MATH

[MATH]

I recently took my bunny to the vet and she gave us all sorts of info on diet. She had me change my feeding around a bit. She wants me tointroduce watercress, zucchini, cilantrointo his diet.Feed a little less carrots and celery. My rabbit has taken to the new foods nicely, except he always leaves his zuchinni. He has never left any particle of food in his life.

I know on the questionaire I filled out at the vets asked if he left out any part of his diet... So before I call the vet and interrupt her busy schedule, is this just taste prefrence or potentially something else?

 

[pamnock]

Zucchini has a very high water content and should only be given in moderation. Your rabbit doesn't seem to like it, so I wouldn't try to force it. Our rat doesn't like zucchini either.

Dark leafy greens are good choices.

Pam

 

[SweetSassy]

My vet says to give my bunnies only dark leafy greens. No fruits.

Kale, mustard greens, dandelion greens, romaine, spinach, Parsley, cilantro.

 

[BethM]

My bunnies like zucchini, but I only give them a tiny piece, and only on occasion if I happen to be making it for myself.

Each of my bunnies does seem to have a preferance for or against one or more things, so maybe your bunny just doesn't like it.

I agree that dark leafy greens are very good. Did your vet say anything about parsley? All of my bunnies are great fans of parsley. They love both the curly- and flat leaf (Italian) varieties.

 

[Shainabee]

I agree with parsley.
Both of mine love it. Miley likes to try to fit the hold piece in her mouth while Clyde eats it slow piece by piece - but Miley hates Kale.

They're just like people. Some like it, some don't
haa

 

[tonyshuman]

My guys don't like zucchini.

 

[MATH]

My bunny, Harvey,is going to the vet in a couple of weeks so I'll be sure to have a long talk about his diet. It was actually my rabbit that just passed who actually saw the vet, but she was giving info on both. He doesn't seem to keen on his pellets lately and since they are not essential I may try to wean him off of them. I'm definately going to try to change his diet to a more healthy one with the help of my vet. Thank you for the info

 

[SweetSassy]

My vet thinks it's important for rabbits to eat pellets. They get the extra whatever they need, that they don't get in hay and veggies. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[tonyshuman]

I think of pellets like a vitamin pill--they contain stuff that it's hard to get from other sources. My guys only get a tablespoon each (Tony and Muffin). It's fine to go to a pellet-free diet if you like, but what you'll need is a variety of types of hays (orchard, brome, bermuda, oat, timothy, some alfalfa) to ensure they get the right vitamins, minerals, and protein.

 

[MATH]

*sigh* :?I hate that there is so much info "up in the air" about rabbit care. My vet is reccomended on here/the house rabbit society/bunspace.com. How does this diet sound for a roughly 9 pound rabbit, who is not overweight. I'll confirm the weight with my vet this week and will adjust accordingly.

Breakfast: 1 and 1/2 cup ofveggies

Dinner:
2/3 cup of pellets
1 cup of veggies


Ultimately, I will go with what my vet says, since they went to medical school and thats what I'm paying for haha. However, I would like to know what other experienced rabbit owners give their pets/what their vet has advised so I decide on a final plan with my vet. I already changed up my bun's diet a bit and while he has taken to it nicely, I don't want to change things constantly! thankyou

 

[SweetSassy]

I don't see anything wrong with your rabbits diet. I just wouldn't take the pellets away in the future.

 

[tonyshuman]

That really sounds like a lot. This comes from my own experience and experience at the shelter. The most we'll give a bunny of that size is 1/2c of pellets a day at the shelter, no more. However, age is important. If he's under 8 months, pellets should be unlimited. If he's older, 1/4-1/2 c pellets should be plenty. That's also what the House Rabbit Society advises.

 

[MATH]

While my username may be math, it is an acronym. I amnot so goodat math. A perfect example being that I thought 2/3 c was less than 1/2 c. So you're right that would be alot.

 

[Pipp]

No bunny in my house likes zucchini.

Does your vet have a reason for those rather odd choices? :? Maybe watercress, zucchini and cilantro have a mineral your bunny's short on? Or were they just talking generalities and those were the first veggies he/she thought of? I can see nixing too much carrot (sugar) and celery (not much nutrition).

Did the vet run tests or did your bunny have any symptoms of anything?

sas :bunnydance:

 

[Pipp]

Yes, that's a lot of pellets, very surprising. And its really not a lot of veggies.

The reason so much info differs is they take into consideration so many factors and that doesn't transcribe into one simple instruction.

IE: I have a bunny who won't eat hay so she gets a salad that almost outweighs her.

Rabbits have different metabolisms. A smaller rabbit on a veggie-only diet seriously will eat their weight in greens. (I may be wrong but I think a dwarf needs to be fed more than a Flemish).

Indoor rabbits need pellets more than outdoor rabbits that get vitamins from their environment (sun, grass).

Overweight rabbits need low protein/fat diets, which means hardly any pellets.

Bunnies with consistently white pee should have fewer pellets because of the calcium counts, and if they have sludge or stones, higher calcium veggies should be limited as well.

Bunnies with high metabolisms do better with more pellets for protein and carbs.

Others have sensitive digestive tracts and can't handle veggies at all, others can't handle pellets. Monitor the output.

Bunnies can't exist on just hay, but a variety of hays should be the base of all bunny diets, supplemented by the appropriate mix of pellets and veggies tailored to meet your bunny's needs.

The key really is variety. I give mine a couple kinds of hay, a huge variety of veggies (leafy greens and herbs with one or two coloured veggie per salad), and various mixes of a couple of different kinds of pellets.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[tonyshuman]

Cilantro is really popular with bunnies around here. It and watercress are high in vitamin A but low in calcium, that may be why the vet reccomened them.

I have read that outdoor bunnies need more pellets than indoor ones because they have to regulate their own temperatures, which requires more energy. You're right sas, that everybunny is different. Also, it's common to give dwarves more pellets because of their higher metabolism, but I don't know if a flemish would get less than a dwarf--I give small-medium bunnies less than dwarves, but a bunny that's 10lbs+ would probably need as much as a dwarf.

I'm not a nutrition expert though, I just see different diets around the house and the shelter.