Parsley

[Bill Jesse]

I always feed my buns a stalk of parsley each evening. They love it. Now I read on various sites that too much parsley is not good. That and Romaine lettuce claim the "experts". I had a rabbit who lived for 13 years and 90% of his diet was pellets. He hated hay but did eat a bit of apple, carrot and parsley. Now I am afraid I am giving them too much.

Who does one believe these days?

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

I still give the girls a little parsley. I don't think a stalk a night will hurt them.

 

[MiserySmith]

I've only heard good things about parsley. I try to limit my buns parsley amount anyway because it's his favourite and he would live on nothing else if he was allowed but I doubt one stalk a day will do any harm. I'd be more concerned about not enough hay than anything.

 

[missyscove]

Where are you reading these horrible things about parsley?

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

It seems to me that a stalk of parsley would be fine.

I feed my bun a cup of cilantro a day, and he seems fine with it.

 

[Bill Jesse]

Various sites including some of the House Rabbit Societies. Like everything there is too much information on-line and too many experts. When my 13 year old had a runny eye many years ago I checked on-line and read everything from "put him down now" or its "common".

When I first got him 14 years ago the vet gave me a handout which I still have. And just perusing it now it states that leafy vegetables should be given in moderation. Define moderation!

Thankfully my bunnies love hay. The downside is they go through a lot and there is no fresh hay until next summer. I have stockpiled some and wondering what I'll do about March. Of course I go through this worry every year.

 

[Bill Jesse]

This is something I found on the American Rabbit Breeders Association. The fourth line from the bottom with regards to green leafy substances has me thinking. In fact if you Google "rabbits and parsley" you will find many contradictory opinions.



There are a number of commercially made rabbit feeds available. These have been scientifically formulated to provide a well balanced diet with all of the nutrients needed for a rabbit to grow and remain healthy. Check your local feed or animal supply stores for brands that are available in your area. Overfeeding can be your rabbit's worst enemy. Becoming "over fat" can shorten the longevity of a rabbit and present problems for reproduction, as well as other complications. The amount of feed your rabbit will consume depends greatly on the breed and size of the animal. Normally, smaller breeds will consume 3 - 5 ounces of feed per day, while larger breeds will consume 6 - 10 ounces daily. Some rabbits will require slightly more feed than others of the same breed, depending on their individual characteristics. You must learn what the appropriate amount of feed for your rabbit is without overfeeding. Supplements or treats can be offered however; green leafy substances are NOT recommended (with exception of alfalfa hay). Again, commercially made rabbit pellets offer a balanced, nutritional diet. It is not necessary to offer treats or supplements however; if you do, treats should be given in moderation.

 

[missyscove]

Yes, it's true that rabbit pellets are formulated to offer complete and balanced nutrition (just like commercial cat and dog foods) however, it is my belief that rabbits are more like horses than they are like cats and dogs which is to say that their GI tracts are made for them to be constantly eating whereas the GI tract of a cat or dog is made for them to consume food in meals. If a rabbit is fed only a pellet ration, yes, they will meet all of their nutritional requirements (and that is why I personally advocate feeding some pellets in the diet), but they will only consume food for a very short period of the day.

I think you'll find a lot of variation along the spectrum from a diet of only pellets to a diet of only hay and greens and no pellets at all depending on the usage of the rabbit. Rabbits being bred, raised for meat, used in research and (most importantly for this discussion) kept as pets may have both different nutritional needs and different housing and financial constraints that may make one diet preferential to another.

The only real valid concerns that I know of with regards to not feeding greens are individual rabbits that cannot tolerate certain greens, concerns relating to toxic plants, concerns with greens like iceberg lettuce that offer no real nutritional benefit, and concerns with greens that are too high in calcium or oxalic acid and how that relates to the formation of bladder crystals or "sludge" in certain rabbits.

Personally, unless someone can show me a legitimate research study showing that parsley is going to harm my rabbits, I'm going to keep feeding it to them.

 

[JBun]

This isn't the first time I've read somewhere that states that leafy greens aren't good for rabbits, and personally it seems like a very flawed conclusion to me. Alfalfa is a plant just like leafy greens. It's just usually given to rabbits in a different form, like dried for hay, or processed and compressed into pellets. But it starts out as a plant with leafy green leaves. I've personally had more trouble with alfalfa pellets causing digestive problems with my rabbits, then I've ever had with feeding them leafy greens. Leafy greens are like anything else you feed your rabbit in that you have to make sure that it agrees with your rabbits digestion and doesn't cause problems. Alfalfa and alfalfa pellets are no different.

I have a rabbit that I got way too young, and was supposedly eating rabbit food and weaned from it's mother. Well, I brought it home and it wouldn't eat hay and wouldn't eat rabbit pellets. Really long story, but what happened was that I ended up having to feed her green leaf lettuce,cilantro, and other leafy greens, for about 10 days, at which point she started nibbling on pellets and eventually eating a normal amount. I don't by any means recommend this, and almost everything says that it's not good for baby bunnies to have veggies or leafy greens til at least 12 weeks. She was much younger than that and was perfectly happy and healthy eating the greens. It did make her pee a lot though, because of all the water in the lettuce... She is now one of the healthiest rabbits I have. I never had problems with her health and she was raised eating leafy greens. On the other hand, the babies that I've raised on alfalfa pellets and hay only, I've had very frequent digestive problems with. I'm not recommending feeding young rabbits veggies, but I have my doubts about all the recommendations that veggies aren't good until they are older. It certainly hasn't been my experience that veggies cause digestive problema in young rabbits.

My opinion based on my experience, if it doesn't upset your rabbits digestion, then leafy greens are probably one of the better things for them to eat.

 

[Imbrium]

Bill Jesse wrote:

I always feed my buns a stalk of parsley each evening. They love it. Now I read on various sites that too much parsley is not good. That and Romaine lettuce claim the "experts". I had a rabbit who lived for 13 years and 90% of his diet was pellets. He hated hay but did eat a bit of apple, carrot and parsley. Now I am afraid I am giving them too much.

Who does one believe these days?

parsley is high in oxalic acid, which is why it's recommended to be limited (only one of three veggies offered per day should be from the "high in OA" list)... a stalk a day should be totally fine. I've never heard of romaine lettuce being a no-no.

as for the info you hear from time to time about pellets providing a "fully balanced diet" and leafy greens screwing it up, I personally believe this is propaganda from pellet sellers who will sell more pellets if that's all your rabbit eats. hay and veggies are important, too... because they're grazers and need to eat frequently and frequent pellet eating leads to a chubby rabbit and because greens and hay require different chewing motions than pellets (which, by comparison, are VERY easy to chew) and help wear down the teeth.

I adore sherwood forest rabbit food for being all natural and lacking the sugars that most other pellets have... but when I read that it was a "complete diet" and that they thought you shouldn't feed hay/veggies in addition to it, I scoffed at the idea and kept feeding unlimited hay + veggies according to HRS guidelines while using the pellets as a "supplement". honestly, the main thing keeping me from trying a pellet-free diet is that Nala only eats kale most of the time (will occasionally nibble at cilantro or romaine) - if I offer any other veggies, she turns her nose up and goes back to eating hay, so I worry she wouldn't get all the nutrients she needed without pellets.

honestly, I think the "best" diet varies from one rabbit to the next depending on their preferences and whether they're prone to weight issues (under or over)... if your rabbits are healthy and happy, go with what works for them and offer as much variety as you can afford/they're willing to eat.

 

[whitelop]

Jennifer said it, parsley is high in oxalic acid. So they recommend you give it three times a week not everyday. But Bill if you're only feeding a stalk or two a night, then it probably wouldn't be a problem.

I've read a lot of conflicting things about pellets and leafy greens in my quest to find a good diet. I've found a good balance though I think. My bun is now completely pellet free, she gets an abundance of hay everyday(several kinds), around 3 cups of leafy greens a day, 1-2 dried papaya bites, sometimes a hard veggie and sometimes she gets a pellet or two as a treat.

I personally don't think pellets are the best way to go, that is my opinion only though! I think you need to stop reading whatever you're reading, because its not very good material. I think outside of hay, leafy greens are one of the better things you can give a rabbit. As long as you find the right balance between stuff that's high in oxalic adic and calcium and stuff thats not.

 

[MikeScone]

One thing to watch out for in all of the warnings about a given green being "high" in one thing or another is that the percentages these warnings are based on are usually of the dry content of the plant, and they are percentages related to percentages in other foods.

When you're feeding actual parsley (or kale or whatever), the plant is mostly water. So the actual amount of whatever you're being warned about is fairly low in absolute terms. For that matter, in absolute terms, the amount of oxalic acid or calcium or whatever the bun gets isn't a huge amount different between plants which are low in whatever or high in whatever.

Also, rabbits vary in their tolerance for things, between rabbits and within the same rabbit over time. Scone used to love broccoli, until he reached six years old or so and it started to give him gas. I had to stop giving him broccoli as a bedtime snack, much to his displeasure. The same was true of kale - the vet said it was good for him when he was younger, but too high in calcium when he got older.

Take everything in moderation, including moderation, and your bun will be fine.

 

[Bill Jesse]

Appreciate the feedback. Pellets form a small percentage of my rabbit's daily intake. Probably less than a third of a cup. They go crazy for orchard grass hay and they love the three fruit/vegetables they get daily. Mind you they do crave their pellets.

When I had my Sedgewick his diet was mainly pellets because I was led up the wrong path by a vet and her handout. Seems he had unlimited amounts if I recall. Nevertheless he lived to be 13 years plus.

My present four are fussy with their vegetables and if I try to introduce something else they do not like it. To recap they each get a saucer size piece of Romaine, a nickel size piece of apple, about an inch or bit more of carrot usually split and one long and one short stalk of parsley. I did try carrot tops but some I got from my regular source seemed off and the rabbits were not comfortable.

Losing my Sedgewick in February was a major blow and I want to make sure I do what is best for my others. Sorry I never mentioned it in any of my previous posts but they are all just over 2 years of age although I cannot confirm as they were all rescues.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Ours get Parsley, Italian Parsley, & Cilantro twice a day with the addition of a small bit of apple and some Romaine in the morning. The evening addition is a piece of carrot and some Dandelion Green. They get all the orchard grass they can eat and a very small amount of pellet at night. Coal made it to 13 1/2 and I have several over 10 right now. The only change I had to make was that 2 got loose stool if they got too much veggie and I had to drop high calcium veggies as a couple had sludge problems.

 

[Bill Jesse]

So far, touch wood, the stools and urine have been normal. I think I will try cilantro as they have yet to sample it. I usually give them their veggies after supper before bed time. Morning is hay and a small amount of pellets. At present I am giving about 1/3 cup per day per rabbit spread over 3 meals. Spoiled I'd say! I am slowly cutting the pellets back and aiming foe 1/4 cup.

 

[Imbrium]

mine love cilantro (well, Gaz loves it... Nala eats it which in my book is as good as loving it since she'll only eat kale, cilantro and the center veins of romaine). I hate it and think it stinks to high heaven but it's super cheap, it makes the bunnies happy and it's a veggie that can safely be fed in large amounts on a daily basis... so I endure the wretched smell for them.

 

[lauratunes12]

Cilantro does smell, but they love it. I actually was eating rice with cilantro in it from a Mexian restaurant the other day and it made me gag. Faith gobbles it up though, so whatever.

Everything should be given in moderation, just as we humans should eat everything in moderation. A little bit o parsley is just fine.

 

[sugarbunnies]

Yes, Parsley, as quoted from Rabbit.org: "need to be rotated due to oxalic acid content". But if he's doing fine I think it's just fine. Although I only do parsley occasionally. I do cilantro instead.

 

[Bill Jesse]

The amount they get is one stalk with three or four branches of leaves on it and one small stalk with a branch on it.

They are fussy as to vegetables but will try cilantro next.

 

[Imbrium]

as I mentioned earlier in the thread, I think with you giving such a small amount of parsley, it's fine to feed every day. mine get a handful of a high-OA veggie (a LOT more than just 1-2 stalks) and a handful each of two low-OA veggies every day.