Can yogurt be a treat?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 11sd replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 7 months ago by Stickerbunny.

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- 08/12/2014 at 1:16 PM
  hiskatey93
  Participant
  272 posts
  Like fruit flavored, low sugar low calorie yogurt? Can he have this as a treat? If yes about how often? ((He is 16.5 pounds))
  
  He loves his berry yogurt drops, and will come flying out to us at high speed the second we even touch the bag. But they have lots of sugar in them so he very rarely gets them.
  
  If not maybe some other treat ideas for him that aren’t fresh fruit? We vary his fruits weekly and get him something different every week otherwise things start spoiling. But I wanna be able to give him a yummy treat that he loves and can have some every day other than fresh fruits.
- 08/12/2014 at 1:34 PM
  Stickerbunny
  Participant
  4128 posts
  Yogurt and yogurt drops are both pretty bad treats for buns, not recommended by vets at all because it can cause issues with them. Rabbits do not do well with dairy products, in general.
  
  http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/yogurt.htm
  
  If you want something he can enjoy daily without any risk of spoiling you can try: Oxbow biscuits, dried papaya, dried banana slices, dried cranberries (craisins), etc. Craisins are my twos favorite treat and they last forever just in the cabinet, since they are dried – touch a bag and you have two circling bunnies in my house cause they think they are getting one. There are also some you can bake yourself, but I don’t have a recipe on me. My two also enjoy stealing my bird’s dried vegetables. And if you buy your own dehydrator, it’s as cheap as buying fresh fruit and you can make a variety of treats.
  
  You can also try for a plant based treat – certain flowers are safe for bunnies and they LOVE flowers, you could grow one in the house and trim it to give as a treat.
- 08/12/2014 at 2:50 PM
  LongEaredLions
  Participant
  4482 posts
  The GI systems of bunnies really aren’t equipped to handle dairy, so feeding yogurt (even a little) isn’t recommended as it can cause a multitude of problems.
  My bunnies get a treat of an oxbow papaya tab, an oxbow barley biscuit, etc. The BB store has lots of great, healthy treats, so it might be worth checking there.
- 08/12/2014 at 3:50 PM
  JackRabbit
  Participant
  5451 posts
  Unfortunately, just because some companies promote such snacks as being for bunnies doesn’t make it so. The same happens with seeded snacks and pellets with seeds and other things in them. LEL and Stickerbunny have some great suggestions. Others on BB also use pellets as treats (hand feed as a few treats for a bonus!). Mine also like oat hay and dehydrated carrots (limited) as well.
- 08/14/2014 at 4:20 AM
  Eepster
  Participant
  1236 posts
  Bunnies are naturally herbivores and shouldn’t be getting animal protein or fat at all. The sugar in yogurt is the least worry.
  
  If you want a lower calorie treat try cilantro, mint, basil or parsley. Small pieces of carrot or fruit are fine as occasional treats also.
  
  What breed is your bunny? 16.5 pounds would be very overweight if he’s a nethie, but totally healthy if he’s a flemie, so it’s hard to say what his weight means in terms of how much treats are OK without knowing what breed he is.
- 08/14/2014 at 5:21 AM
  hiskatey93
  Participant
  272 posts
  Posted By Eepster on 8/14/2014 4:20 AM
  
  Bunnies are naturally herbivores and shouldn’t be getting animal protein or fat at all. The sugar in yogurt is the least worry.
  
  If you want a lower calorie treat try cilantro, mint, basil or parsley. Small pieces of carrot or fruit are fine as occasional treats also.
  
  What breed is your bunny? 16.5 pounds would be very overweight if he’s a nethie, but totally healthy if he’s a flemie, so it’s hard to say what his weight means in terms of how much treats are OK without knowing what breed he is.
  
  He’s A Flemish Giant. For his size, since he is extremely large, the vet wants him at about 20-22 pounds. I’ve seen him around other Flemish Giants and he is massive in comparison to them. Big boy. He’s pure, no mixes of anything else in him.
  
  And weirdly enough he hates carrots. He’ll toss them at our feet with disdain. Picky little flufferbutt.
  
  And I didn’t know that. He’s my first bunny ever so I’m still learning all of this stuff. We’ve tried the basil, parsley, cilantro and whatnot but he hates the smell of it and refuses to eat any of it. He’s seriously picky.
  
  I’ll be popping into the binky bunny store to check out what they have there for treats since so many users tell me to.
- 08/14/2014 at 10:40 AM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17233 posts
  Have you tried banana or apple or papaya?
- 08/14/2014 at 4:47 PM
  hiskatey93
  Participant
  272 posts
  Posted By LBJ10 on 8/14/2014 10:40 AM
  
  Have you tried banana or apple or papaya?
  
  He hates papaya and apples. But loves banana’s so much that if we give it to him he will ignore his normal pellet food, greens and hay and thump at me and stalk me around the apartment, demanding more for a few days…
- 08/14/2014 at 10:55 PM
  borken
  Participant
  48 posts
  My bunny is super fussy like that too. I did get him the yogurt treats for a couple weeks when I first got him because I didn’t know much about rabbits or that people would market things to buns when it was bad for them. Now, I give him banana treats and he’s had watermelon a couple times. Have you tried flowers like dandelions or roses?
- 08/15/2014 at 5:09 AM
  hiskatey93
  Participant
  272 posts
  Posted By borken on 8/14/2014 10:55 PM
  
  My bunny is super fussy like that too. I did get him the yogurt treats for a couple weeks when I first got him because I didn’t know much about rabbits or that people would market things to buns when it was bad for them. Now, I give him banana treats and he’s had watermelon a couple times. Have you tried flowers like dandelions or roses?
  
  I had no idea they were that bad at first.
  
  I don’t wanna throw them away, and they are a good way to lure him out to me when I need to snag him and groom him. So he’ll get like one or two of these a week.
  
  I haven’t tried flowers. I don’t know where to get flowers like that from. Everywhere around my place does pesticides that are really harmful for animals, and I know they get all over the flowers. Also crop pesticides are always being used in the surrounding area so I’m nervous about going and finding something wild, and I know many people told me don’t go to a florist cause they use chemicals on their flowers too… :/
- 08/15/2014 at 7:39 AM
  manic_muncher
  Participant
  1061 posts
  My buns love raisins and they keep for a very long time. Also no added sugars and pretty cheap!
- 08/15/2014 at 12:10 PM
  Stickerbunny
  Participant
  4128 posts
  You can get seeds and grow your own, or you can find a friend/coworker that doesn’t treat their yard and ask if you can come weed the dandelions out for them (who would say no to that?). Asian markets also often sell dandelions, as they make a good soup, if you have one nearby. If you can find an organic florist, you may be able to find some that don’t use harsh pesticides as well and something more along the lines of what they use on vegetables (just call and ask them what they use). You can also buy dried flowers online as “hay toppers” – I bought a bag of dried rose petals and stuff at the pet store once. I know someone who buys easy grow flower seeds by the bundle off ebay for their tortoise and rabbits.
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