Diet advice and a question

[MoveDiagonally]

I am I little obsessive about what I feed my pets. I’m a firm believer that proper diet extends life and deters common medical problems and most commercial foods don’t cut it for me. I did a lot of research on what I feed my cats and dogs and ended up making my own food for them and they have thrived. Coming up with a healthy diet for the buns has been challenging for me as I’ve never owned an herbivore. It’s been additionally challanging because it seems like so few resources know what they are talking about. I’ve found books/online sources that say all lettuce is bad for a rabbit and never feed anything but pellets and hay. The rescue I adopted from, this site, and the members here have been my best sources! 

What I am feeding:

1/8th cup Oxbow Adult Rabbit pellets.

Unlimited Timothy and Orchard hay.

3-4 cups of veggies.

Leafy Green Staples = Romaine, Red Romaine, and I just introduced some Butter Lettuce. These makes up the bulk of their salads.

Veggie “Toppers”= Green Pepper, Cilantro, Dill, Mint, Wheat Grass, Carrots, & Brussel Sprouts(1-2 per salad). These don’t all go on everyday. Probably 3-4 types per salad.

1-2 times a week = Kale or Spinach.

My buns are 6 1/2 and 7 1/2 pounds.

Fruits: Craisens, Banana slices, and blueberries. All fed in moderation as treats/dessert.

Does this seem on par with what they should be getting? Since I am a new rabbit owner it is still undetermined as to whether or not they are “thriving” on the diet I’m giving them. I’m looking for any suggestions or advice.

Question: Has any one ever tried freezing fresh veggies? Do the buns generally snub them? 

[TaraMichele]

 Sounds like you’re doing a great job! When they say to not give rabbits lettuce usually theyre referring to iceberg as it can cause soft stools in somerabbits, and has no nutritional value.  From what Ive heard brussel sprout can cause some gas in bunnies so I would use it sparingly but I cant say this from experience, I am a big fan of feeding mine parsley itsby far their favorite.  As for freezing vegetables.. Im not sure but I believe when you freeze them they lose some nutrients…plus I know my brats would know they arent fresh lol, my boy snubs anything if its not perfect.   Goodluck with everything and welcome!!  

[Joyfull_music]

You are doing just fine. Welcome and I am a first time rabbit owner myself.

My bunny Momo was just reduced to 1/4 cup pellets, as she is coming up on a year and weights about 6 ish lbs. She goes to the vet next in April, so I find out then if she needs more or less. Her breed has a very high metabolism, and therefore very hardy appetites compared to other rabbits of that size. Romaine is also a staple in the diets of most people’s buns on this site. The lettuce you want to avoid is iceburg. Almost no nutrition for a bun. Most others are just fine.

[MoveDiagonally]

I forgot to add that they are 1 and 2 years old.

TaraMichele – I will watch their Brussel sprout consumption as I do not want to cause tummy issues. They don’t get them every day but I might resign them to 1-2 times a week as I do with the Kale and Spinach. I figured frozen veggies were a no go just thought I’d see if anyone else had tried it.

Joyfull_music – I cut them back on pellets because they don’t eat them all when I feed them 1/4 They eat the 1/8th with just a few pellets left over. My Dexter LOVES food. He binkies for food. Lol.

I’ve read about iceburg and the shocking find has been the sources that romaine and ALL veggies will kill your bunny. O.o <— Is the face I make when reading those.

[Joyfull_music]

Yeah everyone has a different appetite. My bun inhales her food. And when I feed her she acts like I starve her or something. She even did a back flip once because I was approaching with a bowl of food for her. Sometimes she is chowing on the romaine before I can even set the bowl down.

[Tate]

Hm. I think it looks very good. Are you noticing anything that’s off with your rabbits (sorry, didn’t catch the names)? One of the easiest ways to tell if they aren’t doing well on a diet is if they are over producing cecals. They should not be a daily occurrence and IMO really never should be left. It’s a tell tale sign that something is happening within them that is NOT normal… it is common especially when starting medicine and too rich of a diet.
Anyways, if you don’t notice anything like that, they are probably fine. I do caution against using Oxbow. Their ingredients are questionable and no one in customer service is actually willing to say where some of them are derived. Their hay is good but it’s the fact that they can’t trace back their vitamins and minerals that really irks me… One of my rabbits did very poorly on both their young rabbit food and adult rabbit food and could only handle 5-6 pellets (yes, individual pellets…) a day or else he would only leave cecals and get quite lethargic.

[Beka27]

The majority of us use Oxbow; IMO it’s one of the best foods out there and the fact that it’s very easily accessible is another big plus. I’m not a nutritionist and I honestly don’t have the time or energy or desire to dissect every line of nutritional facts like some people do, so I will leave all of that “nitty-gritty” up to the fine people at Oxbow Animal Health.

Your diet sounds superb. The buns are doing well on it I’m sure, so I would keep with what’s working.

[Sarita]

Your diet is perfect. It is what is recommended. Rabbits diets are very simple, not alot of science needed to know that hay and veggies are the majority of their diet and pellets are a small amount. Oxbow pellets are fine and many people have great luck using them.

As for overproduction of cecals, it’s not always diet that is the reason that a rabbit SEEMS to overproduce cecals.

[Monkeybun]

Oxbow pellets are of the highest quality, they are great

[Tate]

There’s an article on rabbit.org (http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-4/pellets.html) that says to really watch out for animal derivatives in pellets, so that’s why I started emailing companies. It was a big surprise when Oxbow said that only one of the ingredients I asked about (choline chloride) was synthetically made and the others used are processed in animals (biotin and the b vitamins). They can’t technically come from the hay or soybean meal because the b vitamins, biotin, and quite a few others are “added” ingredients- listed in their own. They just gave an interesting answer. I know that the pet food standards are extremely low in the US. Anyways, all I know is that APD is the only rabbit diet on the market that is completely animal by product free- or so they claim!!! Unless Oxbow was giving me the wrong information… it was worded very oddly, so it’s possible. The lady was very nice but seemed out of sorts.
I can say that I’ve had many issues with Oxbow for my rabbit, Fievel. Those details I won’t go into because it’s kinda long.
If your rabbit does do well on that diet though, he should be ok. APD has a lot of synthetically derived ingredients, so it’s the lesser of two evils/what your rabbit does best on. If there’s no outward problem right now, you might as well stay. There are actually many advancements when it comes to herbivore nutrition and many people are taking on the “no pellet movement”. If I had the money to spend $60 a week in veggies, I would. But I don’t, so the next best thing is finding the right pellets for my rabbits. Oxbow just wasn’t it, but it doesn’t mean your bunnies will do bad on it.
I also have particular interest in animal nutrition because it’s one of my majors, along with wildlife ecology.

 

[MoveDiagonally]

The reason I went the make my own route with the dogs and cats was because it was actually cheaper than buying the premium commercial food. Dogs and cats consume in such volume (two boxers, three cats) that it just wasn’t affordable to spend $50.00 a bag. For that I dissected everything in the food, looked up AFFCO 

standards, developed recipes, the whole nine.

The bunnies eat so little of the pellets that I can afford to buy a premium pellet and not worry about it.

I have not seen any cecals or indications of issues digesting the pellets.

Thank you everyone!

[Tate]

Posted By Ripley on 09/11/2011 11:28 AM

 For that I dissected everything in the food, looked up AFFCO standards, developed recipes, the whole nine.

 

Holy. Crap. Can we be best friends? Haha, you are awesome. 

[Joyfull_music]

Yay a fellow boxer lover! I have a boxer/lab, and he definitely has a boxer personality and energy.

[tobyluv]

Your bunny diet sounds very good to me! As far as freezing fresh vegetables, I’m afraid that they would no longer be crisp, but would be limp or mushy when thawed out. They may still have nutrients, but I don’t think that any rabbits would want to eat them due to the consistency. Fresh, crisp veggies are what rabbits want and need.

[Sarita]

I agree with Tobyluv, don’t freeze the veggies, they won’t be the same. Most frozen veggies are par boiled anyway before frozen.

[MoveDiagonally]

Tate – Haha. It was a project and has become a hobby of mine. It was something I had wanted to do for a long time. I’ve found it to be satisfying and they’ve all done great on it. It’s a lot of work and while cheaper than buying the expensive commercial food it’s not cheaper than some other perfectly fine commercial options. I just enjoy doing it.

Joyfull_music – I have one full blooded boxer and a boxer mix (we think with pit or or american bull) but she’s all boxer in the personality department. I’ve had boxers since I was a kid. I can’t get enough of their clownish antics!

tobyluv & Sarita – I figured freezing raw veggies was not going to work out… Thinking about it now it’s kind of like a “duh!”

Thanks to everyone for the info!

[Author]

Messages