How to introduce greens to rescue bun?!

My Charlie was a rescue, and don't think he has ever had any greens/veggies, so when I give him them, they disagree big time, as in his poo's are like, stuck in a lump to his newspaper!! I have tried introducing them gradually, but with no luck. Any ideas on what to do to to introduce him to food which is good for him?! Thanks. Becki xx

(This is posted in another topic, so thanks 2 the ppl hu rplied in those!!)

Sorry, but could you clarify a couple of things. How long have you had him and what is he currently eating? I think I would initially concentrate on getting him to eat lots of hay and limited pelleted food. Once he has been on this for a few weeks and he no longer has a sticky bum only then try and re-introduce veg to his diet.

yeah I tried to give Flash green cabbage leaves and spring greens but his poops went a bit squishy. I now only give him a bit of Parsley or Coriander everyday and occasionally a bit of cucmber or tomato.

Hi, I've had him a month or there abouts, He eats hay for enland and has russel rabbit carrot and leek gormet, tiny bit twice a day. He don't have sticky poo's unless he has veg/greens. Thanks. Becki xx

excellent that he eats lots of hay :wink: This will hopefully keep his teeth healthy too

hi

When you gradually introduce greens, by gradual they mean an inch of cabbage or a couple of blades of grass, or a tiny sliver of carrot - only ONE of those things on one day....You are then supposed to wait 2 days before giving another tiny bit of the same food you gave 2 days before...

It's a looooong process - after a week your bunny will have only had 3 square inches of cabbage, OR 6 blades of grass! If you rush it then it just causes tummy probs - especially if your rabbit is trying to cope with a new home or trips to vets etc...

The same applies if you switch to a different dry food - only a tiny bit of the new food a day, mixed in with the old - I've been changing my 2 over for 3 weeks now - they're not in a hurry! :roll:


Edana, Benji and Pepper

Hiya - awwww sounds like your having lots of fun with your new bunster and so nice to hear of a rescue bun with a loving new home.

There is much said about Bunny Diets and at the end of the day its very much a personal choice of what you feel is best but I've read in quite a few posts on here and from other sources that minimum pellets and a very small amount of veg works best for their delicate tummies. I have always had problems with greens and cabbage as particularly with cabbage I think I've read this can cause gas build up. My own three now just have a minimum amount of hard food and only very small amount of veg every day and it tends to be herbs, Corriander, Fennel, Basil that sort of thing.

Also not sure of the type of hard feed your bunny takes but something like Science Selective tends to be quite good as it stops any selective feeding.

But as the good folks here have already mentioned - if your bunnies tummy is out of sinc. a little at the moment I would personally stop everything except sweet fresh hay for a few days until gut has settled back down.

Do you use or have any probiotic you can add to water - this might also help.

Hope all is o.k with your bunny - keep us posted.

Thanks everyone, I noticed carrot flavoured stuff to put in buns water in the pet shop, is this worth trying?!

That is normally just a vitamin supplement. A probiotic would be best, u can get them from vets or online. Avipro is good, as is Protexin (Biolapis). The latter is available from the vets. These contain 'good' bacteria essential for the gut, which helps in any tummy upsets and restores bacteria in the gut back to normal levels.

Nicola

hi

I got my avipro from here:
http://www.noahs-cupboard.co.uk/listing.asp?catno=4

very quick delivery!


Edana, Benji and Pepper

We got Binkie when she was about 3 months old and have had her for 2 months now.
About 2 weeks after we got her, we started to introduce greens, veggies, and fruits. She promptly developed runny stools. We started supplementing the new items with some rolled oats and that helped dry her up making it easier for her to process the greens and control the runny stools.

I agree with the advice from Elve, very slowly on the green stuff does it. Also if I have a stray in I put him/her on pellets, I use supa excel from burgess but others use science selective. I have a confession to make, when they have been here a while I sprinkle a t spoon amount of Russell Rabbit on the top as they love it so much!! Alice