Mint .....Hay only bunny

Hi All :wave:

Bit of a random thread and apologies if it has already been covered somewhere else ...

Very very long story short ... My little Bee is nearly a year old he was very poorly as a baby and we nearly lost him as a result of this he is on a hay only diet. The slightest change can upset his tummy although he would eat everything in sight if he could. He was bonded to Elphie for a short while before there fight Elphie was on small amount of pellets, hay and veg and I slowly introduced a bit of spring green to Bee and it suited him okay for a while but not so much now.

He currently has 4 types of hay 3 times a day. 3 from Hay 4 Pets ( Timothy, Ings and Meadow Hay) and also has Burgess Dandelion and Marigold. He is an avid hay eater and nobody believes I only have 1 mini lop the amount of hay I get through. He is also unfortunately for him a dental bunny but after his first 2 burring sessions we were introduced the world of Fluffers and we get through lots of apple twigs which he adores and at his last check up were helping to keep his molar spurs down and increasing the time between dentals. In his short life so far he has been through so much and we have been on deaths door a few times but we have fought through.

He has tried lots of different veg and despite the fact he loves them, they dont really love him. I have been umming and arring about trying some other herbs/forage to see how he goes and on Sunday we found mint .. I had been using it in our dinner and he went mad over my fingers so I tried him with a little leaf, and he had 2 leaves last night and there has been no uneaten ceacals/soft poop.

Starting to ramble now *sorry* just to add when he is on his 4 types of hay and the apple twigs normally he has big golden poops.

I was wondering how often I should be giving him mint ? is he okay to have it daily and also is there any other recommended herbs/forage that I can give him to keep his diet varied.

Help and suggestions very welcome Thank you

Yes, he can have mint daily, My two love it

Basically any herbs apart from chives are ok. I buy flat parsley (curly parsley is ok to eat too, but I think it is high in something like calcium), coriander, basil, mint, rosemary, dill, sage, tarragon, thyme.

Another thing to try, seen as he likes the apple branches is Hawthorn. Do you have anywhere local that you could forage some? I really don't know much about plants and foraging but I did manage to identify Hawthorn really easily

Also, has he tried Dandielions fresh from the garden?

Hey :wave:

As you may/may not know we are having the same problems with Sweep now, he can barely tolerate any veg however he seems to do ok on herbs :thumb:

I started off just adding a small handful of dried herbs to his dinner (he gets a handful of bramble leaves and 6 SS pellets) then once I was confident with that I would literally give him one leaf of Basil/Coriander/Mint/Dill etc one at a time for about 2 weeks until I was sure he was ok on that herb. Then I would introduce another one and at the moment he can have 5 or 6 different types of herbs in small quantities and he is okay. We use them mainly as treats, I don't think it will ever get to the stage where he is having a bowlful of herbs per day (I can't grow them fast enough anyway!). I'm happy with that though, it means both his and Hettie poos are lovely and golden. The only thing I personally worry about is keeping Hettie's weight up on a mainly hay diet, as she is a bigger bun and used to veg, but time will tell as she needs to lose a bit anyway so will monitor her weight once she gets down to target.

I home-grow all our herbs as I read somewhere the stuff the supermarket herbs are washed in can cause an upset tum

I'm not hundred per cent but I seen ppl post about bramble leaves being good for bunnys tum I would have a look thru diet/digestion forum some good stuff in there :wave:

Kermit said:

Yes, he can have mint daily, My two love it

Basically any herbs apart from chives are ok. I buy flat parsley (curly parsley is ok to eat too, but I think it is high in something like calcium), coriander, basil, mint, rosemary, dill, sage.

Another thing to try, seen as he likes the apple branches is Hawthorn. Do you have anywhere local that you could forage some? I really don't know much about plants and foraging but I did manage to identify Hawthorn really easily

Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply .. I think your likely to be top of his friends list when he continues to get his mint ... I will get on the lookout for some Hawthorn to forage .. thank you

ETA: sorry missed this bit - he has tried dandelions from the garden and they didnt go down very well

** Alert for Fluffers - do you know anywhere that has Hawthorn lovely :wave: **

catherine09 said:

Hey :wave:

As you may/may not know we are having the same problems with Sweep now, he can barely tolerate any veg however he seems to do ok on herbs :thumb:

I home-grow all our herbs as I read somewhere the stuff the supermarket herbs are washed in can cause an upset tum

Click to expand...

Hey you :wave: hope all is well havent seen you around .. I didnt know Sweep was going through the same bless him. I was growing some and decided it was dry enough to put them outside for a bit .. they are now rotten will have to get some more seeds order. Hope Hettie has settled in well x

wendle said:

I'm not hundred per cent but I seen ppl post about bramble leaves being good for bunnys tum I would have a look thru diet/digestion forum some good stuff in there :wave:

Click to expand...

:wave: thanks for the suggestion i will get searching

BeeBee said:

Thanks for the quick reply .. I think your likely to be top of his friends list when he continues to get his mint ... I will get on the lookout for some Hawthorn to forage .. thank you

** Alert for Fluffers - do you know anywhere lovely :wave: **

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I added the dandelion question after you read.....does he eat them?

ETA: just seen you replied - haha! Too quick!

Yip, Bramble leaves are good for tums

Kermit said:

Yip, Bramble leaves are good for tums

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Strawberry leaves ?!?!

Thanks for all the replies

BeeBee said:

Strawberry leaves ?!?!

Thanks for all the replies

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Yip, they are fine to eat too

BeeBee said:

Hey you :wave: hope all is well havent seen you around .. I didnt know Sweep was going through the same bless him. I was growing some and decided it was dry enough to put them outside for a bit .. they are now rotten will have to get some more seeds order. Hope Hettie has settled in well x

Click to expand...

Hey yeah Sweep is on dental watch too at the moment, probably need his first one late summer. I'm so worried

No, got my finals at uni so trying to stay away from forums! :lol: I've obviously failed this morning :roll:

I grow my herbs inside in pots, they smell lovely :thumb:

Kermit said:

Yip, they are fine to eat too

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You are bee's best friend at the moment as he got a little bit more mint last night :thumb:

Lily cant tolerate any veggies really without getting uneaten cecals but she is fine on forage and herbs so daily she gets herbs (either corriander, flat leaf parsely which are favs here!) and some forage (apple sticks with breakfast), dandilion flowers and leaves, brambles, sticky weed and plantain daily The other thing she does seem fine with is kale so she gets that some days too (just a wee bit)

Hi Ruby,

Bobak has been eating parsley and mint regularly for the last year and the only thing I've noticed is that if he has mint everyday then his poop begins to get soft. I give him parsley everyday and mint every other day and this seems to keep everything OK.

I'm hoping to take him off pellets eventually, his new wife is a hay and greens only bun and is teaching him that hay rules!