Veggies ...

About two weeks ago I increased the amount of veggies I was giving the rabbits. Previously I was only giving a small amount every few days because I was scared of tummy upsets. But I read up and got more confident, so increased the amount to 1 cup/good handful per rabbit per night. It seemed like a lot but I can never find a definitive answer that everyone agrees on, and because they're big bunnies I thought it would be fine. Harriet and Alfie have loved it (although they don't always finish it - that's fine, I take leftovers away after about an hour). Jessie was fine as well until about three days ago, when we noticed some wet poos (not diarrhea, they had a definite shape, just soft and wet) and a cecal she hadn't eaten. That night I decreased the amount of veg, she improved the next day but still wasn't back to normal, so I decreased it again last night (to maybe five or six little strips of spring greens, very small amount) and today she's back to normal. When I say normal I just mean her stools, she wasn't ill in herself at all.

My question is, where do I go from here? I felt awful giving her so little last night, she loooooves veg and always waits at the bars for it, lol. And I haven't given her any tonight because I'm not sure what to do. Should I go back to a little every couple of days, or stick with the tiny amount each night? Or should I increase it again? I'm just worried about her upset tummy coming back if I do that. Or maybe it was the amount of different veg I was giving? I was giving a chunk of kale, spring greens, babyleaf and spinach all mixed up, then chopping up small amounts of carrot, celery, broccoli, parsley and maybe a small brussel sprout. I thought that because I was only giving a tiny amount of each, it would be nice to give a variety. Is that right, or is it better to stick to only two or three different kinds?

How do you feed your veg?

I feed herbs usually rather than veg. Half a bowlful (one prepacked herb bag from asda) between 2 buns.

Carrots and other sugary veg should be fed sparingly.

I think it varies widely bun to bun. I've found my 2's comfort area. They now only leave the light brown large crumbly poos. Their teeth are healthy and they are the correct weight so I assume I'm doing the right thing.

It's trial and error to a certain extent. As long as their diet is at least 85% haythat's the main thing for me.

I now only feed a handful of pellets between 2 buns once a week. I know a lot of people will disagree with that but it's what works for them.

Mine get loads of veg once or twice a week and no one has any trouble.

I think somebuns have intolerances to certain veg, just like humans do. It might be worth sticking with the amount and types of veg you know they're okay with and gradually increasing it, perhaps on a week by week basis and keeping a close eye on them

Yes I've heard some people do that, is it easier on their tums or do you just prefer it because it's closer to their natural diet? I do wish they didn't eat herbs though, the smell makes me retch, haha. They LOVE parsley, tried them with coriander and mint but they don't seem as fond. Was tempted to buy dill tonight but didn't know if it was okay so I didn't, but I will next time as I've just done a quick google and it's fine.

I think I just have to accept that they're all different and Jessie may need a slightly different kind of diet to Alfie and Harriet. I've given her a couple of carrot tops tonight, and will try her with a few different kinds of herbs, see how she goes. Is that cruel, though? To keep chopping and changing it? I obviously need to know what was upsetting her tummy, but I don't want to give her another upset in order to find out what it is, if you know what I mean.

Spring greens can cause dysbiosis (excess cecals/sticky bum) in some rabbits. It sets off Mini's tum. I stick to herbs and foraged foods and on the whole she's fine unless someone in the household feeds her too many treats!

I'll have a good go at it, see what works best for her.

Also, I'm confused about her weight. I weighed her and she was 10lb. I think she's an English Spot, but she could also be a Checkered Giant. So if she's the former, she's overweight, if the latter she's slightly under. If she's a mix of the two she's probably alright. Tthe scales only go to the nearest pound though, and it wasn't long after she'd come home from her spay, so I'm not sure if that would affect it? She has no problems moving, grooming, eating cecals ... nothing. It's just the number that's a bit off. Should I worry about that?

coriander is a type of parsley, weird they like one but not the other! I buy big bunches of herbs from my local asian shop. You get about 5 times as much as in a supermarket bag and its about 50p a bunch. I only give broccoli, cabbage and carrot in small amounts as a treat and I will give a bunch of celery or a whole cauliflower between the 7 which they seem to be fine with. Also I give them branches off a nearby hawthorn hedge and whilst I was at my mums, twigs and leaves off the fruit trees (pear, apple, peach, raspberry, strawberry, bramble and plum) as well as rose leaves and thistles. I give veg about once a week and the other stuff 2 or 3 times a week.

blue_vix said:

coriander is a type of parsley, weird they like one but not the other! I buy big bunches of herbs from my local asian shop. You get about 5 times as much as in a supermarket bag and its about 50p a bunch. I only give broccoli, cabbage and carrot in small amounts as a treat and I will give a bunch of celery or a whole cauliflower between the 7 which they seem to be fine with. Also I give them branches off a nearby hawthorn hedge and whilst I was at my mums, twigs and leaves off the fruit trees (pear, apple, peach, raspberry, strawberry, bramble and plum) as well as rose leaves and thistles. I give veg about once a week and the other stuff 2 or 3 times a week.

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Ooh, we have one just down the road, I'll check it out.

And I meant to ask - how do you forage?! There's a huuuge park at the end of our street and I went for a walk with the intention of picking stuff but my boyfriend wasn't sure if we'd be allowed, and I was just overwhelmed because every tree/plant looked different. I could have come out with a million different things but I didn't want to bring it all home and find it's useless/unsafe. Do you look up safe stuff and try to memorise what the plants look like? Or do you just take a chance and look it up when you get home? I'm not particularly green-fingered, I couldn't name a plant if you paid me, lol.

Most forage is just weeds so I doubt anyone would have a go at you for taking some bramble leaves! Just take from high up where dogs can't have peed.

I pick all ours on our allotments and in our garden. I also grow things like lemon balm which some consider a weed but I love, bunny edible and beautiful scent. If you have allotments locally you could ask if you can pick stuff from the communal areas in exchange for some bunny compost

Elena said:

Most forage is just weeds so I doubt anyone would have a go at you for taking some bramble leaves! Just take from high up where dogs can't have peed.

I pick all ours on our allotments and in our garden. I also grow things like lemon balm which some consider a weed but I love, bunny edible and beautiful scent. If you have allotments locally you could ask if you can pick stuff from the communal areas in exchange for some bunny compost

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My boyfriend said we should do that! I'm amazed anyone would ever take it :lol: I might pluck up the courage and go and ask.

Hi guys ...
Really nice talking about veggies and also really nice above comments, guys, i also want to say something about this topic, guys, i also really like many veggies but specially i like carrots, peace, cauliflower are my favorite veggies, because it's too for my body and health...

fine dining gold coast

I have fed my two quite a lot of veg twice daily in Winter, especially when it was snowing outside, and not had a problem! They did seem to be good at eating only as much as they wanted though and they do eat lots of hay (and grass when outside). I think it may depend on the rabbits.

The only time I've had problems with sticky poos is when I've fed oats.

My rabbits are fed veges twice a day at 6am and then again at 7pm.

Each time they get per rabbit:

Half a baby corn, 1 sugar snap, half leaf spring greens (has to be dark they won't eat the light), 1 small sprig of broccoli, 3 sprigs of dill, 3 sprigs of curly parsley, 3 sprigs of flat leaf parsley, half sprig of mint, 3 sprigs coriander, half leaf nero cabbage.

They have unlimited hay and don't get fed pellets unless or need to gain weight.

All my buns is are the correct weight and don't suffer from mucky bums

When in the summer.spring they get forage too.

The idea of giving no pellets makes me very nervous! I'm not saying it's wrong, it's just not right for me. :wave:

I bought Dill tonight. Jessie LOVES it :thumb: I've been keeping her to carrot tops and herbs and she's absolutely fine, no messy poos. It's just a case of whether I stick with that or whether I want to find out what upset her tum and then keep her the same as everyone else minus whatever she can't tolerate. Thoughts?

Estelle and Frankie have access to unlimited amounts of hay and weather permitting out on grass.
They each have an eggcup full of ss per day and for teatime a small amount of parsley, coriander, mint and then add either a small amount of carrot, carrot top, dill, apple, broccoli or spring greens.

Both do excellent poops and rarely any excess caecotrophs.

Took me a long time to work out what exactly suited them.

Mine get unlimited hay top ups twice a day, an 1/8 cup or two tablespoons of pellets spread between morning and evening. That never changes. Then for greens it really depends on the season and what's growing and available. I'd list everything but I'd be here for ages Any gluts of things that are dryable ie. brambles I dry and save for winter. I'd say they get greens (either fresh or dried) every other day in summer and once or twice a week in winter.

The only dietary problems mine get are Smudge and his stasis episodes which I'm sure are more behavioural than diet related, and Mini who occassionally leaves cecals but that is MUCH improved from what it used to be like.

I must be really lucky with Poppy as she can eat anything and everything She gets hay in the morning, handful of pellets...same on a night and at some point during the day she gets some of whatever veg is in the fridge and herbs from the garden. I try to keep things different for her so if she gets veg one day I will trim some branches off a fruit tree/bush/herb plant the next, loads of grass the day after etc. We stuff tubes with hay and pellets to keep her busy, basically as long as she is munching shes happy:lol::lol::lol: