How much veges to feed?

[mia]

When I first got my two buns, they wouldn’t eat anything so I thought they would starve. Now, I’m afraid they might get too fat if not already; I heard some buns can get fat on veges. One just keep eating, eating, stealing and eating other bun’s food, and doesn’t exercise much. I bought one vege saver and had to order another one (should come in soon).

I see that the recommended amount on this site is 2 cups, but is that chopped up and smooshed? If so, what is this in real life measurements? Two cups per bun seem so little if not chopped and smooshed in.

[Sarita]

Chopped per 6 pounds of bun.

[Sarita]

It’s more likely your rabbit will get fat on pellets rather than vegetables.

[BinkyBunny]

And that is a MINIMUM of 2 cups per a 6 pound bunny. I have always fed more greens than that.
And to clarify…you don’t have to chop, that is just the way that it’s sized. You can give greens whole — I give parsley, dandelion, dill, etc, etc, all whole. The only green that I don’t give whole is Romaine lettuce. I tear that up a bit. The only time I actually ever chopped up greens was for a bunny who had a missing incisor.

[LoveChaCha]

Isn’t it carrots that can make a rabbit a little chubby if given too much?

I give Chacha (my 4lb girl) 2-3 leaves of romaine, and a small amount of cilantro or parsley nightly

[Sam and Lady's Human]

How do you know how much> Do you shove it in a measuring cup?

[BinkyBunny]

@LoveChaCha – I give my bunnies more carrots than most because mine are on a veggie/green diet only which is not as high in caloires. I know that my vet, who is very involved in HRS and is very rabbit-savvy, had mentioned that Carrot Nazi’s, (me included in that in the past), were developed because people would feed too many carrots (as the main ingredient of the diet) due to newbies thinking that’s all that rabbits need to eat…carrots. And that may not be so good, but if carrots are mixed in with a large variety of greens, then it typically is okay. Each bunny owner has to just keep an watch our bunnies weight.

OneTwoThree– That is exactly what I do. I rarely have ever given only two cups though.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

How much is a half an oz of leafy greens? Whats a good second veggie to introduce? Right now she’s had romaine lettuce with no issues

[Monkeybun]

I would try parsley or cilantro Mine looove them.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Sarita on 05/27/2011 05:36 PM
Chopped per 6 pounds of bun.

Haha! That reads rather funny. :p

Posted By BB on 05/27/2011 11:28 PM

OneTwoThree– That is exactly what I do. I rarely have ever given only two cups though.

Do you really?! That’s so diligent. I can’t say I eaxctly measure mine. I just fill up the large salad spinner. When I have been curious as to how much there is I dump it in a mixing bowl that has cup measures up the inside.

“Carrot Nazis”  Lol.  It seems some rabbits can cope really well with carrots and others not so much.  Same with other veggies too. It can take some time to find what’s best for your rabbits miaeih – and what they prefer. Definately give some of the herbs a go.  You can encourage some exercise by making them forage for their food also. That is, hide it at different points in an obstacle course for example.

 

[Beka27]

2 cups = 16 oz = 1 pound

As far as the metric conversions, someone else will have to look that up… lol!

I have a small kitchen scale but I’ve never measured veggies. I know I overfeed veggies (they share between 6-8 cups a day), but they eat it all, they eat a ton of hay, and their digestive systems are normal. Pellets are such a tiny part of their diet, I would much rather feed fresh veggies.

[Sarita]

Interesting – one pound. I know I feed quite a bit because mine are low or no pellet. I know I way overfeed Bobby because I’m not used to having a 2 pound rabbit. I have never measured but I know it’s well over 2 cups of any kind for all my rabbits and I never chop anything up.

I’m pretty generous with carrots too. Bobby gets the shredded ones daily and the rest get about 4 baby carrots when I do feed them carrots which is usually every other day.

My pellet eaters don’t seem to gorge at all either on their pellets because they get a generous amount of veggies.

[Beka27]

Since veggies are so big and light, you have to feed a good amount to reach one pound. So it’s definitely a “packed full” 2 cups.

[mia]

For example, if I only fed romaine lettuce, how many of the giant leaves to feed? Is LoveChaCha’s 2-3 leaves correct? I give everything whole so I’ve just been guesstimating.

The amount to feed is always written per 6lbs of bun. My two total less than 6lbs so do I just feed the divided out amount? I read that smaller ones actually need more so you shouldn’t divide out. Is this actually true?

The getting fat on veges was referring to regular “good” veges not the sugary veges. I assume that, if I left a whole head of lettuce =), one of my buns would eat it all and that amount would probably get him fat. After eating that head of lettuce, he would still gorge pellets and then take a nap. When he wakes, he would go around and look for more food.

[Huckleberry]

Posted By LoveChaCha on 05/27/2011 11:14 PM
Isn’t it carrots that can make a rabbit a little chubby if given too much?

I give Chacha (my 4lb girl) 2-3 leaves of romaine, and a small amount of cilantro or parsley nightly

When Huckles scared me to death in Feb and was urinating red, I thought it was blood. It turned out that it was just the coloring from the carrots, so thats one possible issue with too many carrots. 

And I feed my 10lb girl 3 leaves (combo of collard greens, romaine or kale, depending on what I have) and about 10 pieces of either cilantro or parsley, again depending on what I have. Sometimes she gets veggies as snacks too. 

[Beka27]

For two bunnies, I’d say either one very large head of romaine, or two smaller heads of romaine. Personally, I don’t feel LoveChaCha is feeding enough daily veggies, but I respect her as an experienced rabbit owner and a dear friend, so I am sure she has reasons for feeding the quantity she does. Some rabbits cannot handle veggies as well as others.

[Deleted User]

I start off giving my rabbit the necessary amount, but he never does eat it all, so just start off with the necessary amount for YOUR rabbits, then see what they will actually eat.

[mia]

Posted By Beka27 on 05/28/2011 08:24 AM
For two bunnies, I’d say either one very large head of romaine, or two smaller heads of romaine. Personally, I don’t feel LoveChaCha is feeding enough daily veggies, but I respect her as an experienced rabbit owner and a dear friend, so I am sure she has reasons for feeding the quantity she does. Some rabbits cannot handle veggies as well as others.

A large head of romaine PER DAY?! A large head is like the same size as my bun, maybe even larger than my “smaller” one.

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By jerseygirl on 05/28/2011 03:51 AM

Posted By Sarita on 05/27/2011 05:36 PM
Chopped per 6 pounds of bun.

Haha! That reads rather funny. :p

Posted By BB on 05/27/2011 11:28 PM

OneTwoThree– That is exactly what I do. I rarely have ever given only two cups though.

Do you really?! That’s so diligent.

 

HaHa!  No, no,  I didn’t mean I do that every time anymore.  I sometimes will do that only to get an idea of how much I am really feeding.  I meant that when I do measure, that’s the way I do it.  Sorry for the confusion. 

I give so many greens, that it’s just a big pile.   I haven’t measured lately either.. I’m sure it around at least what Beka gives per day. I probably give about 8 cups plus and divide it up, and they get a very large variety since they are on a pelletless diet. 

[BinkyBunny]

I just wanted to ditto monkey that parsley and cilantro are great as the next veggie to introduce. Since you adopted them from SaveABunny, you might want to ask them what they were getting as I know that years ago when I volunteered there, bunnies would get a variety of greens. Obviously not in large amounts as it is a rescue and there are obvious limitations — but still, they did get a handful of several  fresh varieties. (which is pretty darn amazing considering rescues have to deal with limited funds)   That was several years ago, so I don’t know what the protocol is now. But it wouldn’t hurt to check in with the rescue and get their recommendation of what they feel would be best as yours transition into your routine.   

How many greens someone gives is also balanced with how many pellets, and how much hay your bunny is eating. You don’t want to feed so much that they forgo hay, and it really depends on the bunny. My bunnies eat alot of hay, alot of greens and I will give Vivian some pellets a few times a week if I can sneak them in without Jack getting to them.

It’s also important to give more than one kind so that more balanced nutrition can come from the greens as well. Looks like that is what you are doing and introducing one green at a time is a good method to make sure there are no stomach upsets, but again, I would double check with SAB as they might have already received greens there and so you might be able just to continue that and add on from there. Keep us updated.

[Silly Sungura]

I wonder why so many sites say to measure by the cup? Measuring by the cup works well for sugar or flour or water, but not fresh vegetables. Weight and volume are two different things! The House Rabbit Handbook at least gives the amount by weight. (Yay!) It says that a healthy adult rabbit should get 4 to 6 oz of veggies a day. (A rabbit would need more than 6 oz if it is eating no pellets or fewer pellets than 1/8 of a cup, though, like BB mentioned.) Six ounces of greens is still going to make a big pile, but the pile will vary each time in appearance because on Tuesday you might use more bok choy than you did on Monday, or whatever. But that makes total sense to me! Lol. I’m getting a kitchen scale. The measuring cup… I’ll just save for cooking.

[Sarita]

I suppose they have to give some idea of some kind of amount to guide people – I guess just saying a pile of veggies would be different to each and every person, one person’s pile is another person’s mound so a general guideline by weight or measurement seems more like a guideline than a pile of veggies.

[mia]

Mine eat three different kinds every week but vary between the weeks. Right now they are on mint, parsley, and dandelion; last week broc, carrot tops, and romaine. I just buy every week based on what’s available or on sale. My buns have not had any stomach issues thus far.

I’m just concerned about feeding too much or too little. Completely agree with the statement regarding why they say to measure by cups; the 4-6 ounce is so much more helpful, THANKS!!

[Malp_15]

I can barely get Tait to eat a full cup of veggies a day, even with limiting the pellets

[BinkyBunny]

Malp — what kind of veggies does Tait normally get?

[Malp_15]

there is always romaine or green leaf lettuce, that makes up probably 50%. I also try to always have parsley and carrot tops, and I just introduced watercress a few days ago. He did have collard greens in the rotation to, but he wasn’t much of a fan. He gets a small piece of carrot every second day or so, he loves those, but I have been limiting (just read your post about the carrots tonight). He has been getting a couple dandelion leaves a day the past couple weeks since they have popped up everywhere. I have only been introducing something new every second week or so because he is still pretty young.

[brittbritt]

Gabby gets 2-3 lettuce leaves a night. I alternate green leaf and romaine. She also gets cilantro, parsley, bell pepper, and baby carrot nightly. I have guinea pigs so Gabby gets what they eat. She loves when she hears me washing the veggies.

[RabbitPam]

I find that 3 romaine lettuce leaves is a large handful of greens, but the same 3 leaves from a green leaf head is not nearly as much, so it’s hard to compare. Especially when locally the romaine heads are HUGE in the summer.

I confess that I am not as exact as the others, and I use my hand to measure. If it’s slightly overflowing and hard to hold, it’s enough. I also give my greens out twice a day, not once.

I like green leaf and red leaf as alternative second choice lettuce to substitute for romaine as a change of pace. If your bunny can tolerate it, ie. does not get gas or seem to be uncomfortable after eating, you can try kale. It’s of the cabbage family which gives some bunnies and humans trouble and others (Sammy and me) have no problem at all. It’s a major favorite with Sammy. She loves the parsley, too, but surprised me with an indifference to mint. Many bunnies adore mint, as well as dill. I can never remember what people think of escarole. I still haven’t tried itl.

[Silly Sungura]

I just wanted to add that the 4-6oz is probably based on an average size rabbit, which is, what, seven pounds? So, the ratio would be approximately 1.2 oz of veggies for every pound your bunny weighs. The author says that a handful of dandelion greens weigh one ounce. And I assume she’s talking about a pretty large handful because they’re awfully light.

My method for measuring right now is the same as yours, RabbitPam, but I’m going to get a scale so I have a better idea if I’m feeding too much. It seems like my bunny is getting a little chubby, but it’s hard to tell…

Lettuce of any kind isn’t something Hodari loves, but I’ve noticed her appetite for it varies from batch to batch. Something that looks and smells delicious to me might be gross to her, and I never know why. She usually likes turnip greens; we had a beautiful bunch of it with bright green leaves a few weeks ago, and she would barely nibble it. I had to throw a lot of it away. So I tend to stock up on the things she eats reliably, and then supplement it with the stuff she usually enjoys. Arugula is very good. Cilantro is heavenly. Collards and mustard greens will never be brought into this house again. Lol.

[Author]

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