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Right amounts of calcium

Bellatrix15

Warren Scout
I have heard that too much calcium can be bad for rabbits and can develop urinary issues.

I just want to check what is the best thing to do for the 7 rabbits I have at the moment, especially the 5 babies.

So for Bellatrix who is 4 years old she should have a wide range of vegetables and herbs every day and very limited pellets as she has dental issues and should be eating as much hay as possible.

For Blackberry she is 8 months old and should be on unlimited pellets as she is still feeding the babies but she can have more veg and herbs that I introduce slowly.

For the babies they should be on unlimited pellets and a small amount of vegetables and herbs that I introduce slowly. They have been having spring greens for about a week now and I have introduced small amounts of broccoli. I am worried that I am probably giving them too much of this though as they are both very high in calcium. Should I really limit all veg and herbs from the babies until they are older?

Just checking this is all right as I am very paranoid and diagnosed OCD so like to get everything right.

Thanks a lot x
 
It all sounds about right. re the calcium in spring greens and broccoli for the babes - that shouldn't be a problem in greens as you have the fluid content as well. Unless you have knowledge they have issues calcium/urinary tract then don't worry about the calcium in greens.

I have a diet sheet given to me by FHB for feeding my bunny with urinary tract problem (bladder sludge) and I'm following the advice on that and am happy to give him spring greens frequently though I don't give parsley, coriander or kale as they are higher in calcium, but for the rest of the bunnies I'd have no problem giving spring greens/broccoli daily.

(This is probably information you could glean from the links above as the author is my source anyway!)
 
It all sounds about right. re the calcium in spring greens and broccoli for the babes - that shouldn't be a problem in greens as you have the fluid content as well. Unless you have knowledge they have issues calcium/urinary tract then don't worry about the calcium in greens.

I have a diet sheet given to me by FHB for feeding my bunny with urinary tract problem (bladder sludge) and I'm following the advice on that and am happy to give him spring greens frequently though I don't give parsley, coriander or kale as they are higher in calcium, but for the rest of the bunnies I'd have no problem giving spring greens/broccoli daily.

(This is probably information you could glean from the links above as the author is my source anyway!)

Bellatrix - I'm so sorry for jumping on your thread! :)

Hiya bunny buddy,

I'm really sorry to jump on your comment, but is Coriander high in calcium? We we're recommended to keep bailey on this as it's lower in calcium? (we are really struggling with him as he won't eat hardly any fruits and many veg upset his tummy) so we're keeping him on herbs like Basil and Coriander? with a couple of broccoli florets twice weekly? is this wrong?
 
Bellatrix - I'm so sorry for jumping on your thread! :)

Hiya bunny buddy,

I'm really sorry to jump on your comment, but is Coriander high in calcium? We we're recommended to keep bailey on this as it's lower in calcium? (we are really struggling with him as he won't eat hardly any fruits and many veg upset his tummy) so we're keeping him on herbs like Basil and Coriander? with a couple of broccoli florets twice weekly? is this wrong?

I've just had a check of my list (same as link on FHB's website) and for some reason over time I've erroneously moved coriander into the 'high' bracket with parsley and it isn't! it's in the "moderate" group so CAN be fed freely. Apologies. Good news for me that you questioned it as it now means Arthur can have coriander as well.

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ar...-sheet-for-rabbits-with-urinary-tract-disease
 
FHB generally suggests that any fresh greens are OK as there is a high water content. Getting the rabbit to drink more and move about more also helps flush out bladder sludge, which is why it's not an issue in wild rabbits.

FHB's diet sheets:
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/diet-sheets

Calcium content is given on the previous link (although coriander doesn't seem to be listed):
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/calcium-and-rabbit-food
 
I've just had a check of my list (same as link on FHB's website) and for some reason over time I've erroneously moved coriander into the 'high' bracket with parsley and it isn't! it's in the "moderate" group so CAN be fed freely. Apologies. Good news for me that you questioned it as it now means Arthur can have coriander as well.

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/ar...-sheet-for-rabbits-with-urinary-tract-disease

Thank you so much for your super quick reply and that's such amazing news and a relief! :) I'll have a look at the link, thank you as honestly so many different pages say different things! xxx
 
Thanks everyone. So after reading the information it seems like I should be making sure the babies and mum do get enough calcium but that conflicts with what I thought about making sure not to give too much greens to young rabbits? Thanks!
 
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