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What to feed bunny bernard??

T

Tasmin's MOB

Mama Doe
I have new bunny bernard. Neither myself or my partner have had any experience with rabbits previously.

We have done a lot of reading and have found that a lot of rabbits become ill and can even die :shock: when given the wrong food or fed the wrong amount :cry:

Bernard is 10 weeks old,
so far we have been feeding him :

breakfast - pets at home nuggets for dwarfs and junior rabbits
throughout day - pets at home timothy hay
evening - a small piece of carrot and piece of brocoli

however we have also given him the odd treat (sweetcorn stick pets@home / chocolate drop)

We are worried that we are feeding him too much as it is common for rabbits to get diarrhea.

All the books we have read have been helpful in telling us what rabbits can and can't eat however they don't tell us how much of each food they can have / when they can have it etc

heeelllpppp!!!
:? :? :?
 
That mostly sounds ok to me. As long as he has hay available all the time; that's the main part of their diet.
I'm not sure how good the PAH nuggets are, I've never used those. Most people on here seem to feed either Excel, Science Selective or Allen and Page pellets (there are some others too but I think those are the most popular...). If you ever switch pellets it will need to be gradual, so mix some of the new stuff in which what he usually eats, then gradually reduce the amount of the old pellet.

I don't think even the bunny chocolate drops are that good for them. For treats I usually give mine a little bit of fruit. They LOVE banana ^_^

PS. You need to post photos of Bernard! If that's him in your display picture then he looks adorable :love:
 
Hello and welcome :wave:

You will find plenty of helpful advice if you look around the forun.

The most important part on any rabbits diet is HAY this should make up 90% of the diet - expect your rabbit to eat a bunch of hay about equal to his size in a day - give fresh hay often, 2,3, or 4 times a day, they like it fresh. Ordinary meadow hay is fine (you can get a bale for about £4 from horse feed stores).

An adult rabbit only needs about an eggcupful of pellets a day - some people feed more to baby rabbits (I didn't).

It is important to introduce new foods very gradually over a period of 2 weeks. Introduce one new food at a time. Therefore it is best to keep any new rabbit on the food regimine he is used to until he is settled in his new home, then you can make any necessary changes over a 2 week period to achieve the optimum diet.

So if he is used to having a little veg and you are experiencing no problems you can continue but stick to the 2 week rule for introducing new veg once he is settled - if he is not used to having veg some people wait until they are about 4 months before starting.

Carots and any high sugar veg or fruit is best kept for an occasional treat as it is rather fattening.

Fresh herbs make a popular healthy treat - I would avoid shop brough treats as they are usually high sugar.

A good guage to the success of a rabbits diet is his droppings - they should be large round and golden in colour.
 
hello, Baileys 7 months now and i feed her 2 handfulls of science selective a day about an inch of carrot and some parsley, and unlimited timothy hay.
when their still kits they should have as many pellets as they can eat and as much hay as they can to, i didnt start Bailey on veg till she was about 15weeks and no fruit untill an adult 6months, it depends on the rabbit alot of the time, some can handle more fruit and veg than others, to much fruit and veg can do serious damage thou so just make sure you introduce things one at a time and in slow small amounts so you can see the affect on there system
hope this helped x
 
The most important thing to remember is fresh hay - they should have unlimited amounts on offer at all times, as it's vital for a healthy gut, and good teeth. As Dusty rabbit says the droppings are a good indicator of how much hay they're eating - big, round, golden droppings are great. :)

Another very important thing (in my opinion) is to NOT feed any fruit. It's basically giving the bad bacteria in the rabbit's stomach a delicious and nutritious feast, which can mean the rabbit becomes very ill, and may even die. :( Fresh herbs and small amounts of carrot make better treats.

Pets at Home pellets probably aren't as high quality as some - Science Selective is generally considered the best, so maybe switch (gradually) to these? Pellets should be limited to an eggcup full a day, as they can fill the bunny up so they don't want their hay.

There are differing opinions on how much fresh veg to give, so you'll have to use a little trial-and-error with that one. The most important fresh food, which they can have unlimited amounts of, is the grass which they graze. There are lists of suitable other veggies too, if you do a search for them. The important bit here is to introduce one at a time, and increase amounts very gradually. :)
 
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Thank you for all your replies they have been very helpful! :D

I am surprised :shock: that bunnies only need an eggcup full of nuggets but its very useful to know!!

Also Hoppit, you mentioned Herbs. . . My Partner grows herbs, are there any in particular that they like??

I have noticed a change in Bernards droppings. They have gone from a light golden colour to a very dark colour, could this be caused by too many nuggets??

I think we will change the nuggets as it seems the pets at home ones aren't the best?

x
 
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Tasmin said:
Thank you for all your replies they have been very helpful! :D

I am surprised :shock: that bunnies only need an eggcup full of nuggets but its very useful to know!!

Also Hoppit, you mentioned Herbs. . . My Partner grows herbs, are there any in particular that they like??

I have noticed a change in Bernards droppings. They have gone from a light golden colour to a very dark colour, could this be caused by too many nuggets??

I think we will change the nuggets as it seems the pets at home ones aren't the best?

x
Click to expand...

Yes, unfortunately the droppings getting smaller and darker are a sign he's not eating enough hay. I've found out the hard way with my 2 that not enough hay is a baaaaaaaaaaad thing - I now have to spend £120 a month of getting their teeth burred down! :shock: You want to cut right down on the pellets to encourage him. Maybe have a try of some different kinds of hay too, to teach him what a yummy substance it is? ‘The Hay Experts’ is a great site, and they do a selection of sample packs so you can find which his favourite is. :)

As regards herbs, buns love 'em! Again, there will be lists on here about what they aren't and are allowed, but my guy's favourites are basil, parsley and coriander. According to a recent article in a veterinary magazine parsley is a 'super-food' for buns, so that's great! :D

I would definitely recommend Science Selective pellets, or maybe Oxbow? I personally wouldn't advise giving him any 'rabbit muesli', or feeding Excel.

Any other questions, feel free to ask! :D
 
was that chocolate drops i saw??

well as long as its not REAL chocolate then its fine

but, actual chocolate is a terrible thing to give a rabbit.
 
I didn't think you could give babies veg either and didn't give Joe any until he was about 5 months old but i mentioned it to my rabbit expert vet about Jess who at the time was about 10/11 weeks old and she said to get her straight on it, and a friend of mine at work who got a bun was also told by her vet to get her baby bun onto it asap too and pointed out in the wild they would be straight on a diet of grass and whatever they could get their paws on and i suppose that's true when you think about it.

Jess eats curly kale, spring greens and brocolli and very small amounts of baby sweetcorn, carrot and cauliflower with no problem, the only time when she was a bit soft was after a little bit of banana and she only got that because it was Joes treat for having his baytril and she pinched it, the little monkey :roll:

I think just start small and anything new introduce a little bit at a time to make sure no diarrhoea and then up the amount from there and absolutely restrict the nuggets to encourage hay eating, it definitely works!
 
Tasmin said:
Thank you for all your replies they have been very helpful! :D

I am surprised :shock: that bunnies only need an eggcup full of nuggets but its very useful to know!!

Also Hoppit, you mentioned Herbs. . . My Partner grows herbs, are there any in particular that they like??

I have noticed a change in Bernards droppings. They have gone from a light golden colour to a very dark colour, could this be caused by too many nuggets??

I think we will change the nuggets as it seems the pets at home ones aren't the best?

x
Click to expand...

just make any changes very gradually. regarding herbs they particularly like, basil,, mint, corrinader, parsley but be careful feed these all gently always introduce new foods gradually, also feeding natural roughage like apple tree leaves, hazelnut leaves,willow, dandilions, wllaflowers nastrushuims roses etc as you can imagine it takeas a while to introduce lots of things to diet! some people find parsley too much calcium for their buns as theri wee becomes a more creamy colour, also you will find some plants (dandilions, rose carrot etc wil lcause yourr abbits wee to turn orange/reddy colour so dont panic if in the future you notice this) you can check to ensure it snot blood if worrie dby dabbing tissue into the urine...if its normal it will stay red/orangey colour..blood will dry brown. :)
also dont forget to neuter bunyny when old d enough and get vaccs done! :) welcome to ru!!
 
:wave:
I have been feeding bernard less nuggets for the past few days and he is eating his hay a lot more. I have also given him woodlands herby harvest mixed in with his timothy hay and he loves it!! :love:

Thank you sooooo much for all your advise everybody, Bernards droppings are back to normal and we have piece of mind!!

:D
 
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