hln917
Well-Known Member
Lately Baci has been eatiing alot of greens. We give him the boxed Earthbound Baby Romaine and Baby Lettuce. He's been going thru one 5 oz box a day. Is this too much?
Amount of Greens/lettuce
- Thread starter hln917
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slavetoabunny
Well-Known Member
We recently got scolded by our vet for feeding to many greens. The vet said they should get an amount approximately equal to the size of their head everyday. I'm afraid I'm guilty for giving them too much.
jcottonl02
Well-Known Member
The House Rabbit Society say that rabbits should get a minimum of 2 cups of veggies per 6lbs of body weight every day.
I think ultimately you just have to see what your individual buns are like, what gives them the runs, what disagrees with them etc. Play it a little by ear, but take into account the general guidelines.
My buns get a lot of veggies, because they adore it, and I know it doesn't upset their tums, but there are some veggies I limit eg. broccoli and cabbage, because this can cause gas if fed in high amounts.
Jen
I think ultimately you just have to see what your individual buns are like, what gives them the runs, what disagrees with them etc. Play it a little by ear, but take into account the general guidelines.
My buns get a lot of veggies, because they adore it, and I know it doesn't upset their tums, but there are some veggies I limit eg. broccoli and cabbage, because this can cause gas if fed in high amounts.
Jen
elrohwen
Well-Known Member
I don't really believe you can give too much and know many experienced rabbit owners and vets who recommend feeding more than the bun will eat in a day. For my small holland lop, I give him veggies at least equal to his own body volume every day (he's compact). He can easily eat half a head of romaine lettuce in just one day. This is probably more than the minimum recommendation of 2 cups that the HRS recommends, but then again, that is a mimimum. He probably gets around 3 cups for his 4.5lb body weight.
I agree with my vet that hay should be the primary food, then veggies, then pellets last. My smaller bun is only a year old so I haven't given him less than 1/4c yet, but eventually I think my buns will be down to just a few tbsps per day with a large part of their diet made up of veggies.
Of course, some buns do not handle veggies well, so what works for my buns won't work for all. But if a bun can handle veggies, I don't think there is really a maximum amount (at least according to HRS guidelines) and I would at least be giving 2 cups per 6lbs body weight as per the guidelines..
Patti, I'm surprised that your vet recommended so little. Did he give a reason? Or research? I ask because that seems to go against the HRS guidelines and I'd love to know his source.
I agree with my vet that hay should be the primary food, then veggies, then pellets last. My smaller bun is only a year old so I haven't given him less than 1/4c yet, but eventually I think my buns will be down to just a few tbsps per day with a large part of their diet made up of veggies.
Of course, some buns do not handle veggies well, so what works for my buns won't work for all. But if a bun can handle veggies, I don't think there is really a maximum amount (at least according to HRS guidelines) and I would at least be giving 2 cups per 6lbs body weight as per the guidelines..
Patti, I'm surprised that your vet recommended so little. Did he give a reason? Or research? I ask because that seems to go against the HRS guidelines and I'd love to know his source.
OakRidgeRabbits
Well-Known Member
On the other hand, I and many experienced breeders don't suggest greens as a main portion of the diet at all.
A friend of mine worked at a rabbit rescue for many years and said that most of the rabbits who came in with excess weight (whether this meant chunky or obese) had been on veggie diets. It also seemed that a lot of the rabbits had gut sensitivities and digestion complications seemed to be more common while they were on a heavy veggie diet.
So I personally, along with many others, would only recommend greens as treats.
Opinions vary, you'll just have to decide for yourself what you think may be best and then it's mainly trial and error, like anything else. Just like opinions on raising human babies differ, same for rabbits.
A friend of mine worked at a rabbit rescue for many years and said that most of the rabbits who came in with excess weight (whether this meant chunky or obese) had been on veggie diets. It also seemed that a lot of the rabbits had gut sensitivities and digestion complications seemed to be more common while they were on a heavy veggie diet.
So I personally, along with many others, would only recommend greens as treats.
Opinions vary, you'll just have to decide for yourself what you think may be best and then it's mainly trial and error, like anything else. Just like opinions on raising human babies differ, same for rabbits.
kirbyultra
Well-Known Member
hln917 wrote:
How big is Baci again? His pics make him look a little small, maybe 4-5 lbs? I generally go by the HRS standard of "minimum of 2 cups" per day per 5lbs of bunny as well but I always have to wonder, gee what does "2 cups" of something like fresh greens even look like? :? Depending on what we're talking about, it's variable in size, shape, weight, volume, nutritional value, nutritional content, etc.
As a personal guideline, 1 cup of vegetable in volume is about the size of my fist. But I, too, feed my bunnies tons more than the recommended "minimum". My buns each have a 10" plate and it's filled with a giant mound of veggies twice a day. I know which veggies their tummies can handle and I feed that as a staple with some variables to keep it interesting and also for nutritional variety. They love their salads and they do fine on it. I discovered one of my buns (Penny) produces uneaten cecals when I give her too much greens or too much pellet food. So she only gets 1 plate a day.
And I know you're a very attentive bunny mom so you know when your buns' output isn't normal or something is off. I would just look at what is "normal" for them and adjust if necessary. Usually if I start to see somebun's poo getting too small or wet, I might decrease variety and amount of greens to force them to eat more hay. If they are getting furry poos, I might decrease pellet allowance and give them more hay and more greens to push things along. If Baci is doing fine and his weight is good, I don't think there is something wrong.
On the other hand, if you wanted to feed Baci less than a whole box of greens for whatever reason, I think that is fine too.
My question is, how do you afford all of that Earthbound vegetation?! :rofl:
How big is Baci again? His pics make him look a little small, maybe 4-5 lbs? I generally go by the HRS standard of "minimum of 2 cups" per day per 5lbs of bunny as well but I always have to wonder, gee what does "2 cups" of something like fresh greens even look like? :? Depending on what we're talking about, it's variable in size, shape, weight, volume, nutritional value, nutritional content, etc.
As a personal guideline, 1 cup of vegetable in volume is about the size of my fist. But I, too, feed my bunnies tons more than the recommended "minimum". My buns each have a 10" plate and it's filled with a giant mound of veggies twice a day. I know which veggies their tummies can handle and I feed that as a staple with some variables to keep it interesting and also for nutritional variety. They love their salads and they do fine on it. I discovered one of my buns (Penny) produces uneaten cecals when I give her too much greens or too much pellet food. So she only gets 1 plate a day.
And I know you're a very attentive bunny mom so you know when your buns' output isn't normal or something is off. I would just look at what is "normal" for them and adjust if necessary. Usually if I start to see somebun's poo getting too small or wet, I might decrease variety and amount of greens to force them to eat more hay. If they are getting furry poos, I might decrease pellet allowance and give them more hay and more greens to push things along. If Baci is doing fine and his weight is good, I don't think there is something wrong.
On the other hand, if you wanted to feed Baci less than a whole box of greens for whatever reason, I think that is fine too.
jamesedwardwaller
Well-Known Member
lagamorph,,diet/nutrition.::-nondigestible fibers.ie.timothy/orchard grasses,,this makes up 70% of the rabbits necessary diet,,...for vitamins and nutrition a small amount of quality lowfat pellets,,why,because they are a digestible fiber--they are soft-rabbits little bellies will fillup quick,,which over a short period of time will cause major health problems for the rabbit.//.their teeth grow forever-or 3mm per week--so in a short period of time-due to no chewing,,teeth are misaligned,,spurs,,whatever,etc,infection sets in,,gi-stasis is not far away.,the pain causes stress,,which in itself triggers-infections- pasturella,,coccidiosis,etc.//prey animals hide their illness from predators to the point of dying.//.grasses/dry/or fresh contain silica(friction)is the result self trimming the teeth,,everything starts in the mouth,,and must go all the through/there are no muscles for throwing up/out anything-they suffocate and die.//.their are websiteslike-house of rabbit,,adopt a rabbit,where safe/usafe/plants/vegy,s/meds lists can be obtained/adhere-to them,,-the rabbit fate is in our hands//-anything that is a digestible fiber is a treat,,chewing on fruit tree branches/twigs are great for the teeth and gi-tract,,again adhere to the safe list of trees,,-sincerely james waller..pm me if you you are in doubt..
