Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

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.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

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 HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Eating too much willow?

Viewing 6 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • Ali925
      Participant
      544 posts Send Private Message

        After my bun’s spay we decided to get her something fun to chew on…we got her a large willow ball at the vet (binky bunny sells it too).  She absolutely loves it!  Or loved it, since it’s not really a ball anymore..just some twigs at this point.  She pretty much had the whole ball in pieces within a few days. This weekend I had to take her to the vet again to get her staples removed, so for a treat I bought a very small willow basket (and one for my baby bun) but all that’s left a few days later is the bottom of the basket.  (Meanwhile, baby bun just eats his hay out of it, but I know his teeth aren’t ready to chow down on it as much just yet).  And it’s only a matter of time before that’s gone too.  I know willow is safe to eat, etc…but is it odd for her to eat so much of it?  I was told by a nurse that willow has pain relieving effects, so maybe that explained it after the spay?  or maybe she just really likes it… since I know she’s healed from the surgery at this point. 

        She’s not eating it in place of food, in fact I’m concerned that maybe I’m not feeding her enough and she’s just really hungry?  She’s got a great appetite and devours her salads in seconds.  I give her unlimited hay and she eats a lot of that as well.  I’ve also switched her to timothy pellets recently, so I’m wondering if she needs some extra veggies to make up for the deficit caused by switching from alfalfa pellets? 

        Or I’m just paranoid and worrying about nothing… 

        Thanks in advance.


      • Elrohwen
        Participant
        7318 posts Send Private Message

          As long as she’s still eating a lot of hay, it’s totally fine. It’s only a problem if she’s eating the willow in place of the hay. Lots of buns destroy those willow balls in no time at all!


        • Beka27
          Participant
          16016 posts Send Private Message

            In my experience, this is pretty normal. If you are concerned, you could take it away for a few days and reintroduce it. It’ll be almost like a new toy… lol! But really, as long as diet isn’t affected. What does her diet consist of and how much is she getting everyday?


          • Moonlight_Wolf
            Blocked
            1155 posts Send Private Message

              My bunnies do this too… They LOVE willow and I always save the twigs.


            • BinkyBunny
              Moderator
              8776 posts Send Private Message

                I have also heard that willow has pain relieving affects and so the timing may be right, with her spay, to devour it. When Vivian first came here she would munch up Willow like crazy, but then after a while, it was like….”OH…that thing again?” and she would chew just a little bit of it every day. It normally takes both her and Jack together a week or two to chew that down. Though every once in awhile, they go into a Willow Chewing Frenzy.

                I have people ordering 6 willow balls or cubes at once so I know their bunnies must be major chewers, but as long as the willow, which is also a good fiber source, doesn’t replace the nutrition and fiber of the rest of their diet it should be okay. If you do find that it is affected than I’d try Beka’s good advice.


              • Ali925
                Participant
                544 posts Send Private Message

                  Thanks everyone for your help! I was hoping it was normal, I’m just not really experienced since she’s my first bunny to know anything about this. I don’t really give her treats, except a baby carrot a couple times a week and just gave her a small piece of melon last night…so perhaps it’s like a fun treat for her. I don’t think it’s replacing nutrition since she eats everything else, it’s not like it’s the first thing she goes to. It seemed to be after her regular eating was done she’d go and munch away.

                  As far as her diet, first off, she’s just about 4 lbs (3.99 to be exact…we were just at the vet )
                  – I have just completed the switch to bunnybasics T pellets, which she transitioned to very easily. I give her 1/3 c a day and plan to reduce it a bit more now that I’ve completed the transition and increase the veggies. Currently she’s getting 2 salads a day (some mix of red leaf and green leaf lettuce, romaine, parsley, basil, and/or cilantro and we’re still working on adding in some others) and I weigh out almost 2 oz for each salad. If I feel she’s looking for more I’ll throw some extra veggies in afterwards. (If she’s not hungry she won’t stuff her face, so I go based on that with anything extra) Finally she always has hay available (mostly timothy, but also botanical timothy and just introduced orchard grass), and I know she eats quite a bit of it.

                  Just a side note, my vet highly discouraged too many pellets because it may cause issues with the teeth over time (not enough chewing required) and he already observed the beginnings of malocclusion, so he suggested as much as possible to limit the pellets (or remove completely) and give mainly veggies and hay. I don’t want to completely remove in case I wasn’t providing all the essential nutrients in the salads, but maybe over time I can. She’s still young (~6.5 months)

                  Thanks again!


                • KatnipCrzy
                  Participant
                  2981 posts Send Private Message

                    Mine go thru stages with Willow chewing- though Griffin the youngest is the most enthusiastic.  But I have noticed if I tie or clip the basket or ball to the side of the pen it becomes their mission to destroy it as soon as possible.

                    When Cotton was young she was not much of a chewer- then she suddenly seemed to figure out why all those toys and baskets were in her pen!

                Viewing 6 reply threads
                • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Eating too much willow?