Do you feed your rabbits greens every day?

[RexyRex]

I've been feeding my guys veggies every night, with the occasional off night when I've run out and not stopped at the grocery on my way home from work. On the days after they do not get veggies their hay intake goes WAY up. I'm thinking of only giving them veggies every other day so they will eat more hay. They also get pellets so I think that they are getting enough nutrients to only get veggies every other day. My assumption is that it will be better for them since they will be getting lots more fiber from the hay. How often do you feed veggies?

 

[pla725]

I feed both my rabbits and my fosters veggies and hay everyday. I don't give pellets everyday. They get pellets once or twice a week. I give all veggies twice a day and unlimited hay.

 

[seniorcats]

Mine get salads every day - a mix of 4-5 greens and vegy's, fruit piece twice a week. They each get get a heaping plateful. They each eat a pound of hay a day. These are 8 pound bunnies. They also get slightly less than a 1/4 cup of pellets a day. In 20 years of buny slavedom, I've never had a one get GI stasis. I personally wouldn't change my bunnies' diet for that reason.

 

[Pipp]

seniorcats wrote:

Mine get salads every day - a mix of 4-5 greens and vegy's, fruit piece twice a week. They each get get a heaping plateful. They each eat a pound of hay a day. These are 8 pound bunnies. They also get slightly less than a 1/4 cup of pellets a day. In 20 years of buny slavedom, I've never had a one get GI stasis.

:yeahthat: Except I have 3 to 6 lb bunnies. And there's one non-hay eater. (The only one with dental and rare GI issues). And everybunny gets a daily treat test -- a tiny bit of fruit.



sas :bunnydance:

 

[Luv-bunniz]

Daily Casper gets (per day):

Hay (usually eats about quater of a pound per day)
2 leaves of romaine lettuce
2 or 3 different types of lettuce
1 cherry tomato
A little bit of parsley or coriander
a handful of rocket
about 1/8th of pepper
and approx 1/10th cup of pellets

In the veggies mix I will put different things like:
Round lettuce (dont buy this all the time, quite expensive here :? )
Cranberries (helps prevent UTI's)
Strawberrys
dandelions (free!)
carrots (dont get fed often as they contin alot of sugar)
fresh orchard grass
Apple (contains alot of sugar and can cause sores around the mouth)
Orange
Endive
Kale
Cucumber (I usually only give this on hot days, good for hydration!)
and just a few different fruits (mango, papaya etc).
If you are giving pellets daily then they will provide all the nutrition rabbits need although it is best to feed them veggies at least every other day!

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

my guys get veggies every morning, i have never measured it out but the bowl is usally over flowing, mostly consist of romaine lettuce, and red leaf lettuce, with occasional fruit, and other veggies, it really depends on what is looking good at the super market when i go.



I fill hay several times a day, it is a full time job ,lol. If they need hay they get it, then the pellets they get anywhere between dinner time and bed time. They are "trained" when i bring the veggie bowl over they start running around and jump in thier hay box and wait for their veggies

 

[tonyshuman]

I feed 1c/5lb bunny, two times a day. So that's a total of 2c/bunny/day. They don't eat nearly as much hay as some others. Little bunny Benjamin gets probably 1/2-2/3c twice a day (he's 2.5 lbs). I have heard that you can eliminate veggies in favor of hay if you like, but I know they love veggies and they're getting lots of nutrients from them, so I will continue to feed them. No poop problems over here, unless too much poop and in the wrong spots counts!

ps Luv-bunniz your avatar is so cute! i sat and watched it for a good minute!

 

[naturestee]

I feed veggies and pellets twice a day. None of my rabbits have shown any sensitivity to veggies including the gassy ones. The amount of each varies depending on each rabbit's needs. For example, Fey is about 3.5 lbs, very sensitive to protein and pellets and looses weight at the drop of a hat. In a day she gets almost 1 cup of veggies per pound (so about 3.5 cups), 2 tablespoons of Oxbow BB/T pellets, and she eats a ton of hay. Oberon is about 8 lbs- if I remember right- lazy and prone to weight gain but otherwise healthy. He gets 1/4 cup pellets and about 2 cups of veggies per day plus he eats a good-sized pile of hay. After Loki (5 lbs) started getting molar spurs I cut his pellets from 1/4 cup to 1/8 cup and increased his veggies slightly from 2 cups to about 3. Pellets don't do anything for teeth as they are just crushed but the chewing motions for veggies may help slow down the growth of molar spurs.

I feed at least 4 types of leafy greens with occasional hard veggies like carrot or broccolior small pieces of fruit. For example right now my buns are eating Swiss chard, collard greens, several types of lettuce (garden mix), carrot greens, canned pumpkin because they're molting, and occasional carrot pieces or grapes.

I think it would be better to feed veggies every day, even if it's a lesser amount, than to feed every other day. That way their diet is more consistent and the gut doesn't have to adapt to change as much.

 

[RexyRex]

I'll keep it just the way it is, sounds good to me! I just wasn't sure if it would be more healthy to restrict veggies to up their hay intake. Thanks for the advice!

 

[NZminilops]

My greens/vegies might be a little different to most, as I pick grass and bunny safe weeds for my rabbits every morning, and this is their salad.

It can include:

grass
puha (it's sort of a dandelion looking weed, people eat it too)
dandelion, a leaf or so
apple tree leaves and twigs
plantain, small amount
thistle

 

[undergunfire]

I hardly ever feed veggies or fruits, every once in a while they get a little bit, though. If I make them salads, they go to waste most of the time.

I may start to slowing introduce veggies, though. Sometimes I forget to feed veggies and they go bad in the fridge.


I swear I am losing my memory daily .

 

[juliew19673]

I think it depends on the bun.. Some can take "greens" religiously and others you have to be "SO" careful which what you give them , even though I've heard from others and read that they need "leafy greens" daily.

That being said I give mine a mixture of spinach (sparingly, red leaf lettuce (a good amount - full handful) radish tops (only) and a treat of a banana chip or apple chip or cheerios broken up as a "crouton" on the salad twice a day (when I wake up and when I come home from work).

I've realized to give carrots as "sporadic treats once or twice week with his salad but not everyday that I was as he started to gain weight.. Also he eats "oat hay" that I get from ZoohCorner like it was carrots, so cut back on his pellets and he doesn't seem to notice - but now expects MUCH more hay daily which I'm happy to oblige..

Funny how 1 bun can have such a "dietary" plan that take some time to get down.. I still do not have mine down wholeheartedly, but am gaining on the "curve" so good luck to you and yours and PLEASE post what you find works - I'd be curious and am sure others would be as well!

 

[gentle giants]

My guys only get greens one or twice a week. Other than that, they get about a tablespoon or two of pellets, and plentyof hay. The greens they get are dandelions, clover, and fresh grass, because no way could I afford to get store bought greens for 35 rabbits.

 

[Raspberry82]

Max gets veggies almost every single day (unless I run out for some reason and can't make it to the store for a day), but he is a VERY PICKY veggie eater and always has been which can be frustrating. He only eats fresh herbs, parsley, carrots/carrot tops, romaine lettuce, ocassionally endive or other greens in small bits, loves green beans, and cilantro- that's basically all I can get him to try.. he won't touch peppers or tomatoes or broccoli, etc. But I'm still re-introducing them from time to time and *hoping*.

Veg: I fill a deep cereal bowl full to the top. But he doesn't always finish it, sometimes he eats only half.

He gets 1/4 cup pellets/day. Unlimited hay.

1 tiny piece of fruit 3x a week or carrot piece

Sometimes I wonder if he's getting enough variety in veg into his diet, but he's so darn picky, lol..