Interesting because there seems to be many conflicting things when you read the HRS website which I just did and these recommendations.

HRS doesn’t really recommend any “treats” that I can see.

It seems to me they recommend certain fruits as part of a regular diet and bananas and grapes eaten sparingly as treats.

Also absolutely no vitamin supplements or grains are recommended. As far as vitamin supplements (which I am putting papaya and acidophoulus for lack of a better category from HRS) can all be derived from their regular diet.

I am a little surprised at the rhubarb stalk as HRS does not recommend this vegetable – I don’t know much about rhubarbs though at all.

i don’t give any grains at all. i know some people do cheerios, but i don’t see any point. i give raisins, small pieces of matchstick carrots, and papaya tablets as treats. my husband gives more than the recommended amount, despite my asking him not too, so i usually don’t even give her any myself. i’ve been giving the BB oat hay as a treat also. i’ll give her a few strands and she sits there till it’s all gone, as well as the tim hay cubes. if you think of it in terms of, a treat can be anything you feed from your hand, you’ll realize it doesn’t have to be a very sweet treat.

I absolutely do not think you should feed rabbits any kind of grain.  Their digestion systems are very different.  They are herbivores which means they eat a plant based diet.  Processed foods like Cheerios etc are bad enough for us so I certainly would not feed that crap at all. I don’t care what the HRS says!

Yes, I understand exactly what you are saying and even as occasional treats, I don’t see HRS really recommending anything specifically other than the blurb under recommended fruits. They just have what they do have a whole section on “treats” but it’s what they do not recommend.

I also understand about the acidophilous but HRS does not mention these at all. They do have a bunny biscuits on their website.

They don’t mention acidophilous as a treat at all – just as a supplement for certain situation.

They even don’t recommend “sweetened” papaya tablets which they put under the “sugar/candy” portion of their treat section. Don’t know how that would differ if you are looking for conflicting information on just papaya tablets.

Not sure if you consider this conflicting information but that is the information from the HRS website and yours is from an HRS chapter.

So I’m just pointing out that it can be confusing as well – that’s all.

Knowltons HRS does not recommend this – the Colorado Chapter does but if you look on the HRS website it does not – that is what I believe that SageCat is talking about with conflicting information although I could be wrong…

Rhubarb?? Are they serious about rhubarb? 0_o *I* won’t eat it, much less feed it to my buns!

Anyway, I find if I’m just being diligent about my bunnies having their hay regularly, I don’t get many requests for treats. But I can’t imagine they would consider hay cakes to be treats?

Popsicle sticks?? Oh dear…. Seems to me those would splinter terribly. Haven’t we all ever chewed on one?

Man, I am TOTALLY confused! Do we know who specifically listed these? Seems to me it should be corrected.

MimzMum – they were listed by a chapter of the House Rabbit Society.

Simple rule of thumb … If in doubt … don’t give.

I would not give Luey any snacky kind of food … like crackers, cheerios etc.

Sensible choices … tiniest pieces of apples/banana/carrot few times a week.

Sounds simple to me.

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THEY MAKE DRIED FRUIT W/ NO SUGAR ADDED? AND IF THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING THEY COULD HAVE? MY HUBBY  LOVES DRIED BANANA CHIPS AND HE TRIED TO BE SNEAKY AND FEED THEM TO THE  BUNNIES!                                                           THOUGHT I WOULD’NT SEE HIM! I YELLED AT HIM , BUT HE IS PRETTY CLUELESS ABOUT WHAT THEY CAN EAT. I’M PRETTY SURE THE ONES HE HAD WERE BAD FOR BUNS. JUST WANT TO CLARIFY .

i think some people feed dried fruits, but they still have to be in a very limited amount. you can actually make your own if you have one of those dehydrator things. as far as store bought ones, they’re probably full of preservatives… i’m not sure if anyone has a kind they use that they recommend.

You might want to make sure if your bunny would even like this before you invest in it. Another idea for treats is to get different kinds of hay as treats or fresh herbs.

You know those will be okay and they are easier to come by. Mine love fresh mint and basil – I feed it to them as part of their daily diet though but you can use it as a treat as well.

I’m with Sarita, our guys get herbs as treats pretty often.  We have an evening ritual in our house where each of the bunnies visits each of my daughters in bed before sleep time, and each bunny gets a treat from each girl.  We have lots of nice herbs in the garden right now, so the buns will get a sprig of something as their treat.  We also give them the little heart shaped cookies from BunnyBytes sometimes, or a small piece of apple, pear or carrot.