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ADVICE on diet???

sharkfur

Warren Scout
Hey bunbuds... I need an advice from you veterans :) (By all means I use the word with respect)..

So... Lately, I decided to cut back the pellet-dose of my bun, because it seems like he got too much of calcium, given that his urine was always butter-colored, or milkish...you know.
Now, after a couple of days, his poop is far too soft and wet. And I'm clueless. We didn't even give him fruit or anything that might cause the watery feces. It is only hay and the cut-back portion of pellets. So what the hell?
What do you think I should do? Give him more pellets and risk having more calcium in his urine again, or wait until his system is used for the dosage? Will he get used to it?
 
How drastic have the changes been? Does he eat lots of hay?

Not that drastic... Let's say that he used to get pellets 2 times per day. Now he gets one... but It's not like 100%-50%. Now he gets the normal portion for an adult bun :)
The problem is that he kinda likes hay, but not that much... He likes to nibble on it, but he never eats bigger amounts...
 
Not that drastic... Let's say that he used to get pellets 2 times per day. Now he gets one... but It's not like 100%-50%. Now he gets the normal portion for an adult bun :)
The problem is that he kinda likes hay, but not that much... He likes to nibble on it, but he never eats bigger amounts...

Somehow you need to encourage him to eat lots of hay: should be 80-90% of his diet and he should have access to an unlimited supply.

I would try different types to get him to eat more.

Any change in the amount of pellets should be made very gradually - their gut gets upset very easiy. The recommended amount, eventually, for most rabbits is an eggcupful once a day. Don't know how much you are feeding?

You can get sample packs of hay on-line: HayforPets do one (but I'm sure other places do too), where it is free but for postage.

Lots of hay should lead to large golden poo!

ETA If he seems at all poorly - ie his poo is really wet/runny, he looks uncomfortable (perhaps hunched), 'not himself', you really need to get him to a vet as rabbits go downhill so quickly.
 
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Somehow you need to encourage him to eat lots of hay: should be 80-90% of his diet and he should have access to an unlimited supply.

I would try different types to get him to eat more.

Any change in the amount of pellets should be made very gradually - their gut gets upset very easiy. The recommended amount, eventually, for most rabbits is an eggcupful once a day. Don't know how much you are feeding?

You can get sample packs of hay on-line: HayforPets do one (but I'm sure other places do too), where it is free but for postage.

Lots of hay should lead to large golden poo!

Yeah, I know their bellies do not really like drastic changes :( I tried to cut back his pellets gradually...but still he has watery feces... And the reason why I am not happy with it is that he only produces soft feces when he has too much of some vegetable or fruit :( It's not problematic yet, so he's more than happy, and it's not a diarrhea yet..just soft... :/ I used to try different hays, but he was never really impressed...nibbled every kind, but he's more into..well, anything else... :/ Which is a shame... Dunno why..He always has hay in front of him..a lot, too. He sometimes likes to throw it all over the place, and nibble on it, but yeah..i want to see him go all-haymonster on it :p Just like the way he does with normal grass :p
Thanks for the tip, I might give it another go..i mean the hay-samples :)

(Don't worry, he's happy as ever....I would never hesitate to take him to the vet if he was down or depressed..or in any way different than before)
 
To get him to eat this most important part of his diet (hay) I would cut down on his vegetables. I rarely give fruit, anyway, except as a real treat.
What quantity of pellets are you now giving him?
 
To get him to eat this most important part of his diet (hay) I would cut down on his vegetables. I rarely give fruit, anyway, except as a real treat.
What quantity of pellets are you now giving him?

How many pellets is a 'dose' ?

it is now about an eggcupful per day. As of vegetables, he never gets lots of anything, but for a couple of days, I did not even try to feed him anyting fancy like that...He does however eat grass when we're outside...
 
it is now about an eggcupful per day. As of vegetables, he never gets lots of anything, but for a couple of days, I did not even try to feed him anyting fancy like that...He does however eat grass when we're outside...

How often is he outside? fresh grass can really upset the gut if a rabbit gorges on it :wave:
 
So what exactly did you feed him the day before the upset stomach, the day of the upset stomach, and any days since?
 
How often is he outside? fresh grass can really upset the gut if a rabbit gorges on it :wave:

Oh, we do go outside like 2-3 times per day..and whenever he's outside, he nibbles on grass..especially in the park...doing it with grass that is taller than him..
 
So what exactly did you feed him the day before the upset stomach, the day of the upset stomach, and any days since?

- unlimited portion of hay
- 1,3 eggcupful of pellets

(and the grass he nibbled on outside...but he did it for himself..so I did not technically feed him)
 
- unlimited portion of hay
- 1,3 eggcupful of pellets

(and the grass he nibbled on outside...but he did it for himself..so I did not technically feed him)

The grass counts, anything he has eaten counts.

So this park.., do you actually mean a real park, with other animals? Are you completely sure that he did not eat any other plant than grass at the park? Was he in a run, or on a harness or what?
 
Oh, we do go outside like 2-3 times per day..and whenever he's outside, he nibbles on grass..especially in the park...doing it with grass that is taller than him..

Sorry? in the park?

Do you mean a public place? If so, i must discourage that for many reasons, but in this case, anything could of contaminated the grass, urine, chemicals etc. That could EASILY upset a rabbit gut, they are so very sensitive.
 
The grass counts, anything he has eaten counts.

So this park.., do you actually mean a real park, with other animals? Are you completely sure that he did not eat any other plant than grass at the park? Was he in a run, or on a harness or what?

Uhm, the park-thing does not happen daily.It is about every third day before the sun goes down. It is part of a forest, so we're not talking about lawnmoving and dogs... :) and yes, it was just grass..good old-fashioned grass.
 
Sorry? in the park?

Do you mean a public place? If so, i must discourage that for many reasons, but in this case, anything could of contaminated the grass, urine, chemicals etc. That could EASILY upset a rabbit gut, they are so very sensitive.

Don't worry, we're doing it for 2 years now...Never caused a problem..also: it is more like a forest and we're not talking about a typical park :)
 
Don't worry, we're doing it for 2 years now...Never caused a problem..also: it is more like a forest and we're not talking about a typical park :)

You asked for opinions, i'm giving you one. I think its a horrible idea, but each to their own i suppose.
 
You asked for opinions, i'm giving you one. I think its a horrible idea, but each to their own i suppose.

Yup, I know :) And I'm thankful for that..I think outside opinions are really helpful. And yeah, if it was a classic park with dogs and mowed lawn and potential chemicals n threats, that would indeed be a bad idea. But this is a forest, and he loves it so much...:)
 
:wave: hi! Im not sure if a forest is a safe place for bun even if he enjoys it..Id be wary of other animals and of course birds...and if he scared then how would you catch him to keep him safe?

An egg cup a day is great...you can weigh him 1-2 a week to keep an eye on his weight to.

Id would continue to try a few mixes of hays....and dont give up...he will eventually start grazing if he is not full up on pellets and veges.

I got a non-eating hay bun who was fed on horrible muesli and I managed to get him into a hay monster!
It took some perserverance but he has much better teeth for the effort and a better gut too.

I dont tend to give my buns much veges at all...maybe a small piece once a month - and not much fruit either. of course they go mad for it but it upsets their tums and they get excited for a fresh handful of hay now too....

I add to their diet in variation by adding foraged wild foods as similar to what wild buns would eat.
So...

Hawthorn
Plantain
Dandelions
Apple leaves and branches
Rose leaves and petals
Lemon balm
Rosemary
thyme
holly hock leaves
sun flower leaves

All the above I dry and use in the winter months too...though the rosemary is evergreen so I dont bother drying that much.
I do think sometimes a bun who eats hay well can often help a bun who doesnt eat hay well...as they tend to copy and learn form each other...not sure if your bun is by itself...

I order some of the INGS and then also the timothy/rye mix....I buy the largest amount (for 3 buns to share) and then mix this with meadow hay.....I make the "expensive" hay last for ages and ages...through quite a few bales of meadow hay actually...gives variation for them and they love the stakyness of the timothy/rye hay and the long strands of the ings. Might be worht a try...but give him time to realise that hay is now his main diet and thats what he needs to ge excited about...sprinkle the eg cup of pellets amongst the hay for him to forage for it..

http://www.hayforpets.co.uk/

:wave:
 
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firstly i wouldn't be walking my rabbit in a forest as all sorts of fungi grows in those places, round tree roots etc, rotting leaves all of which could makethe rabbit very ill. Secondly you need to encourage your bun to eat more hay. My rabbit is currently being treated for GI Stasis,my vet thinks caused by a few factors, eg, he had just joined our family as we got him in the middle of june, then he was neautured, and he had been having too much gassy veg, which had set the stasis off, i have now completely changed his diet, he gets meadow hay and timothy hay mixed, he has at present 1 hay rack with another one on order, he has hay stuffed in his play tube and today i also bought from wilkinsons small pet logs with holes in them which i have also stuffed with hay, they like to chew wood so that's why i got the logs aswell, they were only £1.65 each so well worth the money as the logs will last ages. I've now temporarily stopped all veggies as he needs to get better, he had a few dandelion leaves yesterday as a treat but no more than that. There are also seed packets available to grow your own rabbit weeds, which i am in the middle of sorting out, i have one of those plastic pop up greenhouses which cost about £15 and i will now be using it to grow an assortment of rabbit weeds to feed my bunnies, at least then i know the source of his food and it will be safe. Walking bunny through a forest or park exposes them to greens that have most likely been pee'd on by cats and dogs, you can't wash it before he eats it and it increases the chance of him becoming ill, a rabbit with the runs is not good and requires immediate veterinary attention as he could die within a few hours. I'm lucky that i caught my rabbits stasis almost immediately, as he wasn't himself in the morning it started, he was hunched up in his hutch,wouldn't come out for his morning exercise and was trembling, i also had going against me that he had a relatively poor diet before we got him, now i'm having to start afresh so i can get everything right, seeing my bunny so poorly is not something i want to see again and i certainly wouldn't leave a bunny with the runs or sloppy poo without vet treatment, sorry but i don't agree with taking bunny through forests or parks etc, the rabbit is not a novelty item, i may not be perfect myself as i've only had mine since june, but at least i know how to correct everything for the good of my rabbits .
 
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