Noticing some disagreement on how much veggies and pellets rabbits should have...

[Kjrichings]

So we've had one of our rabbits about a month and a half now, she's apparently 6 months-ish and probably one of the biggest learning curves since getting her has been the diet.

How much do rabbits eat and of what? Whats safe? Whats the reccommended amount of different types of food? etc...

Obviously everyone agree's, fibre is mucho important for rabbits, it should make up the majority of their diet in the form of good quality timothy hay, which i generally just make sure is fully available at all times to the buns and use it for extra bedding too. I don't bother with a hay rack.

Pellets? Not needed? Thats the general consensus, they're just their for convenience, and buns like them most of the time, but theres SOOO many different brands for different ages and breeds, it's a bit crazy really. So if I have 2 Rex's, one 6 weeks old, and the other 6 months, how much should I be feeding the rabbits a day? How do I make sure they get enough of the right stuff in these pellets? They haven't been introduced yet so are in separate cages, both have been unwell lately with runny poo (I've posted another thread in health about this), and are both used to different pellets having only got the youngest 3 days ago and then having to rush him to hospital. Anyway... What should Do people have suggestions for the ideal brands with maximum fibre for these buns? How many grams should be provided daily and when? Better to space out the portions? I wondered if we had any experts or all knowing bunny owners with this info please?

And then theres the veggies, and this is where things seem to get very interesting, I see some owners talking about foraging and all sorts, and by the sound of it are giving their rabbits lots of veg every day. Which im not criticizing at all, but then Im told by my vet, the pet shop, and lots of googling that rabbits should ideally receive no more than a 50p sized portion of veg a day and no more than 10 minutes grazing time if placed outside. There's various lists of what veggies are best and safe for buns, and they tend to agree with small, small portion sizes, much to my rabbits disappointment but i'm just wondered where peoples opinions actually swung on this?

 

[bunny momma]

You are right that diet is one of the items that can cause the most issues for bunnies.
From my own experience and reading this forum there is no one size fits all answer.

Rabbits do not digest their food like humans. In addition to the digestion in their stomach, they have a much larger area called their Cecum such uses microbes to extract more value from foods they eat.
The microbes can get out of balance and that can be very painful and life threatening for a bunny.

Rabbits also are grazers so having continuous hay and high fiber will keep their digestive tract moving.
A low fiber diet will be cause their digestion to slow or even stop (GI stasis) where the system stops moving-causing pain, gas, overgrowth of certain bacteria, etc.

One problem with giving too much pelleted food for an adult rabbit is they may not eat as much hay,which is better for their digestion; plus they get overweight.
That being said, I have owned adult bunnies that required pelleted food to give them the energy they needed to maintain their weight.
Many brands were made for commercial use or for does in production-so they may not be suitable for use in a pet bunny.
I live in the USA and what is available varies by location. Some stores now stock the Oxbow Timothy hay based pellets I previously had to purchase online for adult bunnies. I have also used other brands.
Whatever brand you use, watch the production dates-old pellets can get rancid, moldy, or lose their nutrients or lose their taste. Don't be tempted to buy the huge bag just because it costs less per pound.
Watch how the store and you store the pellets-away from fertilizers/chemicals and in a cool dry place. The same goes for your hay.

When changing brands of pellets, or even when going to a fresh bag, I always make the change slowly by mixing old and new until they are just on the new.

In the Spring I saw many posts on this forum about bunnies with tummy aches after being allowed to eat too much Spring grass at once. The same goes for vegetables. Introduce small quantities of a single item at once. That way you can determine what items your particular bunnies can tolerate and in what quantities.

I am sure the veteran members of this forum can give you more information. Good luck with your bunnies.

 

[Silverleaf]

With pellets, I read to feed 25g per kg of adult weight per day.

My bunnies are Netherland Dwarfs and not fully grown yet - I expect them to reach 1kg. I give them 12g of Excel Junior and Dwarf and 3 Fibafirst sticks each.

I know many people feed just hay and veggies and their bunnies do fine, but personally I'd worry that they might not get all the vitamins and protein they need without a few pellets.

As for veg, mine eat a lot of forage and no "human veg" or fruit at all apart from tiny bits as occasional treats. I give them a lot more wild green stuff than I would veggies, but they love it and I keep a close eye on their poo to make sure it's agreeing with them. As with any food I made sure to introduce it slowly and they never get too much of any one plant because I like to give them as much variety as possible.

 

[tstait45]

Noticing some disagreement on how much veggies and pellets rabbits should hav...

I tend to feed my boys a bit ad-hoc to stop them getting too demanding at set times, but give a bit of structure too as thats what bunnies like. Lets say plus or minus 30-60 minutes.

They always have loads and loads of hay available all day long. Timothy, meadow camomile etc. Then they usually get a handfull of pellets in the morning, otherwise they get stroppy.

Late afternoon they get a 'mixed salad' mainly greens like spring greens, green beans, some broccoli etc. Sometimes a little carrot or something as a treat.

Then at (our) bedtime they get a couple of handfuls of pellets with some dried forage of some sort mixed in.

There are the odd treats given and pellets from the hand too, but I completely agree that from what I read, it is hard to tell what is right and wrong.

That being said my boys are happy and healthy, have golden poops and good teeth, so I'm pretty confident that we are doing ok with them.

I have noticed though that what other people say their rabbits love, mine will not necessarily be that bothered about, so its a bit like trial and error, but making sure its bunny safe first.

 

[tulsi]

Mine have hand picked grass and hay first thing. More grass and hay early afternoon. Muesli (rabbit royale, being slowly changed to forage and a bit of redigrass) and more hay in the evening.

They are all healthy and lively.

 

[Helenmarie85]

Mine have unlimited hay all day and night and a small pot (i'd say about 2/3 inches high) twice a day between them. They are happy and bounding about. They also get the odd bot of cuccumber and carrot here and there.

 

[Julia25]

These are my views:

Hay - Timothy is best but as its expensive i feed normal hay i get at the farm shop which i think is Meadow Hay. Then buy special hay like the excel, timothy or hay experts that are more on the pricey side and feed this either a little mix with their normal hay or a metal ball feeder.

Pellets - I found somewhere online a table which showed the different rabbit pellets available and it was really interesting as it showed the amount of fibre, fat etc etc on it. The best ones where Science Selective and Burgess Excel. I use Burgess Excel and feed 1-2 eggcups full once a day in winter and summer it like a 'treat' which i feed 3 times a weeks or more.

Veggies - i'm stuck as well on veggies, in winter i don't feed them often (once a month?:roll as there not as fresh and nutriosous in my opinion. In the summer i fed them leftovers of broccoli stalks (all year round actually) and sometimes bought specific food every month (3 weeks) and fed that, otherwise i went and got tree leaves, grass, weeds and things that you can find on a walk in the park.

Someone inspired me by saying to make your rabbits life as natural as possible, including their diet. You wouldn't find kale in the middle of woods? no, probably not. What you would find is grass, trees, leaves, weeds and possibly blackberry bushes and nettles.

I hope this helped :wave: and i tried to make it easy to read as i hate reading massive paragraphs that don't have any paragraphs and ramble and ramble :lol::lol:

 

[Julia25]

Also! forgot to mention, in the summer i put them out on the grass for the whole day while I'm away if it's not too bad weather and in the winter i'll hand pick grass and put them on hard surface as the ground gets icky, muddy and doesn't grow very quickly.

 

[hrl20100]

Mine get two egg cup scoops of food twice per day (a little more in the winter as they are outside) along with hay 24/7 which is the main part of their diet.
They get a small handful of fresh veggies every other day (broccoli, cucumber, carrot, kale, parsley, cabbage etc etc) and it varies what veggies they get.

In the summer they are in the runs a LOT so most of their diet I would say is grass as they love the stuff.

 

[Scrappy's Little Helper]

I have to admit when I first got Scrappy it took me a while to get my head around what types and quantity of veg, and how many pellets to feed. In the end I've found the best approach is to be guided by the individual bunny, as long as they're maintaining a healthy weight, still eat plenty of hay, do good poos and don't leave uneaten or malformed caecals and have no tummy issues (eg bloat or gas) then I'm assuming I've got the quantity of greens and pellets about right. For the greens themselves I prefer to feed forage and herbs rather than veg.

 

[Omi]

First thing to say is if you have Rexes they are very gorgeous, but also in my opinion as a breed very greedy rabbits - we have three Rexes and there is not very much they have ever turned their noses up at! They also would have you believe that they are always hungry.

I hand feed them 6 Science Selective pellets each every morning. They also share a small tray of the same pellets mixed with Fibafirst every evening. Hay is always available and refreshed daily. I also provide natural forage and so they have this several times a day. What this actually is depends on the season, but every day they have some sort of tree leaves/branches in addition to wild plants. We grow our own vegetables also, so they occasionally have things like kale and spinach. I never feed fruit and always monitor their droppings for signs of problems. Good luck and enjoy your lovely rabbits.