At What Point..

[Binkles]

Aghh I really feel like just sitting in a corner and letting myself rot away right now, but I KNOW I have to push myself to do things. I have to do right by Little-Bit. She is such a sweet bunny..

I need to know, at what point should I start switching her over from Alfalfa to Timothy and at what point I should start switching her over from her baby pellets to the more crude fiber pellets? (Which aren’t REALLY baby pellets..it’s just what the store that she came from apparently fed her -but I consider them to be as good as baby pellets because they are packed with ‘extras’. Dried carrots, dried mint leaves, all the works. I KNOW I need to get her off this diet at some point.)

She is about 7 months old and doing marvelously. Thankfully…we hadn’t really gotten the chance to introduce her to Binkles yet, so she’s not suffering any depression or withdrawal like her mommy is right now..

I also need to know what and when I should start feeding her fresh greens. What are a few ideal greens to start with?

[Beka27]

what a rough time for you.

i posted about this in the “Weirdest Scare” thread on July 10th  —>  binkybunny.com/Default.aspx  but i’m sure with everything that’s happened you forgot… regarding introducing veggies:

give the parsley every day for a few days and make sure they are both tolerating it well. you can then try another green, maybe a type of lettuce (endive, escarole, green-leaf or red-leaf) and give that in addition to the parsley they are already eating. feed those two for a week. add a third veggie in and feed all three for a week. slowly increase the amounts too. as they get used to eating those, you can swap things out and try new veggies.

greens are very popular (collard, dandelion, mustard), other types of dark green lettuce, watercress is a big hit with my buns. i have a good repertoire of about 12-15 veggies that i can swap in and out every week. my buns usually get 4-5 different types a day. as a rule, i stay away from veggies that can cause problems (kale, spinach) b/c i would be too worried. there are many more veggies that are known to be perfectly safe with most bunnies. build up over the next couple months and keep track of what they do or do not like/tolerate. i have a printed out list that i take to the store and i make notes right on it.

i have to say that my guys love their veggies. it’s very satisfying for me to watch them just munch the heck out of them. once they get them on a daily basis, i’m betting it will become a favorite part of their day.

 

bunnies are started on veggies somewhere between 8 and 12 weeks typically.  HRS says 12 weeks, but i know some people will start basic veggies right at 8 weeks.  Lil Bit is long overdue for having veggies as a part of her daily diet.  i know she’d benefit greatly from them, and they should be enjoyable as well, moreso than pellets. 

as far as the alfalfa, 7 months is when it is recommended you start weaning her off and moving to a completely timothy diet.  betw/ 7 months and one year is when this should be taking place.  gradually reduce the alfalfa hay and offer more and more timothy hay.  the same with the pellets.  it’s important she be on a high quality timothy pellet with none of the added junk.  you might start by picking out the added stuff from her current food, and just offer the alfalfa pellets, and then mix the old pellets with some of the new, increasing the amount of tim pellets each week.

 

you can also check out the bunny info diet section at the top for confirmation on this.

[Binkles]

Thanks for the info, Beka. I’ll be using your advice for sure soon here. I started putting just a few sprigs of Timothy in her Alfalfa yesterday to start her off. She didn’t seem to mind it!

I’m bumping this topic just to see what other opinions/ advice others may have to offer up.

=x As you can imagine, I’m a bit sensitive about introducing new things to Little-Bit’s regimen after what happened to Binkles in that ‘Weirdest Scare’ thread last week. (Which had nothing to do with her death, if anyone was unsure. >< )

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