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what do you think????

loulabell

Warren Scout
I attended a rabbit awareness eve last night at a very rabbit savey vet's :)
when thay coverd the subject of diet thay said rabbits 'dont really need veg as its not nutritionally balanced.' and should only be feed as a treat 1/2 times a week, as it causes stasis and gas etc...
I always thought rabbits should have veg everyday?
thats what i've always given mine, i've never had any problem,
what do you all think???
 
best diet is 90% hay, with 5% pellets+5% veggies...the pellets and veggies are never going to be the essential part of their diet.

Veggies as a daily part of a diet is debatable, it depends on what veggies? how much? 2 carrots per day for a medium sized bunnie, is always going to cause problems. Where as a handful for spring greens or herbs is not going to be so much os a problem.

I think he is doing right, veggies ( and pellets) should be a small treat in a diet dominated by hay's and grasses.

Sounds like you have a very savvy vet there hold on to them.
 
We have always been told that the ratio for feeding should be

Hay/Grass 80%
Veg/Fresh Food 15%
Dry food/Pellets 5%

Which is what we have always tried to follow so they have hay avaliable in three different boxes all day, every day: two underbed storage boxes with the cheaper hays (Devenshire Meadow Hay and a Timothy hay mix) as they are used for potties and then a smaller box which is soley food hay and we have a mixture of Oxbow hays in there- Timothy, Orchard Grass and Oat Hay.

They have 1TSP of Allen and Page pellets + 1TSP ProFibre pellets for breakfast and then the same amount again for dinner.

Then in the evening they have their veggies which is always a mixture of 3 or 4 of the following:

Fresh timothy grass
Bramble leaves
Dandelion leaves
Parsley
Mint
Basil
Dill

They share 1 sprout at the weekend as a treat.
 
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best diet is 90% hay, with 5% pellets+5% veggies...the pellets and veggies are never going to be the essential part of their diet.

Veggies as a daily part of a diet is debatable, it depends on what veggies? how much? 2 carrots per day for a medium sized bunnie, is always going to cause problems. Where as a handful for spring greens or herbs is not going to be so much os a problem.

I think he is doing right, veggies ( and pellets) should be a small treat in a diet dominated by hay's and grasses.

Sounds like you have a very savvy vet there hold on to them.

Wish he was my vet!!! he was fantastic, and very dishy! ;). unfortunatly the practice is over an hour away, a friend and i just went for there rabbit awareness evening.
 
Rabbits do better on wild forage than they do on vegetables. If they have veg it's supposed to be leafy greens. So I see what they mean.
 
i think.. the good thing about veg is the water content and i agree rabbits are not designed to eat our veg but if they are not huge drinkers daily veg could be essential for tummy hydration especially for house bunnies who do not have daily grass access.

since looking into the wild diet my pair still get veg daily (and probably too much) during the winter but during the summer it is at a minimum with hawthorn and brambles making the majority of the wet food fed :D

i think there are far too many variations in the way we house rabbits to make a one rule for all type diet, we need to figure out what suits our individual rabbits needs depending on lifestyle.

plus this extra savvy vet can come to my house and tell my rabbits they cant have veg daily if he is brave enough :lol: :lol:
 
I think veg can cause stasis and runny bums if not fed properly. I would say it should be fed with care.

It should be fed moderately daily or some people choose every couple of days.

As long as a large supply of hay is available this is the main thing. I feed a handful of pellets. I also feed spring greens , coriander, parsley and abit of carrot. I don't go too varied on veg as it could upset those delicate tums.

I do think brocoli is to be avoided although some people feed religiously.

All my veg is washed and peeled in the case of carrots. I don't feed anything that isn't 100% fresh- i.e to the standard i would eat.
 
I view veg as adding variety to their diet and as something they enjoy, rather than a necessity so I guess I'd agree with the vet. I try not to go overboard with serving size and they have a variety of greens, herbs etc.

I cut back on the amount I gave the boys after they put on weight a few months ago, but they love their veg so I wouldn't want to stop it. They have it daily at around 6-7pm so its routine as much as anything I guess. I've never yet given them anything that has upset their tummies, thank goodness.
 
I give mine veg every day, if not veg then some long grass, mine have been OK. I usually feed green veg as Reggie is an odd rabbit that only seems to eat green stuff (really this is true - carrots, no, treats that aren't green - no, dandelion flowers - no, kale, he will bite your hand off to eat it). Ruby had a mild bout of stasis last summer but the vet thought it was a hairball.
 
Mine have veg every day but i have cut down the amount they eat and what types of veg they eat. I have thought of cutting down to every other day to try and encourage Daisy to eat hay. Would this upset their tums by doing this on a regular basis?:wave:
 
vet said to me that he won't call what they are allowed 'veg', as it gives people the wrong idea and they think veg like we can have... he says a diet of hay, grass, wild forage is ideal..some fresh and dired herbs aswell.. then a small amount of (veg wise) leafy greens if the rabbit is ok with them, but this isn't necessary.
 
I attended a rabbit awareness eve last night at a very rabbit savey vet's :)
when thay coverd the subject of diet thay said rabbits 'dont really need veg as its not nutritionally balanced.' and should only be feed as a treat 1/2 times a week, as it causes stasis and gas etc...
I always thought rabbits should have veg everyday?
thats what i've always given mine, i've never had any problem,
what do you all think???

Was this in Braintree?
 
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