How many dark greens a day?

Number1Sticky · Mar 29, 2012

How much "dark leafy greens" can I give my rabbit a week? Stuff like parsley, spinach, mustard greens, swiss chard & radish tops.

I've read only twice a week, but how much each meal? Should I only give them a few leafs twice a week? I usually split up the veggies I give them now evenly. They get 12 grams of each veggie a day. Would that be too much?

Sorry if this sounds confusing. I don't really know how to word this in a forum.

Thanks for any help!!!

Watermelons · Mar 29, 2012

Daily is fine, alot of people seem to do 1cup per rabbit per day. My guys get a 2qt dog bowl stuffed full every AM.

However you may want to double check some of the veggies you have mentioned. Spinace, Parsley, ____ tops, Kale, and other seemingly healthy dark leafy greens can cause issues with the kidneys or bladder if fed too much. Their all good and safe but in excess lots of veggies out there can lead to problems later in life. There is always something good and something bad probably about every veg out there so, just gotta look around.

You can always rotate what veggies they get so its not the same veggies every day, but introduce any vegetable one at a time, and slowly, so you know if any will cause immediate issues with your bunnies, and you wont stress their system by offering too much all at once when their tummys arent used to them.

jamesedwardwaller · Mar 29, 2012

Number1Sticky wrote:

How much "dark leafy greens" can I give my rabbit a week? Stuff like parsley, spinach, mustard greens, swiss chard & radish tops.

I've read only twice a week, but how much each meal? Should I only give them a few leafs twice a week? I usually split up the veggies I give them now evenly. They get 12 grams of each veggie a day. Would that be too much?

Sorry if this sounds confusing. I don't really know how to word this in a forum.

Thanks for any help!!!

--i offer weeds daily-ie dandylions,grasses,-etc--.these are fed as treats,don,t over indulge--and watch for poopy bums--that means too much,and adjust accordingly--sincerely james waller

mrbunny · Mar 29, 2012

If you're a salad eater, the routine may be very simple. We're big salad eaters in our household and we make our own salads. Our buns simply eat what we eat.

Consistent staples each week that we buy are: lettuce (either red leaf/green leaf/romaine), cucumbers, celery, and tomatoes. We usually buy three other greens to mix into our salad each week. ie. Chicory, spinach, and dill one week; next week will be arugula, dandelions, and radicchio; etc.

This way, the humans get a different variety each week and so do the buns. We try to keep greens that high in oxalic acids on a minimum, but rotated out by the following if we have it the current week.

If this is too complicated, you could also use a chart to keep track of what works well with your buns and what doesn't. I used to have a handwritten chart, but we have since "computerized" their records. We have recently started using Evernote to keep track of our buns' habits and changes, so that way everyone in our household are updated.

[Tomatoes we don't feed to our buns. And two of buns have decided they don't care for cucumber anymore.]

ZRabbits · Mar 29, 2012

mrbunny wrote:

If you're a salad eater, the routine may be very simple. We're big salad eaters in our household and we make our own salads. Our buns simply eat what we eat.

Consistent staples each week that we buy are: lettuce (either red leaf/green leaf/romaine), cucumbers, celery, and tomatoes. We usually buy three other greens to mix into our salad each week. ie. Chicory, spinach, and dill one week; next week will be arugula, dandelions, and radicchio; etc.

This way, the humans get a different variety each week and so do the buns. We try to keep greens that high in oxalic acids on a minimum, but rotated out by the following if we have it the current week.

If this is too complicated, you could also use a chart to keep track of what works well with your buns and what doesn't. I used to have a handwritten chart, but we have since "computerized" their records. We have recently started using Evernote to keep track of our buns' habits and changes, so that way everyone in our household are updated.

[Tomatoes we don't feed to our buns. And two of buns have decided they don't care for cucumber anymore.]

I do the same thing. Have it all "computerized" as well just so I know who likes what, who does like what, who's more affected or least affected.

lol, bunnies don't get tomatoes either. My husband loves our garden ones so he makes sure the bunnies get an extra row of carrots that they love. Evens out.

K