Picky Rabbit and Veggies

[Bonsai]

Hello!

I've posted before about habitat-related things but for the past 2 years, I've been dealing with a very picky bunny, Heidi. Before her, I had two NZW crosses that would eat anything I put in front of them - they rather liked turnip greens, cabbage (I fed it once and noticed gas-like symptoms so I no longer feed cabbage EVER, not even to current bun), and romaine lettuce. Heidi has turned her nose up to turnip greens and romaine lettuce. She won't even eat carrots, bananas, or apple! We get a fair amount of turnip greens and apples free from family and relatives so it is cost-effective to feed those but she won't hear of it. She blatantly pushes carrots and apples out of her cage, often right in front of me - and was appalled when I offered her banana.

Several times, I have offered her these veggies and fruit and everytime she won't hear of it. They get pushed out or I find them later that day/the next day on the ground or dried in her cage if she failed to push them out. I've tried baby carrots and the whole carrots, I've tried the large leaves and the baby leaves of romaine (both towel-dried AND with water on them, though I rinse them anyhow).

She just won't eat anything! She does, however, eat clover and grass with a vengeance and while feeding clover from the yard is cost-effective, it isn't so nice during the winter when there is none! Mostly, she eats pellets and nibbles orchard hay but it isn't for my lack of trying. The veggies I've tried with her get rejected and I have a strange fear of causing bloat/gas, so I'm really... Cautious with trying new things. I give her clover and she paces herself with it, but is it too sugary or anything for her? Its all she will eat.

I've tried to lower her pellets before and make her go just a couple hours without pellets and see if it whets her appetite enough to accept veggies. Nope, she won't have it! She will wait me out and I don't want to not give her food so I give her a normal ration of pellets... I know that's probably not good or the best thing to do, but I don't want her to lose vital nutrients.

So my question is... Does anyone have tricks for getting a picky rabbit to eat her greens? I've never had a rabbit before that would turn away romaine! Or turnip greens, for that matter. They usually dive right in and make quick work of them so it really throws me for a loop that Heidi acts like I'm trying to feed her garbage.

I'm contemplating feeding parsley and spinach but will she lose nutrients because I don't alternate as much, if she will even eat those two? I want to make a little tray to grow parsley and spinach but will have to get some from the store and test with her - but are those two safe for her? I know they are "bunny safe" but can they cause bloat/gas or anything like that? I don't feed romaine or cabbage any more because I like to stay away from lettuces/lettuce like things just to be safe... You could say I'm a little paranoid with my baby.

Onto my second question! My father and I will be going to Ethridge TN a lot this summer (at least, perhaps longer) and buying/selling veggies at a mostly-Amish market. This means I will have access to lots of yummy homegrown/organic veggies for bunny and me! :bunnydance: Mostly, they have squashes, zucchini, green peppers, cucumber, and a variety of berries/tomatoes. However, I know bunnies can eat summer squash but I'm a bit curious on what kinds fall under "summer squash".

They have "zephyr squash" and "fortune squash" alongside your typical yellow, large squash. My question is, are these kinds safe for bunny consumption? I can get them for about $6 for half a bushel - or less - so its plenty for me and for feeding some to the bunnies. I did buy some fortunes but I bought them for me, not for bunny. I don't mind feeding her them, but I want to be sure they're safe first! Until then, they're all mine.

Also, if no one minds, I'd like to know if these veggies are safe, too: green pepper, zucchini, and beets (top & veggie part).

I'm a little cautious to try them until I know! Sorry if the questions are dumb questions, I'm just not wanting to feed things that could potentially hurt my baby.

Questions in short, for those who don't want to read the above part:

1. What are some tips for feeding a veggie-picky bunny?
2. Is clover and grass okay for rabbits to eat as sole/primary veggie/green?
3. Can parsley and spinach cause bloat/is it renowned for doing so?
4. Are "zephyr squash", "fortune squash", green pepper, zucchini, and beets (tops & main part) safe for bunny consumption?

Thank you in advance!

 

[PaGal]

Thumper would not try a new veggie unless I placed it in his bowl that I fed him his pellets in. He would not take it from my hand although he will take pellets and hay from my hand. Sometimes I had to try more than once and I would leave the piece of veggie in his bowl all day. Once he had tried something out of his bowl then he would accept it by hand.

I know Thumper loves clover but I just give him some occasionally. Have you tried any herbs? A lot of buns seem to like herbs including parsley, cilantro, basil and mint. Those are the ones I remember because Thumper has had those.

 

[Bonsai]

She won't take it from her bowl or from hand. I used to make her bowl with a healthy layer of hay in the bottom (making a "hay bowl" in the bowl) with her allotted pellets, and then some veggies around in there. Heidi would push/roll the veggies out of it or - if I was lucky - nibble them and then chuck the remains out of her cage. It was so sad because I tried so hard to make her bowl look so pretty, haha. Heidi didn't think much of my efforts, though!

I haven't tried herbs! I'm planning on making a little herb tray and hope she'll eat that. Would those herbs take the place of primary greens? I know some veggies are given as "main veggies" then there's the other veggies that can be given as supplement. My biggest worry is maintaining her fiber... I give her hay but I feel as though she doesn't eat much of it. Most of her food is pellets and maybe a fistful of clover every once in a while - she won't eat much of those, in comparison to her ration of pellets. I guess she's a little addicted to her pellets but when they're all she will eat, I hate to take them away!

 

[Troller]

My Conan is very picky too. He has a short list of greens he'll eat but absolutely no fruits. Both the breeder and Vet claim him living off pellets, hay and greens as a treat is fine so I follow that advice. He's happy and healthy so I don't stress it and leave him to his pickyness while his mate enjoys all the delicious variety.

 

[Azerane]

What measurement of pellets are you giving her a daily basis? If she'll barely touch greens and doesn't eat much hay I'm just wondering if she's perhaps getting too many pellets. In any case, with rabbits you just have to be persistent. Bandit was quite similar when I started introducing him to greens, he would just push them away and ignore them all day. But I just kept giving them to him and in the end they started disappearing. I would definitely suggest trying some herbs, they have a strong scent and most rabbits love them. Parsley itself is not known for causing bloat/stasis issues, but as with anything, if you suddenly introduce it in too large quantities it can cause upsets, the same with spinach. Though both are fairly safe greens. Cilantro/coriander is a good herb because it's actually supposed to help with stomach upsets.

As far as I'm aware, there's nothing wrong with a rabbits primary greens simply being grass and clover. If she likes them and they don't upset her tummy then by all means give them to her. If she's getting pellets and hay, it's unlikely she's missing out on any nutritional components.

 

[Channahs]

:shock2: Wow! When you said that she doesn't like banana, I knew then that you were dealing with one very picky bunny! Jovi is somewhat finicky. He has his dislikes, turnip greens being one of them He won't eat turnip or mustard greens. I know that it's not the most cost effective, but as for greens we've found the bagged spring mix to be his favorite. It has a little spinach, dandelion, escarole, endive and maybe a couple of other greens that I can't recall the names of. It cost us about 2.99 a bag and last 6-7 days for two meals per day. They're all young, tender leaves. Worst case scenario you can try him on a bag and if he doesn't like it, you certainly will. I have a spearmint plant growing outside and toss a few leaves into his mix. Jovi won't eat the green bell peppers, but he will eat the orange, yellow and red bells. I think they're a little sweeter. Yes, too he's crazy about clover and would exist on only that if we would allow it, especially the clover flowers! Pea pods (the little flat ones split open with the peas removed) are delightful to him. Sweet potato in small quantity he likes. (Like one 1/4 inch slice of a small one sliced into 4 or 5 sticks). He loves rose petals (pesticide free) and lavender flowers. Also we have a giant dinner plate hibiscus about to bloom and I'm going to see if he likes a little of that. We can't go wrong with most flowers here. When we put him in his playpen outside, he noms grass and loves to dig and eat the roots of the grass. I thought that was odd, but if he loves it...

Jovi's only 5 months old, so he's still getting alfalfa hay and pellets as often as he likes. I loathe the day that we have to swap the alfalfa for something healthier. I've tried several types of hay just to introduce to him (timothy 2nd cut, oat, oxbow orchard) he'll have none of that. It's alfalfa all the way for him. Good luck! I hope some of this helps.

 

[Bonsai]

Glad to know I don't have the only picky bun lol! I do measure out her pellets and I give her about 1/2 a cup. She doesn't always eat that amount, depending on how much grass and hay she has decided to eat. Then there's days where she eats that and wants more food so I usually dole out about 1/2 a cup and supplement with hay/grass for her other roughage.

Today, for example, I gave her 1/2 cup pellets and about 1 cup clover. I took the time today to take a plastic cup like you'd use for parties, and I marked "1/8 cup", "1/4 cup", and "1/2 cup" on it since the measuring cups I have don't have 1/4 or 1/8 and I'm welcoming a Netherland Dwarf into my home next month and he'll require less pellets so I needed to have an accurate measurement! So I usually fill her pellets up first then stack clover on top of it for a rough but fairly accurate measurement.

Her hay is always there and therefore unlimited. But I give her about 1 cup of clover a day (but not everyday, the guy who cuts our grass keeps mowing my clover spot!!) but sometimes I skip a day if the clover don't look too good or its too close to when the grass was cut. That doesn't seem to bother her but I'd like to find her a veggie she would be willing to eat on those days when the clovers were cut or just for variety! Some people say clover and grass alone is bad, so... :confused2:

I'll definitely keep cilantro in mind! I looked for some at the store today but they only had teeny tiny packets. I may buy one just to test her with and if she likes it, I'll make a tray and maybe the pack will last long enough for the tray to get started growing.

Do any of you have experience with keeping an herb tray (cilantro and parsley) indoors? Like, do you set it on your porch for X hours and does it do good indoors? I would keep mine outside but we have a lot of stray cats who have and will use flower pots/tray as a litterbox.

Wow, Channahs! Your boy seems to like so many things. I'm really surprised my Heidi doesn't like many things, too. I've never had such a picky animal! I have cats who will eat ANYTHING. Sadie's favorite thing is frozen french fries - which get taken away from her but she is sneaky - and Milo wants anything I have, including coffee and bottled water (perish the thought that he'd drink from his bowl! My water is clearly special even though I give him the exact same water...). So to have a rabbit, given that rabbits are supposedly like goats and eat anything, that turns her nose up at everything really throws me for a loop. I looked for some "summer mix" at the store today and I couldn't find much. I found a large pack of "baby kale greens" and I think those are safe for bunnies, aren't they? I'm so hesitant to change anything with her right now, haha.

Maybe she'll like herbs... If she doesn't, looks like she may be subsisting off hay, clover, and pellets!

Also, I do have the option to buy hay from local farmers. Most are willing to give me a broken bale or a small bale of misc hay. This is often orchard grass or some other "lesser" hay - not Timothy. What characteristics should I be looking for in said hay? It isn't "store quality" hay, of course, it is just fresh hay from the field! I'm starting to wonder if maybe the hay I am getting isn't good or she doesn't like it, though. I have not seen any mold or bugs in hay that I give her but Tennessee got near-flood level rains this past week (12+ inches in some places) so I'm worried about the hay here now... Some farmers hadn't loaded their hay up in their fields on the way to Ethridge - they were soaked in the field! Surely that will ruin the hay...

 

[ladysown]

why are you working so hard to give your rabbit something that she doesn't want?

She has her pellets (balanced diet). She'll eat clover (nice green treat) and she'll eat grass (which is basically undried hay) and she has hay.

She's telling you she is content with what you've given her.

I'd be inclined to LISTEN to your rabbit and stop stressing over it.

If you must try her on something else,...... do some parsley or cilantro.

 

[Bonsai]

My biggest worry is that, during winter, she won't have a green if she is refusing everything. I don't want her tummy to get upset from lack of fiber; the past two winters, she has had no problems going from no clover/grass to having clover/grass the following spring but I want to be super sure she is healthy. I know I'm worrying probably more than I should, but I always see rabbits as being so delicate so I worry and fret and work way too hard sometimes, hehe.

I hope some parsley or cilantro will work with her! I am planting some grass and clover in her enclosure soon - my grandpa gave his chickens away so she is now housed alone, thank goodness - and gives me a huge area to put some nice greens in for her! It would be okay to let her free-graze in said area, right? I was going to put down some timothy seed and some clover/dandelion. Hopefully it will appeal to my picky eater.

 

[ladysown]

in the winter you could grow cat grass for her to nibble on. it's just oats in some dirt. Set it in the winter, let it sprout and then put it in the floor for her to nibble on when it gets about three inches high (or cut some off for her).

Or you could just follow the natural seasons. In the winter outside rabbits don't get fresh fodder either. They nibble on branches and each dead grasses.