Is is ok to feed rabbits cucumber?

[SOAD]

You're not going to get those problems on a bit of cucumber though :? I have always fed my rabbits a lot of veg, to be honest they all get a massive portion a night, they all look forward to it and although I have a couple of dental bunnies the majority of my buns have no teeth trouble at all.

 

[kayj]

The rule still applies.....The further you move from the correct diet the more problems you are likely to see.

Do'nt get me wrong rabbits love the occaisional treat but consider this..... the average medium rabbit is about 2kg and the average human is 75kg.

If you feed a rabbit one grape you are in effect size for size feeding 35 grapes to it. If you cut a medium banana into 7 peices you are in effect feeding 5 bananas. If you give your rabbit the knob off the cucumber you are in effect probably giving it size for size the equivalent of the whole cucumber.

Our advice is avoid "man made" and grown veg and always offer handfuls of grass small amounts of natural veg i.e dandilion or things like parsley or parcel or other herbs that have large amounts of fibre in them and never fruit.

I see there is yet another thread starting up on feeding veggies to rabbits and yet the message of what rabbits are , where they have come from and what they would eat in the wild in their natural environment seems to be ignored by the majority.

We have been re-homing and specialising in rabbits for the rspca local branch for 10years In that time we have seen 100's of rabbits and whats more we have had the rear teeth inspected both visually and whilst anesthetised at neutering of all of them. I can tell you from our own observations that between 25-30 % of all rabbits that come to us have rear dental problems in the form of spikes ,spurs and rear dental absesses. These in the vast majority of cases are aquired dental problems as a result of the wrong diet.

If you took out of the figures those bunnies born with us or under 4months of age then that % would be higher.

Sorry to rant ....but this is serious and every caring owner should be aware of the serious consequences if you ignore it on teeth alone and thats before you take into account all the other gut problems this can cause together with sticky bottoms, flystrike and whatever.

I thought Myxi was brought in by our farmers to stop the wild rabbits from eating their crops not because the crops weren't doing the rabbits health any good, but I may be wrong.

I have to say that some of my rabbits are 6yrs and older and have been fed all the usually veg, hay and dried food (including a rich tea biscuit) and none of them have had dental problems.

 

[Jack's-Jane]

You're not going to get those problems on a bit of cucumber though :? I have always fed my rabbits a lot of veg, to be honest they all get a massive portion a night, they all look forward to it and although I have a couple of dental bunnies the majority of my buns have no teeth trouble at all.

Totally agree with you Tree

Janex

 

[rspcarabbits]

I'm just the messenger.

You're not going to get those problems on a bit of cucumber though :? I have always fed my rabbits a lot of veg, to be honest they all get a massive portion a night, they all look forward to it and although I have a couple of dental bunnies the majority of my buns have no teeth trouble at all.

Please do'nt shoot me ....I'm just the messenger.

A peice of cucumber is not going to cause a problem once in a while, or a sprout or a small peice of carrot but.......it never ends there does it?

We are no different from any of you ,and we have the same inclination to treat our bunnies .....its just what you treat them with that is the issue. Ours get timothy hay small sprigs of parcel and handfuls of grass to add interest to the very high, good quality hay diet. They also get xcel in very small quantities twice a day(and I mean small quantities)that they eat all up in 5mins flat. The rest of the day they are hungry and have to eat hay , which is what they do.

We have attempted to replicate the diet of spanish buns in the wild as closely as we can and from everything we have read and rabbit specialists we have spoken to this seems to be the way forward.

In all the 100's of rabbits we have had in our care we have never had a case of sticky bottom, flystrike rear teeth problems or gut stasis aquired with us.

Let me just qualify this as I know this statement is confusing.Rabbits that come to us with rear teeth problems are put to sleep by the vet who signs the medical card with an explanation. Rear teeth problems are open ended....the rabbits suffer re-occurring pain, eye problems, diet problems, gut problems, require often frequent dental operations and in any case our policy of complete openness with new owners would render these buns virtually un-rehomable once these people have the facts explained to them.

So I am talking about rabbits that have had any initial problems sorted and are effectively healthy and on an even keel.

We are always open to new thinking on the subject of rabbits in general and diet is a very important aspect of them .

However we do not follow the addage that rabbits know what is best for themselves or that they eat veg because everybody likes to feed it........or they should have it because they look forward to it.

You mention a couple of your bunnies have dental problems but not what they are . What proportion of your bunnies have these problems?

And please I'm not having a go I'm just trying to get accross the extent of a problem we would all rather not acknowledge we cause in pursuit of being "good owners"

 

[vengeful.veggie]

Mine have a little now and then and although it's not one of their favourites, they like it nevertheless.

 

[rspcarabbits]

In the interests of debate

Totally agree with you Tree

Janex

If you totally agree with tree ....what are your reasons?.

Do you feel we have got it wrong and if so.....what are your reasons?

Good debate is useful and this is a very important subject.

alan.

 

[abbymarysmokey]

I agree with both sides...

In an ideal world, Alan (rspcarabbits) is absolutely correct that a diet of hay and grass/weeds is best...but on the other hand most people do not have access to unlimited uncontaminated quantities of grass, and can't identify edible weeds with any certainty....in which case a diet supplemented with the sort of veg humans eat is an okay alternative, a second best but 'good-enough' option.

 

[Jack's-Jane]

If you totally agree with tree ....what are your reasons?.

Do you feel we have got it wrong and if so.....what are your reasons?

Good debate is useful and this is a very important subject.

alan.

I agree in that I believe a Rabbit's diet should be based on 80% good quality hays from different grasses. Pellets are totally unecessary for a healthy adult Pet Rabbit ( ie not a Breeding Rabbit or a debilitated Rabbit ). To obtain the correct balance of dietry vitamins without resorting to a concentrated feed a variety of fresh Veg are essential everyday. In my experience Veg is not the cause or even a contributary factor to Dental Disease and subsequent problems. Its over relience on a concentrated feed that causes the problems, especially sticky bottom and obesity. I have yet to have a Bun here with a problem on a diet of 80% hays and a variety of veg every day.
The Bun I have had here the longest is a 9 year old Nethie. I have had her since 8 weeks of age. She has been fed a hay/veg diet and has never had Dental problems. Unusual for a Nethie!! She only got a mucky bum when given a concentrated feed ( Excel ).

Hope this answers your question

Janex

 

[kayj]

I have had rescue rabbits come in and have had dental problems, but my vet as never told me to stop giving them veg as this is the cause of the dental problems. I am going to see my vet this afternoon as she is always going on different rabbit courses as she loves to keep up to date with all rabbit findings, so I will ask her her view on this.

 

[Kath1234]

I am new to all this as only had Barney on monday so was not aware of what he was or wasnt supposed to be eating. But the woman in the petshop told my sister that Barney loves lettuce and Cabbage, so i gave him some lettuce and then later found out that you are NOT supposed to give it to them!!

We all make mistakes and i have given him cucumber. But i will just give him food and some carrot and apple from now on as a treat.

 

[Leanne]

Dental problems are usually due to congenital issues or lack of hay and too much dry in the diet early on imo from cases we've seen throught he years.

Ive kept rabbits for 23 years and always give them mainly hay and grasses
(90%), small amount (a sprinkle of about ten nuggets) of pellets and daily herbs, fruit and veg.
Ive never had a dental bunny. Ive never had a stasis bunny.
Is it luck or is it their diet?

Mine have cucumber when I have it, prob once a fortnight as I usually eat it all myself, they love it and ive never seen any ill effects

 

[rspcarabbits]

Dental problems are usually due to congenital issues or lack of hay and too much dry in the diet early on imo from cases we've seen throught he years.

Ive kept rabbits for 23 years and always give them mainly hay and grasses
(90%), small amount (a sprinkle of about ten nuggets) of pellets and daily herbs, fruit and veg.
Ive never had a dental bunny. Ive never had a stasis bunny.
Is it luck or is it their diet?

Mine have cucumber when I have it, prob once a fortnight as I usually eat it all myself, they love it and ive never seen any ill effects

The diet you're bunnies are on sounds very similar to the one we use minus the fruit but its certainly our oppinion that the majority of rear dental problems are aquired rather than congenital......and on that issue I've no idea if there have been any studies done.....Over to you jane , have you any info on that?

 

[Rabbit1986]

Mine have a small amount of pellets a day, a selection of veg a day (including cucumber) but are both really good hay eaters and will easily clear 3 litter trays full of hay a day. I beleive dental problems are cause when not enough hay is eaten (i may be wrong) so aslong as my buns eat plenty of hay, which they do, are not obesse, which they certianly aren't, if anything they are on the lean side of ideal, don't have sticky mucky bums, which they don't then i don't see the problem. They are not selective feeders, if i give them pellets veg and hay they will eat all three, not pick their favourite and stop eating the rest as a result. I have 2 very happy, probably slightly spolit, buns with no dental or health problems. Plus if i took Rodneys daily bit of apple off him i think i may be disowned, its the only time hes pleased to see me when i have apple. :lol::lol:

 

[Leanne]

The diet you're bunnies are on sounds very similar to the one we use minus the fruit but its certainly our oppinion that the majority of rear dental problems are aquired rather than congenital......and on that issue I've no idea if there have been any studies done.....Over to you jane , have you any info on that?

The fruit they have is minimal as I usually eat most of it :lol: They get a small snippet of what im eating usually (mainly apple, mango or banana).

I think if a bun is brought up on fruit it tends to be fine, older buns aren't always able to cope with it though I think so its very sparingly given.

I agree most dental buns are down to bad diet early on but there are def a fair amount of cases due to congenital reasons and thats based on the cases we have had over the years at work. Its usually the nethies and lionheads that have awful teeth from babies and other cases tend to be ones that have been fed on a high amount of mix/pellets with only a small amount or no hay.

My rabbits eat anything, they ate a whole 5ft fig tree last summer and over the winter ate the roots too, I only have 2 massacred roses and 2 half willow trees left! :lol: Needless to say, their teeth are fabulous :roll: :lol:

 

[Leanne]

The fruit they have is minimal as I usually eat most of it :lol: They get a small snippet of what im eating usually (mainly apple, mango or banana).

I think if a bun is brought up on fruit it tends to be fine, older buns aren't always able to cope with it though I think so its very sparingly given.

I agree most dental buns are down to bad diet early on but there are def a fair amount of cases due to congenital reasons and thats based on the cases we have had over the years at work. Its usually the nethies and lionheads that have awful teeth from babies and other cases tend to be ones that have been fed on a high amount of mix/pellets with only a small amount or no hay.

My rabbits eat anything, they ate a whole 5ft fig tree last summer and over the winter ate the roots too, I only have 2 massacred roses and 2 half willow trees left! :lol: Needless to say, their teeth are fabulous :roll: :lol:

ps. I wouldn't mind doing a study myself! Good ideas for any Animal Management students on here for a dissertation

 

[Jack's-Jane]

The diet you're bunnies are on sounds very similar to the one we use minus the fruit but its certainly our oppinion that the majority of rear dental problems are aquired rather than congenital......and on that issue I've no idea if there have been any studies done.....Over to you jane , have you any info on that?

Well as I understand it Aquired Dental Disease is more likely to occur in Pet Rabbits than is a congenital form. But of course with so many Petshop Buns being obtained from dubious sources Congenital Dental Disease will still occur in Pet Rabbits. Certain breeds are also more prone to CDD due to the shape of their skull- eg Nethies, Lionheads and Lops.

I do not think that feeding Veg will contribute to an increased incidence of ADD. If a Raddit is fed on a good hay/grass based diet from weaning then Veg can safely form part of the diet wthout risking the Buns Dental Health. IMHO ( albeit a non Veterinary Qualified one ) it is the reliance on a concentrated feed that is more likely to cause problems.

I dont feed my Buns fruit and carrots are only fed once in a blue moon. They have dark leafy greens, herbs, celery, very occassionally Romaine Lettuce and I have offered them cucumber ( to keep this 'On topic' !! ). But noBun here would entertain even a taste of cucumber :roll: Cant say I blame them really as I hate it too !! :lol:

As others have said, in an ideal world feeding Pet Buns a totally natural diet of hay, grass, roots and weeds would be great. But there are millions of people who have no access to a constant unpolluted supply of grass/weeds. So if feeding Veg becomes an advisory 'no no' it will just mean less people want to adopt a Bun

Janex