Diets! Answer A.S.A.P! Thanks in advance!

[Queen]

1. What do you have to give your rabbit in order for him/her to maintain teeth length?
2. How many times a day do you feed your rabbit?
3. How many times a week do you give your rabbit carrots and other fruits?
4. What types of food do you have to feed your rabbit?
5. What type of brands do you recommend when you buy food?
7. How many times a week do you change the bedding of a rabbits cage?
8. How big should a rabbit's cage be? And how much?
9. Any diseases that I have to be aware of?


Please answer A.S.A.P! Thank you!~:halo

 

[Maureen Las]

1) Different varieties of really good quality hay and dried grasses is the most important thing to keep teeth ground down. You can also supply wood chew toys or actually give rabbit dried branches of "safe" trees. etc or blocks of wood

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11901&forum_id=10

2) Rabbits should always have hay available and unless you have a baby rabbit you can choose to feed pellets and veggies according to your own schedule . Since rabbits are most active in early morning or early evening you may want to feed them then. I feed veggies once a day and pellets once a day but many people feed several times per day

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12046&forum_id=17


3) I never feed carrots or fruit but some folks may give a small carrot a day or a small piece of fruit daily


4) You have to feed a good quality hay and a small amount of a good quality pellet; if the bun is a baby pellets should be free fed

veggies do not absolutely have to be fed but rabbit love them

5) See the articles on pellets. Many people on this forum feed Sweet Meadows Pellets or Oxbow but it is not absolutely essential to buy high end. For an adult rabbit you want a high fiber, low fat low protein pellet either timothy or alfalfa, however the ingredients on the back of a package should be recognizabl /,...for ex "forage products" tells me nothing.

you also want a plain brown pellet and not a pellet with seeds, nuts and other junk mixed in.

7)A rabbit doesn't really need bedding if the rabbit has a litter box. the litter box should be kept clean ..maybe changed every ther day or so depending on how big it is or how messy the rabbit is.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12084&forum_id=17

8)http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11792&forum_id=17

9) Scroll down the home page to the lagomorph library and you can read of most ailments that can afflict rabbits

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

My rabbits get hay and lots of it. They also have other toys, but don't really chew them enough to make a difference in the teeth. Loose hay is the best thing to keep the teeth in good condition.

I give pellets twice a day and hay as needed, but usually once or twice a day depending on the rabbit. Veggies are every other day.

I don't give carrots or fruit, just leave green veggies 3-4 times a week as part of their regular diet. I also don't give other treats on a regular basis, it might be once or twice a month if I remember.

Korr and Amelia are both fed Oxbow BB/T as their pellets. They each get 1/4 cup per day. Lillian and Ginny are on Master Feeds which is a feed store brand and they each get 1/2 cup per day. Lillian and Ginny are Angoras and need the extra protein and this pellet works for them. I use hay from a farm and it is a timothy/grass mix.

I scoop out the litter boxes 3-4 times a week (every other day). About once a week I scrub out the boxes and add new litter. When I just scoop out the boxes, I also sweep out the cage and wipe it down if needed, I also clean the food and water dishes at this time too. I wash the blankets in the cage as needed, it usually ends up being about once a month. I use wood pellets in the litter boxes.

The cage should be big enough for the rabbit to take 3 hops from end to end, to lay down and stretch in both directions and to stand up without touching the top. There also needs to be room for the litter box, food dishes, toys and a place to hide. I would go for a cage at least 2X3ft, but bigger is better. The cost does not matter and long as it is big enough. Rabbits should also have time out of the cage to run around, so a rabbit proofed room or some x-pens will be needed for safety.

There are some rabbit medical issues that you should be aware of. One of the most important things is to know what is normal for your rabbit and be able to get treatment when something does happen. Rabbits are prey animals and will hide illness until they can't anymore. Not eating or drinking, not peeing or pooping or having very small poops is not good. Not having eaten in 24 hours is an emergency, the same goes for not peeing or pooping. Also watch for signs of pain like sitting in a corner and not wanting to move, grinding the teeth loudly, acting aggressive when you know they are not normally like that. While there are disease that you should look up, the most important thing is to know when your rabbit is not acting normal and doing something about it.

 

[kirbyultra]

I agree with what's been said already. Ditto on the fruits and carrots. It's a rare treat for my rabbits. I do give them a plate of fresh greens every day like others have said.

Link to Library:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_category.php?id=5

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Queen wrote:

1. What do you have to give your rabbit in order for him/her to maintain teeth length? Hay. Hay. and more hay! Hay really is the best source for maintaining those short teeth! I would give tree branches if I safe ones readily available.
2. How many times a day do you feed your rabbit? Two times a day.
3. How many times a week do you give your rabbit carrots and other fruits? Not often. More so in the spring/summer. Carrots have a LOT of sugar, so for my herd, sugar is something that is kept in check, as too much can cause weight gain. Same thing goes for bananas. My herd usually gets apple chunks, and blackberries & watermelon rinds.
4. What types of food do you have to feed your rabbit? Just plain pellets & hay. They get grass anywhere from once a month to daily. It just really depends. In the summer they get grass weekly, as well as blackberry leaves and a whole assortment of things.
5. What type of brands do you recommend when you buy food? It really depends on what's in your area, but any plain pellet works. Pellets with the colourful bits in them are not safe!
7. How many times a week do you change the bedding of a rabbits cage? Anywhere from every 7 days, to every 10 days. It depends on how bad they are, if they can last a bit longer, etc. They are on wire floors, so they have trays beneath them; they aren't sitting in their pooh or pee.
8. How big should a rabbit's cage be? And how much? Standard size, 24x24. I wouldn't go much smaller than 18x18 for grow-out cages, but the bigger, the better.
9. Any diseases that I have to be aware of? For us breeders, there are quite a few that come into play more often than pet owners. Mostly though, it's just illness & injury.

Please answer A.S.A.P! Thank you!~:halo

I thought I'd give you my regimen, being as how I'm a breeder, it's most likely different than other's.

Emily

 

[Runestonez]

1. What do you have to give your rabbit in order for him/her to maintain teeth length?
We make wooden toys for our rabbits to chew,as well as cardboard mazes and cardboard toys. But hay is the big one for them!

2. How many times a day do you feed your rabbit?
We feed our rabbits at night.
We give them their pellets and veg right before we go to bed...and they have unlimited hay for during the daytime.

3. How many times a week do you give your rabbit carrots and other fruits?
We give each of our kids a small treat with their greens...a sliceof apple...a grape or a couple of carrot medallions. Then of course there are all the treats theysucker out of me during the day! They get oat groats and craisins for breakfast treats...and dried currants for treats about9pm in the evening.

4. What types of food do you have to feed your rabbit?
We feed Oxbow pellets...they get 6-7 cups of veg each night (5 different types each night)...and a mix of timothy, brome and orchard grass hay.

5. What type of brands do you recommend when you buy food?
We have used both Martins and Oxbow...but we prefer Oxbow now.

7. How many times a week do you change the bedding of a rabbits cage?
Our kids have carpeted cages...so we scoop their litterboxes every 3-4 days, and give the cages a quick vacuum in the morning.

8. How big should a rabbit's cage be? And how much?
Our cages for single bunns are 28" x 28" and two levels...our cages for bonded pairs are 28" x 42" and two levels. We use NIC's so if we need more room or less we just add or remove panels!

9. Any diseases that I have to be aware of?
Nothing too unusual...nothing any worse than you would deal with if you had a cat or dog...although E.C. is the one that I worry about the kids getting! So we keep our kids indoors! Too many raccoons in our area for me to be comfortable!