What should I do?!!

[Harry~potter~]

I recently posted about adopting my 7 week old holland lop in a couple of days concerned about the diet etc.. So I contacted the lady asking about what the bunnies had been eating and whether or not they were weened as I didn’t want to get her too early, and she said that they were weened and ate martins little friends original rabbit food, and fresh vegetables!!! Like broccoli, lettuce, carrots, apple and green pepper!!! Apparently that can KILL bunnies that young!!! what should I do?! Bring her to the vet as soon as I get her?? Just stop feeding vegetables once I get her, then wait to slowly introduce them until she’s older?? I’m so scared now

[Mikey]

I wouldnt worry yet. 7 weeks is about 2 months and they can be introduced to greens at about 3 months. Some rabbits can eat greens earlier than that, but its not smart to try until they are about 3 months old. Although rabbits should not get carrots, apples, and broccoli every single day, even when they are adults. When you get your bun, i would monitor its eating, drinking, and pooping. If all seems well, i would cut the veggies and slowly introduce in leafy greens whenever the bunny is settled in (this can take a few day to a few weeks). If at any time you see their eating, drinking, and pooping become abnormal, i would consult the vet for advice

[Harry~potter~]

Okay, well I sent the woman an email explaining my concerns but haven’t heard back… So I should adopt her anyway? And is it only deadly when it ends up causing severe diarrhea? It will be my first time owning a rabbit, so what would be abnormal? What would be considered normal and healthy? What are the signs of diarrhea/ when should I take her to the vet? Sorry for the question avalanche

[Mikey]

Im not completely sure what is deadly about it, but it can cause several issue which if left untreated can lead to death (stasis, blockages, diarrhea, ect). I would adopt the bunny anyway, as if theyve had this diet for a while, it should be ok to cut and slowly switch over to a healthier diet. For diarrhea in rabbits is when their poops are squishy or pure liquid. Rabbits have cecals which are clumped together wet squishy poops that they are supposed to eat; the start of diarrhea looks similar to those, only not stuck together. You should take her to the vet if you notice her poops are smaller, darker, wetter, mucusy than normal (you can google healthy rabbit poops; i think this website and Rabbits.org has a few pictures, but im not sure on their links). If she doesnt eat within 8 hours of you getting her and bringing her home, you will need to make a vet visit as soon as possible. You will need to make pellet mash (water + pellets) and syringe feed her with it (put the syringe into her lip and squeeze out a drop or two. if she licks her lips after a few seconds, she swallowed it and do it again. if she does not, or if it comes out of her nose, its an emergency). If shes not drinking, try to add a bit of apple juice to her water and get her to drink. If that doesnt work, syringe water her very carefully the same way i described feeding. Make sure you start her with a bowl of water and a bottle of water; some rabbits have preferences and will only use the one they prefer. If for any reason she doesnt look right, head to the vet. Always trust your gut

[Nox]

If the bunny has been eating veggies fine then I wouldn’t worry about it. I got my holland lop at 10 weeks and he had already been eating veggies for quite a while. You just want to make sure that you don’t overfeed them broccoli, apples, and carrots because they have a lot of sugar in them and can end up being unhealthy for the bun. I usually feed my bunny romaine lettuce, cilantro, spinach, or any other dark leafy greens. This site has a list of suggested veggies to feed them:
http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/
I gave him applies or carrots as a treat every now and them. It is important that your bunny eats a lot of hay though because it is vital for not only their diet but also their digestive system, immune system, and teeth. If your bunny isn’t eating enough hay and only relying on veggies then I would start to be concerned. If he’s eating everything just fine and his poops are normal and he seems healthy and active then you have nothing to worry about!

[Bam]

Dont worry: Waiting until week 12 before starting bunnies on veg is a precaution, nothing else.

If a bunny has had veg when still with mom and siblings and responded well to that, that’s perfectly ok. There’s nothing deadly per se in veggies. Here’s why:

A very young bunny’s GI microbiota isn’t fully diversified and its immune defense isn’t fully developped. That is normal and the case with all mammals including human babies. You know perhaps that with human babies, you start them on solid food in small portions. It’s not that solid food is bad or anything, it just has to be introduced slowly. It’s the exact same thing with bunnies and vegs.

Young bunnies are sensitive, as are human babies, and sometimes, more often than not, probably, there are bacteria or parasites in the environment where the bun is growing up. These pathogens need to be kept in check by the bun’s immune defense or they will cause illness. The immune defense is sensitive to stress, and when a bun gets a new home, that is stressful even if it’s a perfect new home. It’s of course especially stressful if the bun is too young to leave its mama. If you add new food plus a new home, you get quite a lot of stress and the bun can get very sick from the pathogens it’s already carrying.

This last thing can have given rise to misconceptions about greens. An example: A person buys a very young bun, takes it home, feeds it veg (esp Iceberg lettuce that for a long time was pretty much the only lettuce available all year round), bun get diarrhea and tragically dies and since it happened after giving vegs, the veg is blamed, when in fact there were many factors working together. This might have been why Iceberg lettuce got such a very bad rep with bunny owners and bun-owners are always recommended to stay away from Iceberg.

I hope this clarified some! If you just give your baby the same things your breeder has weaned it on to, you can then slowly transition it to the diet that you think is best for it.

[Harry~potter~]

Thank you all so much! I was terrified!! I’ll still just give her hay and pellets for the first few days though and Keep a careful eye out for unhealthy poo. The website I read from basically said DO NOT feed veggies under six months or you WILL KILL your bunny

[Bam]

I’m so glad you asked here instead! The BB forums tend to follow the recommendations that the House Rabbit Society makes, because they are a trusted source, so if you find websites that has their name on them (there are many local branches), the info there is generally good.

Good luck with your new bunny! We’ll be very excited to hear more about her!

[Author]

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