Daily fresh food

C

catbalou

Young Bun
Hi, sorry if this has been posted, but Im getting a LOT of conflicting views on the internet with regards to a rabbits daily fresh food. My Murphy is nearly four months old and Ive been introducing him to greens for the past 4 weeks. So far, he is on unlimited alfalfa hay (until july, when i will gently switch to timothy hay) and he has a small bowl of junior science select pellets and Ive introduced him to spring greens/parsley.
Ive given him a teeny bit of mint today and he seems to love it.

Im aware of the whole "dont feed too much" as it affects the digestive system, but could anyone say that there is ANY greens that are safe to feed every day?

In the past month ive had a lot of fresh food go to waste, as Im only feeding him teeny amounts so as not to make him ill as Ive heard that rabbits can have really fast and terrifyingly fatal illnesses due to certain food intake.

Extra info I can give is that his poop is regular (lots of it) and is from what I can gather from internet resources is normal... its regular round/dry and not slimy or anything.
He's drinking water from a bowl, seems to be really active and in evenings like to settle and watch tv on my lap.

Just want to know Im doing the right thing and any advice on daily food would be great.
 
I'm not surprised that you have found conflicting views about a rabbit's daily fresh food on the internet as it's an issue where people will have different opinions. I think this is probably because rabbits will vary in their ability to tolerate both the quantity of fresh food and also the type. People generally will feed mainly what is easy for them to obtain. So someone with a large garden with vegetables and lots of rabbit-safe wild foods might tend to feed a selection of those, whereas someone living in a flat with no garden might tend to buy their vegetables and herbs from a shop and feed them.

The best way to judge what is best for Murphy is to see what he likes and what has no ill effect on him. There is a basic rule that for each new food, feed a small amount and that day only feed that type of fresh food. That way you will be able to identify foods that he doesn't tolerate well. I like to feed a variety of fresh food to my rabbits, as different plants will provide different nutrients. I also suspect that the quantity of fresh food that I feed is higher than that for many rabbit owners, but I know from experience that my rabbits are OK with this. I don't feed any high calorie vegetables (such as carrots). Nor do I feed any fruit. Herbs are generally very popular. Other people on this forum will probably feed different types of vegetables/herbs/forage to me, but the type should not be prescriptive (as long as it's safe for bunnies obviously). The important criterion for a fresh food is that Murphy likes and tolerates it.

Have a look at these two links. One provides advice for young rabbits and the other for adult rabbits.

https://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/diet-baby.asp

If you have further queries then just ask :)
 
You are doing the right thing.
A rabbit's diet should be mainly hay / grass.
Adult rabbits only need a small amount of pellets daily (or none at all), so reduce the amount when they are fully grown.
Any new food should be introduced slowly, especially for baby rabbits whose digestive system is still changing and sensitive to any changes.

Other useful links:
rabbitwelfare.co.uk

Diet

Digestion Greens veg and herbs To feed or not to feed gas is the question Obesity commercial food and treats Poisonous plants Recommended vegetables and herbs The importance of water Everything you have always wanted to know about foraging for rabbits Rabbit friendly gardens
rabbitwelfare.co.uk rabbitwelfare.co.uk

FEEDING PET RABBITS — Frances Harcourt-Brown

www.harcourt-brown.co.uk www.harcourt-brown.co.uk
 
Thank you both, and thank you for the link.
Im getting into that routine now of cutting the spring greens and parsley and putting them into tubs, ready for morning (before i go to work) and lunchtime when i rush home to spend half an hour with him, and evening time, to spend time and put the greens in various places around his room so he can find them.

Regarding pellets, he does seem to clear his bowl daily (I only put enough to cover the bottom of the bowl which is a standard small ceramic food bowl). Is it ok to feed limited science select junior pellets daily or should it be unlimited?... because believe it or not 5 different internet sources say completely different things and some say "cups" of pellets, which i am assuming is an American thing and some say unlimited pellets, which does raise alarm bells in me tbh.... as in the months before I got him, I researched that he needed 80% hay.

Sometimes the internet really clouds judgement... its stressing me out and Murphy is now looking at me... probably wondering why Im not in bed.

Woke up 3am this morning in bed and he was sitting on my head, made me laugh.

Thank you for advice, and goodnight :)
 
I would only feed unlimited junior pellets to very very young rabbits (i.e. under 8 weeks old and still with mum). After that, the absolute maximum should be 25g/kg, and best to reduce down over the next few months until he's on an adult ration by 6 months (8-10g/kg).
 
Murphy is 4 months old now, still on junior pellets (science select) that I limit to covering the surface of a ceramic bowl, so the bowl tends to be empty at night, but I dont refill until the next morning (even though I feel guilty going to bed with him having an empty pellet bowl!).

Im putting his veg into a cardboard treat-tray i found on amazon, he gets this once a day and on an evening a little bit more lettuce. Can someone let me know that at 4 and half months, is this too little or too much. Attached a pic of a typical tray... its pak choi / lollo rosso / parsley / round lettuce.

I do give him a teeny apple slice once a week on a saturday as he seems to like it, but Im aware its high sugar content, hence the once a week.

Thanks
 

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As long as he's tolerating the greens, it should be fine. Increase the variety and amount slowly, and make sure that he has unlimited hay / grass at all times.
 
What's lollo rosso? Also, thanks for the pic, it helped :). I keep worrying about over/underfeeding my girls greens and veg, your pic reassured me!
 
Shimmer said:
As long as he's tolerating the greens, it should be fine. Increase the variety and amount slowly, and make sure that he has unlimited hay / grass at all times.
Click to expand...
thank you, yes his poops seem to be fine, big and round types. He has alfalfa hay in all 5 of his litter trays that i have in various rooms as he is a free roamer. I do not have access to grass as i live in an apartment. Thanks so much for the feedback, its put my mind at rest
 
Cinnabun14 said:
What's lollo rosso? Also, thanks for the pic, it helped :). I keep worrying about over/underfeeding my girls greens and veg, your pic reassured me!
Click to expand...
lollo rosso is a red lettuce... i googled it for safe rabbit consumption and its OK in moderation. The frustrating thing was that every time i asked the internet "is this ok for my rabbit", the answer was usually "yes... in moderation..." so it made me think what exactly can i feed him DAILY if everything has to be in moderation...!

What ive done is feed my Murphy 4 types of greens, once a day, and a treat at night when we watch a movie together.

Off to watch a film :)
 

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