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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE What should my bun eat? New owner needs help

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    • Buckley's Mum
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        Hi there, I have a Netherlands Dwarf whom I got a week ago, the pet shop told me he was 12 weeks old, but looking at the dates he is closer to 16 weeks (they lied, or were misinformed, or can’t count!).  He has not been newtered but shows no agression (I plan to have him done once he’s settled in).  I have so many questions on how to look after my boy as I have never owned a rabbit before and really want to make his life a happy one (I still worry if my hamsters are happy and we’ve had various ones over the last 3 years!).  Anyway, I really don’t know what to feed him. The pet shop sold me some bagged food and some hay.  The bagged food has some brightly coloured flaky things in it, which from reading on this website I’m beginning to think are not good for him and should feed him the plain pellet stuff, but am not sure here, any advice?  This forum and various websites go on about Timothy hay, unfortunately I live in the UK and have no idea what this is, I don’t think it is sold in this country, so am at a loss, also I have no idea what alfalfa is????  Again, not something we have in the UK, do we know it by another name or is there a veg/leaf similar that we have here?

         

        My poor bun, I wouldn’t say he was mistreated in the pet shop but from doing the maths, he spent 7 weeks in a cage, probably with no exercise and being maulled by lots of kids (I’m surprised he’s as good tempered as he is), but he has never been given anything other than bagged food/hay, he has no idea what treats are and won’t take them, he has never had fresh veg either, I tried him with a carrot and he wouldn’t even try it.  However last night I got him to try spinach and he now can’t get enough of the stuff.

         

        What should I be feeding my little bundle of fluff?  He has an unlimited supply of hay to eat/sleep on, but I don’t know how much dry food (or which type of dry food) he should have, but please be gentle with me, I have no idea what a “cup” is, that is not a measurement we use in the UK. How much veg should he have and what types of veg and how often?

         

        Sorry for being so lame and appearing to know nothing, but I really want him to have a good home and I want to look after him properly.  Any advice you can give me about absolutely anything bunny related will be gratefully received.  I should also say he’s a house rabbit.

         

        Many thanks

        Jane aka a very new bunny owner


      • lmais
        Participant
        272 posts Send Private Message

          Hi Jane, welcome to BB!! Your bun is still really young, so it’s normal for him not to want to try treats – they are very picky about what they eat and it sometimes takes a while for them to try new things. But if you keep trying them with the same thing they’ll try most eventually and you’ll be able to tell what they like/don’t like from there.

          For the food, it’s true it’s not good to feed him the mixes that they have at pet stores. The pellets are better for a few reasons. There’s no filler in them (a lot of the mixes put in seeds and other things that are actually bad for the rabbit’s health) and with the mixes they’ll often pick and choose what they feel like eating so their diet becomes unbalanced.

          The alfalfa hay and pellets are good for baby bunnies because it’s high in calories and helps them gain weight so that they’re stronger and healthier when they grow up. Once they are about a year old they should be switched to timothy hay and pellets which basically has less calories, so it doesn’t promote weight gain, but it has all the nutrients they need to stay healthy and at a good weight.

          He should always have unlimited hay, for the amount of pellets, what measurements do you use in the UK? I’m in Canada so I only know the amounts by cup but I could convert it if I knew what you use!

          If you check out the bunny info section on the website it will tell you what the bunny will need to be fed for the different ages (I have a dwarf as well, and I learned basically everything I know from this site, aside from what my vet has told me). Go to https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/2/PID/940/Default.aspx. All the info for feeding an adult rabbit is there, and there’s a link for more info on feeding a baby rabbit. The information for the vegetables is there as well – he’s still very young so don’t get discouraged if he doesn’t want to try them. Ruby didn’t touch any veggies until she was about 8 months old. The link also has another link to a list of safe veggies, it has helped me tons when I do my grocery shopping for her when her favorites run out! If it helps at all, some of her favorites are chicory, dandelion, swiss chard, and carrot tops. Another really healthy one is parsley and she seems to like italian parsley better than the regular one.

          A lot of pet stores do sell the pellets and hay as well, but I’m not from the UK so I’m not sure which pet stores you have or will stock them. I don’t think it should be too hard to find if you have a few local pet stores.


        • RabbitPam
          Moderator
          11002 posts Send Private Message

            Hi, and welcome!
            You will find if you browse through the binkybunny site that there is all the basic info. you need to set up a happy home with your bunny. Just check out the Home page of the site, or look above to the banner and use the drop down menu under Bunny Info. There you will find habitat suggestions, food lists from both here and from the House Rabbit Org. that is a comprehensive list of exactly what veggies and fruits are good for your bunny’s health. Also, you can learn about the vital basics (water, unlimited hay, limited plain rabbit pellets and assorted greens) as well as what to expect at different ages. Take an hour or so, read through the site, and you’ll find most of your questions will be answered already.

            We do, however, insist on cute pix of your new bunny. We love to see our member’s furbabies.


          • tanlover14
            Participant
            3617 posts Send Private Message

              Both very good information. The House Rabbit Society along with BinkyBunny Info section is where I learned almost everything to take care of my buns properly. Like you, I knew absolutely nothing about bunnies before we decided to get one!

              We also got babies — they should have an unlimited pellet diet (no pellets with those brightly colored shapes and stuff) the pellets should preferably be pellets made for younger rabbits, usually you can tell because they are also made with alfalfa rather than timothy (should say in the ingredients. Timothy is usually something they sell for older adult buns, since yours is still young and growing I would definitely recommend alfalfa. If you don’t buy it in the UK, I would suggest looking on-line such as the BinkyBunny store. Oxbow is one of my favorite bunny manufacturers and they sell all the things listed above. Their pelleted foods are also very good for buns! They have a Young Rabbit Food that is excellent for growing baby buns and when yours turns about 6 months old you can begin switching him over to the Adult.

              As for treats, buns are very picky when young and it can sometimes take months to get them to eat treats! You can try Craisins (I use the Ocean Spray brand) and fragrant herbs such as cilantro and basil are great for trying to entice their little appetites. Sounds annoying and mean but I kept poking my little bun in the side of the month with a cilantro stalk until he finally grabbed it and went to throw it on the ground before he realized … “man.. this really is good”. He was addicted to cilantro after that! Remember with introducing veggies, don’t do anything more than one new veggie a week (same with treats) so you can successfully see how his tummy reacts to it (does his poo change? and become nasty looking, ect). Also, I’ll warn you since I almost had a heart attack with my buns, sometimes when feeding veggies their urine will change a different color! LOL. Sounds bad, but it’s actually completely normal. My buns urine will even turn a bright orange, almost red when he gets certain veggies or more than usual at one time! So don’t freak out if this happens!


            • Sarita
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                You may know alfalfa as Lucerne. If you can find pellets without the mixture that would be best – if they aren’t alfalfa (or lucerne) – timothy based is perfectly acceptable.

                I would start introducing some greens as well in his diet. As for hay, I would recommend a grass hay (like timothy or orchard), not sure what you have available in the UK.

                I would go easy on the spinach however – it is high is oxalate and should be fed sparingly.

                He’s lucky to have you now.

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            Forum DIET & CARE What should my bun eat? New owner needs help