Are these veggies safe to feed daily? Alternatives to lettuce for daily feeding?

[Bu20055]

Hi all! My new bun, Esther, doesn’t seem to be a fan of lettuces. She never finishes her whole bowl, and tends to let it sit there through the day. She has no lack of appetite, and eats her pellets and hay just fine, but seems to just not like lettuce. I gave her two pieces of parsley a little while ago, and she LOVES it. I’m going to experiment and figure out what she likes. Is it okay to feed parsley, cilantro, and kale together daily? I’d switch it up every week but that’s what we have this week. I’m checking with the rescue about what veggies she’s had before so I know what I have to introduce. What non-lettuce veggies can be fed together on a daily basis?

 

Thanks guys!

[DanaNM]

Cilantro is a very good daily staple. Kale is good in moderation, but has high calcium content so it can cause some bladder sludge issues sometimes. It can also cause gas in some buns, but most tolerate it. Parsley is also a good one, but should be fed in a rotation due to high oxalate and calcium content. In general, more variety is better. Some buns are kind of picky about their lettuce. Myra seems to only like really crunchy romaine, and not the softer red leaf varieties. So the combo of cilantro, kale, and parsley looks pretty good, because only parsley is high oxalate, I would just keep an eye on her urine for excess calcium and make sure the kale doesn’t make her gassy.

Some other great staples are carrot tops (if you can get them) and dandelions. Dandelions also have high calcium but don’t seem to cause the same sludge issues that kale does, and have lots of other things that are very good for rabbit digestion. Any fragrant herbs are usually really popular. My buns especially love fennel when it’s in season!

This veggie list shows veggies that are safe and which ones have higher oxalate content so should be fed in a rotation. Oxalates are just something to be aware of, because too many can contribute to bladder crystal formation. In general, most people need to worry more about oxalates than calcium, but if you notice your bun starting to get some sludgey urine, you can swap out higher calcium veggies for lower calcium ones.

Veggie List

 

 

 

 

. . . 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.  

[Wick & Fable]

The veggie list provided by Dana definitely hits best on your question.

I’ll mention two “quirks” I noticed with my buns, just to show how sometimes there might be weird habits:

1. My buns tend to finish their veggies and not walk away from them when I’m with them while eating. I might just be sitting there or nearby, but they tend to finish it when that happens.
2. My Fable only has this weird thing where she will not eat veggies until she gets a little bit of pellets on the plate to eat first. I discovered this because I would really try to get her to eat them, but she wouldn’t. Eventually I discovered by experimenting that if I present the plate of veggies with a tiny pile of pellets on one side, she will eat the pellets, then eat all the veggies with no hesitation. Very odd.

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.

[LBJ10]

@Wick – Well, no one ever said buns were “normal”. 😛

It depends on the bunny. Some will eats tons of greens and others are more finicky. I never put out more than a handful at a time. Otherwise, it will just get wilty. 🙄 Spring mix (baby greens) are pretty popular, but some bunnies like crunchy greens. So you just have to experiment. The list Dana linked to is a good resource.

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