Ive got this rabbit owning all wrong!

[Percybunny]

After my first thread re- castrating my rabbit and his producing horrid poo's Ive done a little more research.
When we were younger we had rabbits and they were fed a "rabbit bowl" of food a day. The food came from the local pet shop and there was no problem. However I'm beginning to see its not always that easy is it!
I feel bad because normally I look carefully into caring for animals and do everything correctly but am slightly ashamed to admit I thought a rabbit pretty straight forward.

Sooo..... I have a male dwarf lop who's about a year old. What should I be feeding him on and in what quantities? and as for hay, I have horses- can I bring their hay home and give him that or is the vacuum packed ridiculously priced mini bales marketed for rabbits better in some way for them? (I would imagine its cleaner perhaps?)

Please can anyone help? I'm feeling awful I may be the cause of his problems.

 

[Jack's-Jane]

After my first thread re- castrating my rabbit and his producing horrid poo's Ive done a little more research.
When we were younger we had rabbits and they were fed a "rabbit bowl" of food a day. The food came from the local pet shop and there was no problem. However I'm beginning to see its not always that easy is it!
I feel bad because normally I look carefully into caring for animals and do everything correctly but am slightly ashamed to admit I thought a rabbit pretty straight forward.

Sooo..... I have a male dwarf lop who's about a year old. What should I be feeding him on and in what quantities? and as for hay, I have horses- can I bring their hay home and give him that or is the vacuum packed ridiculously priced mini bales marketed for rabbits better in some way for them? (I would imagine its cleaner perhaps?)

Please can anyone help? I'm feeling awful I may be the cause of his problems.

I posted this on your other thread, it may be useful to have a good read through all the leaflets on here:

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/?section=leaflets.html

 

[Zoobec]

Don't feel bad :wave: we can only do our best with the knowledge we have at the time. When I was younger we did the same, as did most people. It's best to feed a good pellet feed, they only need an egg cupful per bunny per day once they are adult. You can feed the baled hay to your rabbit, if it's decent quality and not dusty, good enough for a horse then it's fine for rabbits. I feed mine on baled stuff, my bunnies eat more of that than they used to eat of the overpriced pet shop stuff :thumb: I prefer to feed forage to my bunnies when I can, or herbs, rather than veg. My bunnies love Hawthorne, Apple sticks, willow, Rosemary and sticky weed. Here is a link to a safe foods list http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/safefoods.htm As with any new foods, introduce slowly and in very small quantities one new food at a time. If your bunny is producing excess caecotrophes you may find cutting back on pellets and feeding just hay and pellets for a time will settle things down.

 

[Percybunny]

Thankyou both x

The place I buy feed from sells only a few brands. I'll look further afield for some plain pellets

 

[MightyMax]

After my first thread re- castrating my rabbit and his producing horrid poo's Ive done a little more research.
When we were younger we had rabbits and they were fed a "rabbit bowl" of food a day. The food came from the local pet shop and there was no problem. However I'm beginning to see its not always that easy is it!
I feel bad because normally I look carefully into caring for animals and do everything correctly but am slightly ashamed to admit I thought a rabbit pretty straight forward.

Sooo..... I have a male dwarf lop who's about a year old. What should I be feeding him on and in what quantities? and as for hay, I have horses- can I bring their hay home and give him that or is the vacuum packed ridiculously priced mini bales marketed for rabbits better in some way for them? (I would imagine its cleaner perhaps?)

Please can anyone help? I'm feeling awful I may be the cause of his problems.

It's a good idea to look at the Rabbit Welfare Association website for information on rabbit care, you can't do better than that!

Feeding: basically it's handy to remember the triangle - which is hay at the broad bottom, then leaves/forage/veggies towards the top (the quantity getting smaller) and at the very top, a few pellets.

I rescued a rabbit who had been fed on muesli only for the first three years of his life. No hay, no veggies. Also, no exercise! He was vastly overweight, but his teeth were so bad he couldn't eat hay when I offered it. Hay has such an important role in digestion and also keeping teeth in trim.

I get hay that is in bales, for horses. So long as it looks and smells good, it should be good. You could try different types of hay to give him variety and see what he prefers.

There are so many aspects to rabbit keeping - fascinating :wave:

 

[Percybunny]

Thanks Mightymax

I'm thinking probably his sticky eyes are a result of a teeth problem caused by my wrong feeding then. What would this teeth problem be and are they easily resolved?

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Thanks Mightymax

I'm thinking probably his sticky eyes are a result of a teeth problem caused by my wrong feeding then. What would this teeth problem be and are they easily resolved?

Rabbits who have not been fed a hay based diet can develop elongated molar teeth and also molar spurs- sharp points that jut out into the tongue and the cheeks.







So I would advise you to get your Vet to carry out a thorough examination of your Rabbit's teeth. 'Sticky eyes' can be related to Dental problems, especially those involving tooth root elongation.

There is some information about Dental Disease here :

http://www.manorvets.co.uk/ckfinder/userfiles/files/dental dz(1).pdf

 

[MightyMax]

Thanks Mightymax

I'm thinking probably his sticky eyes are a result of a teeth problem caused by my wrong feeding then. What would this teeth problem be and are they easily resolved?

It's possible his sticky eyes can be caused by elongated tooth roots, because the molars have grown long and pushed on the tear ducts (Rabbits' teeth grow continuously). You should get a vet to have a look in his mouth, and assess whether he needs a dental or not.

For a healthy bun a dental is a straight forward, relatively inexpensive procedure, but can make a world of difference to how and what they eat!

Is he able to eat hay with ease?

 

[Tamsin]

I've a table with different food brands here if you need help working out what's available: http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp

Once you've cut back, you'll find a single bag lasts ages with one bunny so it's not so bad if you end up having to go further afield/online to get it.

Keep in mind it might take him some times to adjust to a good diet, you'll need to mix the old and the new food together and swap gradually from one to the other, also it can be tough to persuade a rabbit to start eating hay when they aren't used to it. You might need to get creative and mix some tasty herbs in or hand feed him the tastiest looking bits to start with until he gets the hang of it.

 

[Percybunny]

I don't know if he can eat hay easily. He didn't touch it at first so I stopped feeding it. I know this is wrong and will get some more tomorrow.

 

[Jack's-Jane]

I don't know if he can eat hay easily. He didn't touch it at first so I stopped feeding it. I know this is wrong and will get some more tomorrow.

If he already has some Dental problems then he may not be able to eat hay. So it is very important to get his teeth looked at by a Vet ASAP.

 

[MightyMax]

I don't know if he can eat hay easily. He didn't touch it at first so I stopped feeding it. I know this is wrong and will get some more tomorrow.

I only asked this as if he doesn't eat hay, it may be a sign that his teeth aren't working too well if he can't eat it. Usually this problem is addressed during a dental, and can make all the difference to a rabbit!

 

[tulsi]

Mine all have hay and grass each day. Grass is great for teeth if you can get hold of it.

 

[J&R]

I don't know if he can eat hay easily. He didn't touch it at first so I stopped feeding it. I know this is wrong and will get some more tomorrow.

As well as possible dental problems if he's eating a bowlful of food per day he probably won't be interested in eating his healthy hay. Don't feel too bad, it's great you're doing the research and asking the right questions

 

[keletkezes]

Having the courage to admit you were wrong on a public forum is highly commendable: bodes well for the future! I did tons of research but I don't always get it right: I've found here to be a great place to get helpful advice and not be shouted at for being a bad bunny parent (as long as you're trying, like you are) XD Also having a rabbit-savvy vet helps.

Lopsy eats tons more hay now he's indoors, but pretends he doesn't to get better tasting food ;P Don't fall for begging: turns out some of them are experts at it!

 

[Percybunny]

I bought some rabbit hay and he loves it! No problem eating it as far as I can see (of course I've not seen him eat hay before as maybe he just disliked the stuff I got originally?)
They didn't have any pellets so will try somewhere else today.
I've found a vet who is apparently good with Rabbits and he has an appointment (at least I've requested one, they are calling back as I had to fill in online forms first)
Percy will be back on track soon hopefully

 

[Zoobec]

I bought some rabbit hay and he loves it! No problem eating it as far as I can see (of course I've not seen him eat hay before as maybe he just disliked the stuff I got originally?)
They didn't have any pellets so will try somewhere else today.
I've found a vet who is apparently good with Rabbits and he has an appointment (at least I've requested one, they are calling back as I had to fill in online forms first)
Percy will be back on track soon hopefully

Fantastic news :thumb: we need to see some pics of Percy, we love photos on here :thumb:

 

[dizzyg]

Percy's a lucky boy having an owner who cares enough to do their research!

With pellets, think of them as being like sweets to children, and hay being vegetables. Children would rather fill up on sweets than eat their greens, bunnies are just the same! :roll:

:wave:

 

[keletkezes]

of course I've not seen him eat hay before as maybe he just disliked the stuff I got originally?

Maybe! Mine's fussy, but if I leave him with it long enough he'll eat it ;P Well, most of it! Has his definite preferences though

Sounds like you're doing really well: best of luck at the vets (forms notwithstanding ;P)!

 

[MightyMax]

I bought some rabbit hay and he loves it! No problem eating it as far as I can see (of course I've not seen him eat hay before as maybe he just disliked the stuff I got originally?)
They didn't have any pellets so will try somewhere else today.
I've found a vet who is apparently good with Rabbits and he has an appointment (at least I've requested one, they are calling back as I had to fill in online forms first)
Percy will be back on track soon hopefully

Wow all systems go Percy :thumb:

So glad he likes eating the hay - hopefully really good news about his teeth.

Piccies please ...... !!