Feeding Amount ?

[Sabine]

I would think it depends a lot on the pellets too. Some are hay based and have up to 20 % fibre and others have more cereal and only around 10 %. I'd be careful with the latter. The other problem I find is that the more pellets they eat the less hay they consume but turn it into litter

 

[mistyjr]

 

[mistyjr]

Anybody eles??

 

[jcottonl02]

mistyjr wrote:

My aunt told me no fruit or veggies until they are 6 months old because they will get diahrea and will die..

Erm...... that's quite a misconception.:?

Very young rabbits should not have fruit/veggies because of their sensitive digestive system.
However, rabbits older than about 11/12 weeks can quite easily be introduced to them- I would never have a rabbit that wasn't fed lots of wonderful different veggies!!!
Obviously different rabbits have different tolerances to them, and amounts, but mine have always loved their veg, and have never had any problems with it.

Slowly begin to introduce them, one at a time, so you will see which ones (if any) will possibly give your rabbit a bit of the 'runs' so to speak. Some veggies just don't agree with some rabbits, like some foods do with us.
Then gradually build them up until they make up part of their diet (rabbits can obvioulsy live without them, but I can't imagine not giving my bun a wide variety of mixed, interesting and wonderful foods).

IF you give a 5 week old baby LOADS of veggies and fruit, and she scoffs them all, and doesn't eat her hay etc. then, yes, that could be dangerous, due to her sensitive digestive system and the fact that she is not used to them at all!

They need to get used to them first, before they become a normal addition to their diet.

Rabbits up to 6 months old should have unlimited, good quality pellets (eg. Burgess/Oxbow), and unlimited good quality, fresh hay.

I would suggest reading up about veggies and diet in the Library- there's lots of great info.

 

[mistyjr]

I know everything about this fruit and veggies!! Thanks though.. I wanted to know about how much people feed there bun's..

 

[jcottonl02]

mistyjr wrote:

Well I need to know how much to feed them a day?

I thought you wanted advice about how much to feed your rabbits? Sorry- I didn't mean to give you a long speech if u already knew it.

mistyjr wrote:

My aunt told me no fruit or veggies until they are 6 months old because they will get diahrea and will die..

I'm not sure that is entirely true. I was just explaining that, although there is definately a danger to introducing too many veggies too fast, and to a rabbit that is too young, a rabbit above about 12 weeks should be absolutely fine with veggies, if introduced slowly and incorporated into the diet naturally.

 

[mistyjr]

It's alright Jen!! Dont applogize... I just wanted to know how much too the feed the bunnies! From everyone... Because I some over weight bunnies that I need to figure out

 

[jcottonl02]

There are some special "diet" pellets you can get from Burgess, for those slightly podgy buns who love their food

http://www.gjwtitmuss.co.uk/RABBITP..._medium=pricecomp&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping


I would also try cutting back pellets, and encouraging more hay and veggies (if they aren't getting many veggies atm).

 

[mistyjr]

They are getting plenty veggies and herbs.. But when we run out they get more hay then they useally get... But I been reading around on RO, and heard from some people that sometimes they dont give them pellets everyday.. Just more hay, ect... So that is why I was wondering

 

[jcottonl02]

Many people give totally different diets. Some give an all-veggie diet (I'm sure that would only work for a select few buns, though it can be done), all pellet diet (I wouldn't recommend that really, even if just for variety for the bun. They say it is complete, but tbh I don't like to feed any of my animals on a 100% processed diet), or pellets and veggies (obviously hay is included with all of these).

Hell, when I got Pippin, I was told he was on an all hay diet. I was kinda shocked. I can tell you, when he tasted his first mouthful of veggies, you could just see his eyes light up. However, that kinda worked out well for him, because now he eats TONNES of hay every day, I guess because he is so used to eating lots of it, which is fantastic.

I personally give:

Unlimited hay, a good handful of Burgess pellets (slightly differing amounts to each bun, cos Pippin is quite a bit bigger than Benji), and a selection of 3 different veg a day eg. carrot, rocket, romaine lettuce, cabbage, broccoli (limited amounts though, as this can give gas to some buns), bok choy etc. They go crazy for it. And the occasional fruit piece treat- eg. a chunk of apple, small bit of banana (v. small), some craisins etc. And sometimes they get a pinch of oats too, which I think they love the most- they SHOVE their ickle faces into my hand to munch the oats in a frenzy

 

[mistyjr]

haha...

 

[bunnybunbunb]

My babies are two weeks old and I just started cutting greens up into tiny pieces and putting in the nest boxes with pellets for them. I have always started grasses and greens at a very young age with no problem. When I let my does raise their babies out in the building starting at 3 weeks the babies would go into the grass in cages with their moms to eat.

I find rabbits who eat greens and fresh grasses are so much healthier. I have stopped giving any to rabbits before, watch their condition slip, start giving them greens back, and watch them blossum again in no time.