Sweets for my Sweet?

[LopLover]

So, Igloo is three months as of four days ago, and he’s finally getting his greens! However, because he is both adorable and persistent, he has also convinced me to start giving him bits of fruit. I wanted to get everyone’s opinion on this. In the past three days, he’s gotten 1/4 cup of fresh, organic Romaine in the morning along with maybe the tip of a banana, a pitted cherry cut into fourths or a thin slice of apple. At night, he gets another 1/4 of Romaine, mostly because you can’t beat the moisture content and it’s been so hot here lately. He also gets unlimited timothy hay, unlimited Oxbow Young Rabbit Pellets, and of course unlimited water.

He hasn’t shown any signs of stomach upset, but I’m worried it could be bad for him in some other way. Thoughts?

[Bam]

It is the stomach you need to worry about, so keep a close eyes on his poop (they shouldn’t get smaller) and his cecals (he should ingest them, not leave them around) and his butt (it should be clean, not messy.) Sweets have of course no nutrition of essential value (essential nutrients: nutrients necessary for life) that a bunny can’t get elsewhere minus the sugar. It is nice though to give them a little treat now and then and if it’s only a little, most bunnies can handle it. Make sure he doesn’t skip his healthy food for treats.

If you see reduction in poop-size, sticky butt or excess cecals, stop the sweets.

Other than stomach problems a bunny that gets too many sweets can get fat (duh!) and they can actually get caries, which is not sth you hear about often, but it’s mentioned in the literature.

[Sindri]

I totally agree with what Bam says. I know its hard not to want to spoil them just be careful. I have to hold myself back from giving too many treats to my two.

[Author]

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