Fenugreek Crunchies and gut problems??

Hi everyone, could there be a link to fenugreek crunchies and bouts of gut problems? I know is a silly thing to ask but my lovely Parsnip had a bout of statis a week ago (is now fine) and when he got home I just fed unlimited hay, herbs and his fav cabbage and no crunchies for a few days until his gut settled down a bit. He was pooing happily and was fine so I've started to give his crunchie treats again. Now I've noticed his poos have gone down a bit in amount although his is really happy and eating everything else on the menu! I've also noticed his girlfriend Pixie hasn't had poops sticking to her as is her usual problem (she has a very furry botty)since I've cut down the crunchies So I've jsut checked the ingrediants of the crunchies and found they contain corn, I thought corn couldn't be fed to bunnies? Has anyone else had problems with these treats - I know they would both really have a mad 'paddy' if I didn't feed these as they just love them

How many do you feed? I know if I feed Mini more than one a day her sticky bum reappears.

I'm a bit embarrassed to say really as they used to kick up such a fuss they ended up with around 4 a day!! Not anymore though, they now share one a day which isn't going down too well but so long as their tummies are ok I'm sure they will get used to it

Yeah I stick to one a day - some days they don't get one as well. It's random :lol:

Schuette said:

Yeah I stick to one a day - some days they don't get one as well. It's random :lol:

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I tend to feed mine one each at night, every other night just before bed (its my Anti-Stasis plan :lol

The every other night they dont get them, they get a small amount of parsley between them instead

Mine is whether I remember or not

Last time we went away I left instructions that they could have one treat a day. Well they must've done their best 'fed me' eyes cos when I came home they'd nearly all gone :lol:

So this time I'm going to leave out 6 each and hide the rest :lol:

Yes they do contain corn, and whilst ANY cereal is not a great idea for rabbits as it is high in starch/carbohydrates and as such can cause caecal dysbiosis in excess, cereals are pretty much standard in most pelleted/muesli mixes and commercial bunny treat foods.

In order to correct caecal imbalance I removed pelleted feed from my rabbits diets a few years ago, however, mine do share the odd fenugreek crunchie between them as a treat, but only one to share once a day max. As this is the only source of cereal mine have it's not an issue. But if you are feeding lots of these crunchies and/or also a pelleted/muesli feed which also contains cereals you 'may' be overloading the caecum with unnecessary carbohydrates - rather like the final penny that tips the scales if you like.

It is best to reduce all carbohydrates to the minimum amount you can or leave them out altogether. Rabbits are just not designed to process them. :wave:

Schuette said:

Mine is whether I remember or not

Last time we went away I left instructions that they could have one treat a day. Well they must've done their best 'fed me' eyes cos when I came home they'd nearly all gone :lol:

So this time I'm going to leave out 6 each and hide the rest :lol:

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That happened to me when my dad came to stay with us for a few days and we used to have the Naturals carrot pellets before they were discontinued (all those choking incidents). I let him feed one each and he was so taken with their begging that I had to stop him the next few days dishing them out all the time! :roll::lol:

How do you manage to get two buns to share one crunchie?! Joe gets about 4 to Jessies one as she takes longer to finish hers (I think Joe swallows them whole :lol and as soon as he's finished he tries to wrestle the remaining crunchie out of Jessies mouth, so I give him more to keep him busy while Jess eats her one :roll::lol: But in answer to your question, no neither have mine have ever had any tummy troubles with fenugreek crunchies.

Schuette said:

Mine is whether I remember or not

Last time we went away I left instructions that they could have one treat a day. Well they must've done their best 'fed me' eyes cos when I came home they'd nearly all gone :lol:

So this time I'm going to leave out 6 each and hide the rest :lol:

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My OH does this on the day im meant to be back in kent each month
i come back to the 'treats' bag being much more depleted than if i was at home :roll:

That said, she thought she was being kind and now i've explained to her about their sensitive tummys, she doens't do it anymore and even asks me to write a list of what they can/cant have on that day im away and what veggies to feed them and when

Mine get one each with their bowl of pellets. Some days when I'm feeling indulgent I may give them one more each too. I guess some bunnies have more sensitive tummies than others when it comes to food.

Helen xx