advice on greens amount

[furballlover]

My two girls are both on greens – mostly romaine lettuce. Karou has been with me about 7 months, she’s 3 lbs and gets about 1 cup of green lettuce every day. Alfred is a little over 5 lbs but is on a diet to loose a bit of weight and has only been with me about a month so we’re still building up her [yes, it’s a girl] greens amount. Both are over a year old and came to me when they needed new homes. Alfred had to be on a limited greens diet until she was eating a proper amount of hay.

I’m looking for advice on how much greens to give a day. My vet, she’s fantastic, but she does recommend only small amounts of greens, i.e. 1 leaf per day. While I agree with my vet on very limited amount of pellets and tons and tons of hay, I would like to have my buns on more greens. I do grow some herbs and next year will be expanding to growing greens so I want to have a menu of sorts for both. Karou has to be on a low calcium greens diet as she a bit more sensitive.

Recommendations seem to vary quite a bit online, and most of the recommended amounts are base on pellets being 1/4 to 1/2 cup per 6 lbs. My girls are given 1 tsp per day based on the vet’s recommendation. Does anyone have any experience with a hay + greens diet rather than a hay + greens + pellets diet?

[Sirius&Luna]

Generally the recommendations are that a rabbit’s diet should be about 85-90% hay, 10% veg, 5% pellets.

While I also only feed my bunnies a spoonful of pellets, they are important for nutrients and vitamins. To ensure they’re getting the correct nutrients without pellets, you need to feed a huge variety of greens each day (I believe 8 to 10 different types), which isn’t practical for most of us. A small amount of a hay-based pellet won’t do any harm for most bunnies.

I give my dwarf rabbits roughly a handful of veg twice a day, (normally a variety of 3/4 types a day). I feed them various lettuces, rocket, dill, parsley, mint, coriander, kale, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, spring greens, spinach, watercress. For occasional treats, they get blueberries, strawberries or banana slices.

As with any new food, you should increase gradually, so don’t go straight from a teaspoon to a handful, and give very small portions of anything entirely new.

[furballlover]

3/4 types I can do. I don’t plan to do zero pellet but I do think they’ll be more happy with a daily salad.

Thanks for the tips.

[DanaNM]

I give about the same amounts as @Sirius&Luna (welcome back, btw!), about a handful of leafy veg twice a day per bun, and 1 tablespoon of pellets each once a day. My bunnies are around 5-6 lbs each.

I think as long as you are seeing good hay consumption and healthy poops, no gas, etc, there is some wiggle room on veggie amounts. Herbs are nice because you can give a good variety and some enrichment without adding a lot of bulk to the diet. I volunteer at a rescue and they give 1 handful of greens per day (the size of the handful changes a bit with the size of the bun). I don’t think they are opposed to two feedings, it’s more of a logistic thing, but all the buns do well with that amount.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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