High-Fiber Vegetables?

[Bunman]

Daisy does not much like hay. As a result she tends to get soft stools. Anything else i can feed her to provide roughage?

 

[Maureen Las]

Hi... There are many things that you could feedthem but hay is really the best so maybe you could try areally good hay like Oxbow. You can order it delivered to your home andit is much cheaper than in stores. My rabbits love Oxbow hay and/ortheir orchard grass(which you could also order. My buns eat a lot ofveggies like parsley, cilantro, dandelions,romaine, endive,carrot tops,kale etc. .You have to start them out on veggies very slowly one at atime, in small quantities as you want to know what they like or don't,and also whether they get diarrhea from a certain one.Veggies like carrots have high a high sugar content andshould be fed in small amts. as treats...veggies like parsley, kale,collard greens have a high calcium content and should be fed maybe onlyonce ot twice a week so as to prevent a build -up of calcium in thesystem. Rabbits don't eliminate calciom like we do. They can also havefruit like banan and apple as a treat in small amounts

 

[Bunman]

Hmm...i can get some Oxbow soon when i order some tim pellets.

There is some brand of hay at the local pet store but it doesnot look great (yellowish & dried out). I've been giving Daisyjust a little bit of greens - should i cut it off for a while?
She only has a few soft poops a day (big ones), it's not too bad.

 

[SAS]

I remember Brusselsprouts for sure being high infibre, and I think brocoli and cauliflower, but I'll have to checkthose. As Angieluv said, introduce them slowly, don't feedthem for long stretches (rotate the veggies) and esp. with the above,watch for potential gas reactions.

Noprmally I'd say ifyour bun isn't overweight and seriouslyseems to need the roughage (ie: small, shrivelled poops most of thetime), then a teaspoon or two of daily pumpkin won't hurt, but not sureif this is the case with soft stools.

And the highest fibre pellets I've found are the Oxbow Bunny Basics T. They are quite a bit higher in fibre.

PS: You may tryspraying somehay with just a little apple juice.

PPS: Again as Angie said, try experimenting with types of hays andgrasses, maybe you'll find one she likes. There's adifference between first and second cut Timothy, and tons of differentbrands and grasses out there. Timmys is best, orchard isgood, too, just a little richer, etc, etc... Here'sa good link for more info.

http://carrotcafe.com/f/hay.html

SAS

 

[Bunman]

OK...gets a bit confusing but i will try to sortthings out. Thing is, Daisy is only about 3 months old. So would timpellets just be temporary?

Is Flops considered an adult? She is a 9 mo. old lop.

 

[Maureen Las]

It can get confusing as with my first bunny Ididn't know one hay from another. My first bunny Sheba would not eatthe dried yellow type of hay either. It was all they sold where Ilived. It is poor quality hay. Something you might want to look for ina pet store is Kaytee Timothy hay....it is better quality. Alfalfa isfed to very young rabbits but is much to rich for a bunny approachingadulthood. Timothy pellets and timothy hay is what your rabbit shouldhave for its life. When you go shopping look for timothy haybut look for long strands that are greenish and brown and not all driedout looking. What looks good to your eyes is probably what your bunnyis going to like to eat . Believe me if the hay is good hay your rabbitwill love to eat it. It is hard to learn how to feed a bunny right soif this is still to much to take in all at once just keep askingquestions.:bunnydance:

 

[Maureen Las]

Somebody else jump in and clarifythis for me. .. Daisy is 3months old...she can be on timothy hay but Ithink its OK for her to get alfalfa too for a little longer. Flops is 9months old and should just get the timothy. ..as far as greens Iwouldn't feed cabbage,broccoli or anything that is "gasey" but othergreens, slowly introduced, are fine. If you go on on the Oxbow Hay sitethere is a 1-800 number that you can call. The people on that site arereally nice about explaining about the different hays and pellets etc.in a way that is easy to understand.

 

[naturestee]

It depends on the size of the rabbits.Large and giant breeds should be on alfalfa pellets for longer, untilthey stop growing. Small to medium breed rabbits can beswitched to timothy pellets around 6-9 months, although some sourcesrecommend waiting a year. Many people say that young rabbitscan have alfalfa hay too, but that would have been way to rich forMocha to handle. I prefer to just feed timothy hay to startwith, and then they can't fuss when it gets changed.

Some bunnies just take time to learn to like hay. Loki waslike that. Check this thread for ideas on how to convinceyour buns that hay is fun.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=9995&forum_id=1

Veggies generally have lower fiber contents than hay, so they aren't agood replacement for hay. Hay can be replaced to some extentwith pellets, although they don't wear down teeth in the sameway. What brand of pellets are you feeding them?There can be a lot of difference in brands. I've seen reallybad results from feeding stuff like Small World pellets from Walmart,and the only Kaytee type I would ever recommend buying is their TimothyComplete. In general, look for protein 16% or less (lower foradult rabbits) and fiber at least 18%, the higher the better.

 

[Bunman]

Right now i'm feeding Blue Seal because that iswhat is available in the pet store besides huge bags (50 lbs?) of BigRed. I'm planning to order some tim pellets around the middle of themonth & freeze some.

According to one of the pellet maker reps, an unopened bag is good for2 years without freezing. But i imagine there might be a difference inpaper vs. plastic in keeping pellets fresh....