Not feeding greens?

[Luluznewz]

How important are greens to a rabbits diet. I used to try to feed Lulu some leafy greens but she really didnt seem that into them. It seemed like they got eaten eventually, but it took a while.

So I have sorta tapered off. I give her a handful of what I feed my Tortoise (many of the same things are good for them both) every once and a while, but not on a daily basis.

My question is how important are greens to their health? She gets unlimited hay and high quality pellets. Is that enough? She doesnt seem to really love the greens...so I figured if it wasn't necessary I would just keep them for a once and a while thing.

 

[Runestonez]

Our boy Leo is a picky eater!

Our other bunns will devour 5-7 cups of veggies a day...Leo will pick and poke and eat a dandelion leaf here and there...so frustrating we have been trying to find veg he would like and finally just gave up...we give him about a half cup of mixed veg a day and let him pick and decide what he will eat...but we free feed pellets and hay. He is a brittania petite and is a nice healthy weight. IMO I would still provide a bit of veg that you know she has eaten in the past...just make sure she has hay and pellets to round things out!

Danielle

 

[jcottonl02]

My rabbits get Burgess pellets, fresh veggies, a mouthful of fruit perhaps, sometimes a little pinch of oats as a treat etc. and they just ATTACK the veggies. I give at least three different types of veggy a day and they can't get enough of them.
But maybe some rabbits just don't have the love for veggies that others do, which is strange as in the wild they would just eat grass n whatever veg they found on their grazing rounds lol.

At least you have tried to feed her veggies- every rabbit deserves veggies- but if she just leaves them for days then maybe she isn't a veggie kinda gal. Sounds a bit like me lol! Perhaps try a different variety of veggies? Switch the veggies u give her. Maybe she's the kind of girl who will get fed up of the same veggies.

Try some of these websites (my bibles I have pinned up in my kitchen ) and see some veggies u haven't tried yet, and see if she likes them?

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/safefoods.htm

http://www.adoptarabbit.com/articles/packet/abcvegi.html

The second website says tomato is fine but the greens are toxic, but I always thought tomatoes as a whole weren't good so might be good to check that out.

Remember to always remove seeds, pips and stones, and to not give too much fruit as it's very sugary.

Good luck- I hope she finds some veggies she likes!

Jen

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

Luluznewz wrote:

How important are greens to a rabbits diet. I used to try to feed Lulu some leafy greens but she really didnt seem that into them. It seemed like they got eaten eventually, but it took a while.

So I have sorta tapered off. I give her a handful of what I feed my Tortoise (many of the same things are good for them both) every once and a while, but not on a daily basis.

My question is how important are greens to their health? She gets unlimited hay and high quality pellets. Is that enough? She doesnt seem to really love the greens...so I figured if it wasn't necessary I would just keep them for a once and a while thing.

excellent question,,you have the bases covered/unlimited hay/some quality lowfat pellets.,anything else is a treat//.how this breaks down is as follows,..hay-(24/7)- is non digestible fiber it makes up 70% of the diet,,this is for teeth and gitract,,pellets maybe half a cup,,they are digestible fiber--for nutrition and vitamins,,i like to offer fruit tree branches for chewing/teeth maintenance,,and good for the gitract,,,i also offer dandylions,clover,grasses...you are ahead of the curve/excellent/..sincerely james waller http://jewaller.webs.com :wave:

 

[bunnylove817]

Midas won't eat romaine lettuce unless its the only think I give him, or bok choy, mustard/collard greens, etc. But he loves cilantro. parsley, carrot tops, and kale (although I feed this in small amounts). Every bunny is different, try to see if you can find some different veggies :]. Although I do know that there are plenty of bunnies that live long happy lives without every seeing a veggie.

 

[l.lai]

My bunny was like that but then i started giving him less pellets (only 2 table spoons a day) and i got him to eat his veggies by washing the veggies, then drying them with paper towel and sprinkling the pellets over the top of the veggies.

My bunny loves:

- Celerey and Celery leaves
- Parsley
- Mint
- Carott and carott tops.

 

[Luluznewz]

I really appreciate the advice on what sort of vegetables to try on Lulu. She seemed to like the parsley more than most other greens.

However, I'm still wondering if she can be healthy without regular greens. If I need to give her a certain set quantity a day I can do that, but if not I think I would want to give her a handful less regularly. Any opinions on the necessity from a health standpoint?

 

[l.lai]

As you know hay is a staple and they need LOTS of it for their digestion. Pellets should be fed more sparingly as they get older as they're nutrient dense and over consumption can lead to weight gain which leads to a whole other bunch of health problems.

This means that veggies are a very important source of fibre and nutrients and wont lead weight problems associated with feeding just pellets.

Of course you have to monitor and taper up the veggies you give to your rabbit, they'll like some more than others, but it just takes time to work out

 

[Happi Bun]

There are a few rabbit's at the bun rescue I volunteer with that refuse to eat veggies as well. The ones that never touch their veggies don't seem to have health problems since they are fed hay and high quality pellets. My bun's absolutely love their veggies, I try to offer 2 cups per bun every night. Their favs are Romaine-Green Leaf-Red Leaf lettuces. They also love curly and Italian parsley. Occasionally they have cilantro, but they don't care for it as much, I think due to the strong odor it gives off. I only offer Romaine Lettuce one or twice a month because I noticed it makes Dunkin put out more calcium deposits. I honestly believe a bun can be healthy without veggies! So long as they receive the proper amount of high quality pellets (this has all the vitamins and nutrients they would naturally get), unlimited amounts of grass hay, and plenty of exercise. Of course I believe if the bunnies enjoy eating veggies then it's wonderful to offer them, it does provide additional vitamins and minerals to their diet.

:carrot -Erika

 

[elrohwen]

I strongly believe that veggies are very important for a long healthy life.

My bun is also extremely picky, but I've learned that he likes almost any kind of lettuce (romaine, green leaf, red leaf, escarole, chicory). Many buns like things with lots of scent and flavor, but Otto really just wants bland lettuce, so that's what I give him - he gets probably 3 cups a day (he weighs 4lbs).

I think you should keep trying a few different kinds of veggies and find something that'll she'll eat at least a cup of on a daily basis. It really is best for her health according to recent research. Bunnies meant for breeding or food are fine getting pellets and hay, but the HRS's research on house rabbits indicates that veggies should actually be a bigger part of the diet than pellets. Sure a bunny can live without veggies, but if you can provide them, I don't see why you wouldn't if it's the healthiest thing.

What quantity of pellets are you feeding? Sometimes if you feed too much, it will make your bun less likely to eat veggies.

 

[Luluznewz]

Thanks for your input everyone. It sounds like I need to keep trying to push the veggies on Lulu. She did a little bit better today. I bought a bag of "baby spring greens" from trader joes. She seemed to do better with that because it had a lot of different things in it. She completely ignored the spinach just like my tortoise. Apparently its not only children who dont like spinach.

Anyway, I'll try to get her to eat a cup a day, but at this point I really doubt she will be doing that. Maybe she just needs to get used to it.

Luckily my rabbit and tortoise are supposed to be eating a lot of the same greens, so I'm going to try to cross reference the lists to find the things they both like to save money.