Well, Dr. Susan Brown has tons of rabbit experience and I believe is on the board of HRS so I think she knows alot.

It has been a long time since they’ve updated their veggie list and rabbit diet are ever evolving since house rabbits are relatively new as pets. I like that she has dispelled the myth about gaseous foods and also the myth about kale.

So my opinion is that it is a very much needed update on rabbit diets.

Thanks for posting this.

What a great article! I passed it onto the RA facebook page, so it will get some more attention there

I saw that page about a month ago and I was glad to see that she considers kale to be a good veggie, one that is low in oxalates, instead of high in it like we had always been told. My bunnies love kale and in the past I wondered if I was giving them too much, but now I won’t worry about that.

Interesting, good to see updates and new material coming out! I also like how they’ve expanded their list a little to include less conventional veggies, for those who might live in different areas.

Now I feel like I need to go out and do some grocery shopping for some new greens. I knew rotation was important but I didn’t know that introducing new veggies was important (I just thought it was fun). Very informative.

Thank you for posting this! Very interesting and helpful. It will help me keep updated with the BB diet info as well. I will definitely make a few changes, and add this link to the diet section. Would like to get hold of Susan Brown to double check with about the changes I plan to make. So that is now on my priority TO DO list. After that their will be three good sources for the diet page and veggie/fruit list. Thank you!

The only thing I see that’s bad about the list is that…I feed my 2 lb bun probably 4 cups of veggies a day!!! EEK!!! My vet said it’s ok though, because they’re low in calories and high in nutrients, plus good for her teeth. She hasn’t gained weight and absolutely loves them. What do you guys think? Do I need to cut back?

If she’s happy and healthy, I don’t see any reason to hold back (especially if your vet says that it’s fine)

I think the amount she listed in the article is the minimum for a healthy diet. They can’t get fat on veggies really anyway

So that means kale can be fed in quantity? I always avoided it because I was worried about stones, but if it can move to that list then I will be able to do 4-5 veggies a week instead of 3-4

I have always fed my buns more than the “maximum” amount of kale. They love it and I’ve never experienced any adverse effects with it. So this makes me feel a lot better about that. They’ll be happy. Lol…

Thanks for posting this! I was also afraid to feed to much kale to my bunnies so I never ended up buying it for them. Now I don’t have to worry!

She mentioned that leafy greens should be 75% of a rabbits fresh foods intake, So is the other veggies and fruits actually important to? I never really fed them because I thought they were just veggies you “could” feed but they didn’t really do much. What do you guys think?

Good question mocha!

Honestly, I thought that hay was supposed to be at least 50% of the diet, hence why I have so many varieties of it. I guess I followed the same principal with Nova that I did with my horse. Grazing is of course the ideal, but hay is what is readily available and a solid second best. Now veggies are numero uno? Like, I get it. I really do. This is just a very new idea for me. A direction I was kind of thinking of going anyways with hydroponically grown grasses to replace hay. Just to make sure I understand right, it is having leafy greens to replace especially pellets, but also hay (not that hay shouldn’t be always available)?

Oops. That is fresh food intake. Glad to know hay is still important. I just skimmed over it too fast. I understand now.

KytKattin: Yes, Hay is the most important thing in a rabbits diet and should be most of a rabbits food intake every day.

A great read. Thanks for posting.

Fantastic article…

Did anyone do a ‘double take’ when reading this this part?

Mushrooms (any cultivated type)

I NEVER would have thought they could eat mushrooms! Anyone ever fed those to your buns?

Kokaneeandkahlua: YES! I thought that was so weird! I think I would feel a little uneasy feeding those to my bunnies.

Funny, I cannot see my rabbits eating a mushroom…I mean basically a raw mushroom has not much flavor, it’s the butter and garlic and cream that yum them up.

Posted By Sarita on 02/29/2012 01:30 PM
Funny, I cannot see my rabbits eating a mushroom…I mean basically a raw mushroom has not much flavor, it’s the butter and garlic and cream that yum them up.

Well, some mushrooms have a lot stronger flavor than others–chantrelles, for example.  Or truffles.    But I don’t recall ever seeing any of our wild buns snacking on any of the edible mushrooms around here.    And it never occurred to me to feed or try to feed any to a bun.  Color me confuzzled.  (And color me not wanting to even open the can of worms marked, “Bunny With An Acquired Taste For Truffles”.)

That’s funny Quantum LOL. Next thing they’ll be asking for Dom Perignon :~)