. At 3 he's still maybe not even middle aged yet!

Mine have and do cost in vets fees sometimes. Some of those you can plan for, like the vaccinations and we save some money per month to go towards those and also toward any unexpected vets bills.

If it's not possible to save per month it may be an idea to take out pet insurance for Simba (though you would have to check eahc insurer/policy to see if dental issues were covered, many wont cover for this) for me though with 13 of them its not really viable to insure them all.

We have at one point or another had all of ours neutered and speyed too. I hate to think of how much all that has cost! :shock: I am lucky that while we dont have much money, I'm completely supported by my husband and we both view that the welfare and health of our bunnies come before the financial consideration (we kinda take the view that somehow we'll find the money!;)), and we also are lucky to have a very reasonably priced rabbit savvy vet!

Apart from routine vaccinations and neutering etc, most trips to the vet we have are because of stasis, where the gut slows down or stops working and the rabbit doesnt want to eat. Because of the nature of their digestive system any incident of stasis can be potentially serious, sometimes life threatening.
Prompt veterinary treatment can often get the bun back on track in no time at all, that's what we've found anyway though sometimes the stasis is secondary to something else then it gets more complicated.

We've had a couple of buns with cystitis and unfortunately lost one of our buns to a tooth root abscess :cry: we also have a bun that has been treated with chemotherapy for leukemia and thankfully he went into remission and remains well at the moment :)

Dental problems are also very common but if they are diagnosed early and kept in check with a good diet and regular treatment if necessary many rabbits life a completely normal happy life. We at present dont have any bun that has required dental treatment. Yet!
Rabbits are certainly very delicate little animals, but wonderful too :love:
 
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Fairy13 said:
Unfortunately the vets bills are at times unavoidable and particularly where the rabbit is concerned to seek vets advice sooner rather than later generally pays off in the long run.
What time is Simba's appointment today?

I would have thought Simba could be neutered still in the future though your vet would confirm that too. At 3 he's still maybe not even middle aged yet!

Mine have and do cost in vets fees sometimes. Some of those you can plan for, like the vaccinations and we save some money per month to go towards those and also toward any unexpected vets bills.

If it's not possible to save per month it may be an idea to take out pet insurance for Simba (though you would have to check eahc insurer/policy to see if dental issues were covered, many wont cover for this) for me though with 13 of them its not really viable to insure them all.

We have at one point or another had all of ours neutered and speyed too. I hate to think of how much all that has cost! :shock: I am lucky that while we dont have much money, I'm completely supported by my husband and we both view that the welfare and health of our bunnies come before the financial consideration (we kinda take the view that somehow we'll find the money!;)), and we also are lucky to have a very reasonably priced rabbit savvy vet!

Apart from routine vaccinations and neutering etc, most trips to the vet we have are because of stasis, where the gut slows down or stops working and the rabbit doesnt want to eat. Because of the nature of their digestive system any incident of stasis can be potentially serious, sometimes life threatening.
Prompt veterinary treatment can often get the bun back on track in no time at all, that's what we've found anyway though sometimes the stasis is secondary to something else then it gets more complicated.

We've had a couple of buns with cystitis and unfortunately lost one of our buns to a tooth root abscess :cry: we also have a bun that has been treated with chemotherapy for leukemia and thankfully he went into remission and remains well at the moment :)

Dental problems are also very common but if they are diagnosed early and kept in check with a good diet and regular treatment if necessary many rabbits life a completely normal happy life. We at present dont have any bun that has required dental treatment. Yet!
Rabbits are certainly very delicate little animals, but wonderful too :love:
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Hiya Fairy13,
His appointment was this afternoon, as I had to wait until my hubbie got home from work. I told the vet about his previous dental problems and during her consultation she noticed his jaw was bumpy, she checked his teeth inside with an octascope and said his back teeth were a bit long but did not have spurs, so thats good news! She also said there is no soreness or bleeding, his tummy feels fine and even though his eyes are weeping there is no redness. She said to keep an eye on his eyes, any sign of thick puss or itching and to take him back. She gave him his myxi vac today as well!
So we will be back in 2 weeks for VHD anyway, so will be keeping a close eye on him for next couple of days and his trial pack of hays from hayexpert will be here soon so will tempt him with those! She said maybe his poos are normal for him, he has had this size for the whole 2 weeks i have had him, they are smaller than raisins is that normal??
I know statis is bad, do they always stop eating with that? Some people say to use pineapple juice if there is chance of a hairball is that connected to hairball?
Do you use probiotics in their water?
 
laurafoz said:
Hiya Fairy13,
His appointment was this afternoon, as I had to wait until my hubbie got home from work. I told the vet about his previous dental problems and during her consultation she noticed his jaw was bumpy, she checked his teeth inside with an octascope and said his back teeth were a bit long but did not have spurs, so thats good news! She also said there is no soreness or bleeding, his tummy feels fine and even though his eyes are weeping there is no redness. She said to keep an eye on his eyes, any sign of thick puss or itching and to take him back. She gave him his myxi vac today as well!
So we will be back in 2 weeks for VHD anyway, so will be keeping a close eye on him for next couple of days and his trial pack of hays from hayexpert will be here soon so will tempt him with those! She said maybe his poos are normal for him, he has had this size for the whole 2 weeks i have had him, they are smaller than raisins is that normal??
I know statis is bad, do they always stop eating with that? Some people say to use pineapple juice if there is chance of a hairball is that connected to hairball?
Do you use probiotics in their water?
Click to expand...

:wave: I'm so pleased that he got on ok and was able to have his myxi jab, as that's such a worry this time of year.
Did she mention why she thought his jaw was bumpy?
I only wonder because, I think maybe that's a sign of possible tooth root elongation, that combined with his runny eyes. :? I'm just slightly concerned that elongated tooth roots would perhaps cause him some discomfort when eating even of nothing was visible in his mouth :?
Though I dont think that can be fully diagnosed without an xray though and I'm unsure of what problems it poses as I havent had first hand experience of it. Perhaps someone else here with more experience could advise :?
My vet has always advised me not to give pineapple juice in the case of stasis etc as it may do more harm than good, so I must admit I've never used it personally but there are people on here that have or they give a cube of dried pineapple perhaps? I'm not sure on that either! :oops:
I dont use probiotic as a matter of course in water or on food for any of my bunnies. I'm not sure but I think a pellet feed like Science Selective may contain a probiotic, you could probably do an search on the ingredients and it may tell you?
What breed is Simba, obviously a smaller bunny will make smaller poos, whereas a big one (like my french lop) will do enourmous big round ones :lol:
So as well as size, if you can increase his hay intake, like you say by ordering him some tasters and seeing what he likes and gradually reduces his pellet intake his poos should get more golden in colour if they aren't already? Nice golden poos are a good thing :lol:
 
As faye has already mentioned a lumpy jaw would indicate tooth root problems, this can also cause sore eyes.

We have a bunny with similar problems here and he can only eat mushy food, no veg, due to the pain.

I would speak to your vet again and ask about pain relief. It would also be worth getting dental x-rays carried out so you can see the extent of the problem, however this will need a GA.

But I would definately get pain relief sorted now :)
 
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