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Lettuce!
- Thread starter happybun
- Start date
I had to look up courgette as I forgot what it was.
I used to love zucchini...but it doesn't love me.I never knew you could feed that to bunnies. I may have to try some with mine.
Does it need peeling or the seeds removed?
Courgette is the British word for zucchini. In Australia they are called zucchini too. Several vegetables have different names, such as capsicum are called peppers here and rock melon is called gala melon.
With all due respect to everyone on this Forum, I personally would trust Frances Harcourt-Brown's opinion of lettuce - that's it's absolutely fine for rabbits
I personally don't eat hay, readigrass or pellets, but that fact doesn't stop me feeding them to my rabbits. They are a different species with nutritional requirements different to my own :thumb:
you've got me there! and I've never had a fenugreek crunchie... but then, my rabbits must have forgotten them by now, too....
Jackaroonie
Mama Doe
I personally don't feed my rabbits lettuce or any veg in fact. I prefer to keep their diet as close to a natural one as possible.
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MightyMax
Banned
I think that's a rather spurious argument Weeble. Lettuce is recommended as part of a tortoise's diet and chocolate and cake is not recommended for human diets :lol:
MightyMax
Banned
you've got me there! and I've never had a fenugreek crunchie... but then, my rabbits must have forgotten them by now, too....
:lol::thumb:
Not really I felt your post implied that because lettuce is ok for tortoises it's good for rabbits but maybe that's just the way I read it
Hugo's There
Wise Old Thumper
I feed romain lettuce. It is a good source of vitamin c and k, folate, copper, potassium, magnesium and manganese. Its low in oxalate and higher in fibre than rocket, watercress and practically the same fibre content of kale.
Jbun
Alpha Buck
Just speaking from my own experience... I ended up taking care of a little 4 week old doe that had been weaned too early and improperly, by being fed only lettuce and bits of carrot by the original owners. When I started caring for the baby she was quite underweight and skinny. She wouldn't touch pellets and hay, and the fresh forage I was able to give her (and that she would also eat), upset her stomach so I couldn't continue it. I even tried putting her on milk replacer and fresh goats milk, but she wouldn't take it. I had really tried everything, but the only thing she would eat that didn't upset her stomach, was lettuce. So that's what I reluctantly fed her. And she ate a ton of it. She was only about 4 oz. and ate a whole head of green leaf lettuce in a day. She did pee a lot because of all the water content, but she also thrived, put on weight, and grew. Poos where a bit dark and elongated, but otherwise normal. So I didn't feel she was missing out on anything nutritionally during this temporary blip in her diet. Gradually over the next two weeks she started sampling other foods and eventually she was eating pellets, hay, and herbs, and I was able to mostly wean her off of the lettuce. It took a while to get her off of lettuce because she also didn't know how to drink water, so I used it to supplement her fluid needs until she did figure it out. Now she just gets a small amount as a treat.
I do still feed some dark leafy lettuce to my rabbits just as a treat because they all love it, and I have never encountered any ill effects from feeding it to them. I don't know if iceberg is safe though, as I've never dared feeding it due to the warnings about feeding it and the firsthand accounts that I've read of others feeding it and their rabbits getting diarrhea(but this could be down to inexperienced owners feeding too much, too quickly).
I would imagine that like celery, lettuce may also be a beneficial veg to feed for bladder sludge issues, due to it's high water content. But this is just conjecture on my part.
I do still feed some dark leafy lettuce to my rabbits just as a treat because they all love it, and I have never encountered any ill effects from feeding it to them. I don't know if iceberg is safe though, as I've never dared feeding it due to the warnings about feeding it and the firsthand accounts that I've read of others feeding it and their rabbits getting diarrhea(but this could be down to inexperienced owners feeding too much, too quickly).
I would imagine that like celery, lettuce may also be a beneficial veg to feed for bladder sludge issues, due to it's high water content. But this is just conjecture on my part.
bunniemum
Mama Doe
It can also help regenerate, cleanse and support damaged Liver function.
Gemmapookie
Wise Old Thumper
I don't feed my rabbits lettuce o any kind. I just don't see the point in taking the risk of upsetting their stomachs when there are so many other things I can feed them with no concern.
Hi Elena, lovely to see you :wave: How have you and your buns been? x
Hi Elena, lovely to see you :wave: How have you and your buns been? x
Hugo's There
Wise Old Thumper
I have never had any problems with romaine lettuce upsetting any of our bunnies tummies and our rabbits aren't the healthiest! But I never feed large quantities of anyone veg. I give a variety of 5 or 6 everyday
Elena
Wise Old Thumper
MightyMax
Banned
No implication there .... what's good for one species cannot be assumed to be good for another. Across the board.
MimzMum
Wise Old Thumper
Really? :shock: I didn't know this! I suppose for something different I can still feed this to the other two if it doesn't give them gas.
Another thing I have learned today, thank you!
