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do my rabbits have a healthy/sufficient diet

Hi all!

I am wondering about my rabbits' diets. I feed them all the pellet they want, a big handful of a timothy hay a day, some fresh veggies daily (handful), adn unlimited water.

would switching to a mixed grass diet that is supplemented with a small amount of pellet and soem veggies daily be healthier?
 
Hiya!

How old are your buns? As far as I'm aware, up until the age of 6 months, they should have unlimited pellets, fresh hay and water at all times... the question of veg under 6 months.. well, some people don't and some do. I didn't as I had read that they can't handle the veg until they are over 6 months.

Over 6months, few pellets, unlimited hay and water and a variety of veg daily.

Remember if you change anything in your buns diet, it should be done over a period of 10 days or so.

Every bun is different too, so if your bun has special requirements, make sure you check out all the options!
 
If your bun is over 6 months old you should feed it 2.5%-3% of it's body weight in pellets per day... it often says this on the packet too... Otherwise you could end up with very fat rabbits! :? I had to halve the amount my rex gets coz he was just piling on the pounds and it scared me! :shock: Found out I was working it out wrong and was giving him double the amount he should've been getting, even though he'd gobbled the whole lot by lunchtime every day! :roll:
I always feed unlimited hay and water and a tiny bit of oats to keep their tummies going in moult season too. :)
I hope this helps! :)
Ang xx
 
All of my buns are older than 6 months. Willie and Ashlee will be 8 months on wednesday and Aspen just turned 1 year and 3 months. I think I am gonna switch them to a mixed grass hay (unlimited), unlimited water, lots of veggies daily (1/2 cup), supplemented with a bit of pellet.

Sound good? My rabbits are all netherland dwarfs, but they are BUB's and BUD's.
 
Hi,
Where do you get the oats are they the oats we have for breakfast. I presume they have it dry (don`t think bunnies like porrage!) How much oats should they have?

Sorry about all the questions,

sarah
 
Aspen'n'company said:
All of my buns are older than 6 months. Willie and Ashlee will be 8 months on wednesday and Aspen just turned 1 year and 3 months. I think I am gonna switch them to a mixed grass hay (unlimited), unlimited water, lots of veggies daily (1/2 cup), supplemented with a bit of pellet.

Sound good? My rabbits are all netherland dwarfs, but they are BUB's and BUD's.

If they are older than 6 months, they should be on LIMITED pellets! Too many pellets mean less hay! Which can then lead to dental problems and buns being overweight!

Here are a few helpful sites:

http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/bunnyburrows/page22.phtml

Although I would ignore this bit........
"· Provide hay or grass every day, unless you are feeding a complete diet that states that you do not need to feed anything else with it."

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/feedinglft.htm

Buns need Hay! It helps in meeting nutritional requirements and helps the digestive system, and chewing hay excersizes the teeth. Also the constant long strand fibre helps maintain good gut movement!!!!!!

The change you are planning to make sounds good, just remember to do it gradually!

Sorry for rambling!!!!
 
I think I finally figured it out! I am going to mix brome, timothy, orchard, and oat hay for my rabbits to maximize hay variety and keep their diet healthy.About how much pellet should they get daily?

PS. Aspen and Willie are getting along good and I am going to start bonding them soon! Ashlee is also getting exercised outside and she is getting nicer too! It is a good day for my rabbits!
 
Aspen'n'company said:
I think I finally figured it out! I am going to mix brome, timothy, orchard, and oat hay for my rabbits to maximize hay variety and keep their diet healthy.About how much pellet should they get daily?

PS. Aspen and Willie are getting along good and I am going to start bonding them soon! Ashlee is also getting exercised outside and she is getting nicer too! It is a good day for my rabbits!

the pellets you feed them depend on their weight really!
 
I don`t want to sound like some sort of know it all or anything but i`m just going to pass on some information i learnt! In my veterinary nurse training we had a rabbit vet come to lecture us and she told us that where ever possible a rabbit should be allowed to graze fresh grass as it would in the wild. If this isn`t available then good quality hay should be provided. She also said that concentrates (Excel, Russel Rabbit etc) were not actually necessary but if anything a small amount of an extruded pellet (Supa Excel) could be given in minimal amounts. Alongside this some vegetables and fruits can also be given. We were told that you have to be careful that the calcium to phosphorous ratio is correct to try and prevent teeth problems, sludgy bladder and obesity. I don`t know if any of thisis helpful but i found it all very interesting! :D
 
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