Quantity of Greens for Small Bun...

[Jenk]

What approximate amount of greens (e.g., as measured in Cups) do you owners of small bunners feed them? Of course, if you gauge things in terms of pieces (e.g., you feed one full Romaine leaf, etc.) that explanation will make sense, too.

:biggrin2:

Our one girl has seemed to have digestive issues in the past if I exceeded a certain amount of greens. But now that I've increased her amount of pellets to 1 Tbsp., I notice that her fecals seem more dry (i.e., are lighter in color). So I'm wondering if I should increase her amount of greens. (Admittedly, I've given her a small amount for a long time, as she's a good water drinker, gets nutrients from pellets and eats a large amount of hay for a 3.5-lb. bun.)

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[JimD]

Most of my buns were okay with a leaf of romaine each day.

A couple of them had problems with veggies, so I ended up giving those buns a lot less...maybe a quarter of a leaf.

Eventually Iphased out veggies,and their main diet is hay and pellets.

 

[Jenk]

JimD wrote:

Most of my buns were okay with a leaf of romaine each day.

A couple of them had problems with veggies, so I ended up giving those buns a lot less...maybe a quarter of a leaf.

Eventually Iphased out veggies,and their main diet is hay and pellets.

Actually, Jim, I was just thinking of you the other day, recalling your buns' unique diet that you'd detailed for me a while back. Of all people, I didn't expect you to reply to this post. LOL But knowing that you gave even your smaller bunners a full Romaine leaf is comforting, in asense.

See, our Emma is only 3.4-3.5 lbs. But she (and her sister, Zoe) seems to have a gut that dries out very easily. She now receives 1 Tbsp. of Oxbow BB/T in the morning, a mix of hay 24/7 and a small amount (about 1/4 C.) of greens at night. But rather that continue to syringe her extra water (on top of the decent amount of it that she consumes daily), I'd like to slowly increase her green intake.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I give Korr and Penny (bonded pair):
1-2 romaine leaves. It depends on how much I have and how big they are.
1/2 bunch parsley
1/2 bunch cilantro
Some other veggies depending on what is around.

The parsley and cilantro amounts can very depending on the size of the bunches.
They weight about 3.5 pounds (Penny) and 4 pounds (Korr).

 

[Little Bay Poo]

I've started to give Ronnie about 1 cup of spring mix a day. I don't measure it, just get a small handful and put it in his food bowl. I began by giving him a few leaves a day, and slowly increased over the course of 2 weeks. He gobbles it up in about 10 - 20 minutes and has done really well with it. No digestive issues and he looks forward to it like a treat.

Billy, on the other hand, is too snooty to eat spring mix. He will delicately nibble a leaf if he is hand fed, but inevitably gets bored and pushes it out of the way with his paws. I, the ever faithful servant, retreat on command :bow

 

[Jenk]

Little Bay Poo wrote:

Billy, on the other hand, is too snooty to eat spring mix. He will delicately nibble a leaf if he is hand fed, but inevitably gets bored and pushes it out of the way with his paws. I, the ever faithful servant, retreat on command :bow

Billy is so cute that he's allowed to be "snooty." :biggrin2:

 

[elrohwen]

I have a 4lb Holland Lop. He will only eat lettuces like romaine, leaf, chicory, etc (no herbs or anything)and he gets probably 4-5 large pieces a day. I have one of those little green lettuce dishes that are fairly common and I fill that to over flowing. I am even thinking of cutting down his pellets more as he's getting tons of veggies every day.

 

[Jenk]

elrohwen wrote:

I have a 4lb Holland Lop. He will only eat lettuces like romaine, leaf, chicory, etc (no herbs or anything)and he gets probably 4-5 large pieces a day. I have one of those little green lettuce dishes that are fairly common and I fill that to over flowing. I am even thinking of cutting down his pellets more as he's getting tons of veggies every day.

If he mainly receiveslettuce that has a high water content, you might not want to cut down on his pellet intake (since the greens likely provide more water than nutrients). Of course, if he's gaining weight, then, by all means, cut down on the pellets. And if you're actually feeding him a variety of nutrient-dense greens, then cutting down on the pellets might work fine.

Sorry...I took my own thread off-topic.

 

[elrohwen]

Jenk wrote:

elrohwen wrote:

I have a 4lb Holland Lop. He will only eat lettuces like romaine, leaf, chicory, etc (no herbs or anything)and he gets probably 4-5 large pieces a day. I have one of those little green lettuce dishes that are fairly common and I fill that to over flowing. I am even thinking of cutting down his pellets more as he's getting tons of veggies every day.

If he mainly receiveslettuce that has a high water content, you might not want to cut down on his pellet intake (since the greens likely provide more water than nutrients). Of course, if he's gaining weight, then, by all means, cut down on the pellets. And if you're actually feeding him a variety of nutrient-dense greens, then cutting down on the pellets might work fine.

Sorry...I took my own thread off-topic.

Haha, thanks for the tip! I've tried to get him on more nutrient dense stuff, but he's just so picky and will only eat that small variety of lettuces. He doesn't seem to be getting fat (and he's still young - 7 months) so I'll keep up the pellets for now.

 

[Baby Juliet]

Small but not really small rabbits. Around 5 pounds full grown.Mine eat all theywant after they've been used to it. They also love caggabe too and they don't get gas. Love romaine, celery, but don't like mustard greens. Like cinlantro roots but not so much the leaves.

 

[Jenk]

Wow. You really do feed your crew a good amount of greens. I especially love the one photo (below).

Do you every worry, though, about your buns contaminating their greens by standing/pooping on them while they eat?

Baby Juliet wrote:

 

[Baby Juliet]

None of them ever complainted to the waiterabout some poop in their salad. If they peed on it it's easy enough to rinse with a garden hose since it's outdoors.

 

[TinysMom]

My vet convinced me to put Zeus on a diet with more greens and hay and less pellets. She printed up a handout for me that recommends 1 packed cup per day for every 2 pounds of weight (if I remember right).

I give Zeus spring mix mainly - maybe not quite 4 packed cups per day - but probably 3 - 3 1/2 plus he has been eating a lot more hay lately too.

 

[Jenk]

TinysMom wrote:

I give Zeus spring mix mainly - maybe not quite 4 packed cups per day - but probably 3 - 3 1/2 plus he has been eating a lot more hay lately too.

I'm the world's biggest dope; I must ask: What exactly is spring mix? I've long imagined it as being several types of pre-mixed lettuces that come in a bag.

How much does Zeus weigh?

 

[TinysMom]

Jenk wrote:

TinysMom wrote:

I give Zeus spring mix mainly - maybe not quite 4 packed cups per day - but probably 3 - 3 1/2 plus he has been eating a lot more hay lately too.

I'm the world's biggest dope; I must ask: What exactly is spring mix? I've long imagined it as being several types of pre-mixed lettuces that come in a bag.

How much does Zeus weigh?

You've got the right idea about Spring Mix - I usually get the organic spring mix - it comes in clear plastic boxes or bags. I think I pay about $4 or so for my box I buy and it lasts Zeus 3-4 or maybe 5 days depending upon how much I give him (since I often add carrot or something else).

As a flemish giant mix - Zeus is rather small - he weighs (if I remember right) - 8 pounds and 13 ounces or something like that. It seems like it was less than 13 ounces...I'd have to look that up.

My "baby" flemmies that are full breed flemmies are bigger than him - and Nyx isn't even 5 months old yet if I remember right.



I sometimes get this brand too..



http://www.freshexpress.com/products/productdisplay.asp?cat=bb&salads=5

 

[TinysMom]

These are Tiny's two favorites - just realized that is the brand I use sometimes (depending upon where I'm shopping) - at another place I get some organic spring mix which is more expensive...

http://www.freshexpress.com/Products/ProductDisplay.asp?ID=66&cat=bb

http://www.freshexpress.com/Products/ProductDisplay.asp?ID=68&cat=bb

Sometimes I'll get both spring mixes and give him half and half of each...

 

[Jenk]

TinysMom wrote:

You've got the right idea about Spring Mix - I usually get the organic spring mix - it comes in clear plastic boxes or bags. I think I pay about $4 or so for my box I buy and it lasts Zeus 3-4 or maybe 5 days depending upon how much I give him (since I often add carrot or something else).

I've two issues with the idea of feeding spring greens to my crew:

1) The overall cost increase would be rather high. (Dear Hubby is looking for ways to cut pet-related costs;feeding organic spring greens to two buns, especially our 9-lb. boy, isn't a means of doing that.)

2) I'm not a fan of feeding spinach daily (and picking it out of the spring mix would be a means of wasting money).I oncefed Emma spinach daily for a spell;she wound up having issues (likely due to the high oxalate content).

As a flemish giant mix - Zeus is rather small - he weighs (if I remember right) - 8 pounds and 13 ounces or something like that. It seems like it was less than 13 ounces...I'd have to look that up.

In other words, you don't feed Zeus anymore than I feed Pink. (As I've mentioned, he's about 9 lbs.; I give him 3-4 full Romaine leaves and a heap of parsley. If you were to break it down and measure it, I figure it would be several cups' worth.)

 

[TinysMom]

The best way to figure it out would be to break up the Romaine leaves and parsley and pack it down into a 4 cup measuring cup. (I forgot to mention I think that it is supposed to be a "packed" cup per 2 pounds).

When I buy the organic mix it is about $6 for 4 days worth - once again - it depends upon which store I am in when I pick up his greens. Many times I've picked up reduced spring mix for .99 at the base commissary because it is about to go "out of date" - but it lasts long enough for him to eat it and enjoy it.

You know whats best for your buns - so if the spring mix won't work due to the spinach - then just don't use it.

You had asked what spring mix was - so I was simply showing you some information about the various ones.

Zeus isn't fond of spinach either and at first would pick it out of his spring mix and set it aside. He's learned to like it better and he doesn't pick it out anymore - but he does prefer other veggies.