Bunny Diet…tell me everything?

[sinistermooess]

It’s me again. 

Poopybutt? uneaten cecals? I am finding I have ALOT more to learn then i thought about bunnies.  There are always leftover cecals in the bunnies cage, I am guessing by reading through some threads that this is NOT desirable.  What should I do to clear that up?

Can you give me a list of fresh veggies and fruits that are good for bunnies and which ones to stay far away from?  Right now they are eating a pellet from Walmart and Timothy Hay along with fresh greens (romaine, cabbage, spinach, parslet, cilantro a mix of different stuff every morning), bananas (Starbuck has a love affair with bananas) apples and carrots occasionally.  We are working on an extremely tight budget and buy fresh stuff once a week. 

Anything you think i should know about feeding my bunnies.  i have googled it but it is amazing how littlecoherent info I can find.  i guess I’m a list girl?

[Beka27]

diet is going to be one of the most important things in keeping your bunch healthy.

first, i’d suggest you read these few links.  if you have further questions, or need clarification on anything, please ask!  as you know, we are more than happy to help with anything we can!

the BinkyBunny diet info:  binkybunny.com/Default.aspx  the guidelines here are what most of the BB members follow. 

they are pretty much identical to what the House Rabbit Society suggests in their Diet FAQ: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html

this is the recommended safe veggie list, the most thorough one many of us have ever seen.  i carry a print-out of it in my purse so when i’m at the store, if i’m wondering about a particular fruit or veggie, the info is at hand… binkybunny.com/Default.aspx

this is an article about diet by rabbit expert, Dana Krempels… she describes not only the what and how much, but why the recommended diet is so important.  she also touches on cecal overproduction… http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

 

you can have both of the adult buns on a good diet of timothy pellets and unlimited timothy hay.    mama bun can have more pellets since she is breastfeeding and needs the added calories.  you can also add some alfalfa hay into her diet (along with regular timothy for the added calories).

papa bun should be limited to about 1/4cup pellets per day along with his unlimited timothy hay. 

veggies need to be introduced slowly over a few days, one at a time…

[sinistermooess]

Awesome thanks for the links!

It looks like I have been feeding them too many pellets, good to know.  Could that be the cause of the uneaten cecals?

[Balefulregards]

Yep – I found when Coco was too poopy last week that she was Gobbling her pellets straight from the dish – then gobbling her salad – THEN begging for treats from the gullible Husband and Child.

I cut her pellets out for a couple of days – gave just LOTS of hay, water and salad. No treats. No banana, no papaya, no apple, no carrots.

she has resolved her poopybutt issue – and everything looks nice and solid again. I started sprinkling the pellets ( which I have reduced to an 1/8th of a cup) in with her hay so she has to scrounge a bit more, rather than dipping her nose in ye olde feed trough.

I think it was just too calorie rich – so when she passed the extra cecals – she simply didn’t need them – and smeared them all over my bed and floor.

We have lots of folks who do a once a week salad trip for their buns – I make Coco’s every three days – but I am in a City and have different access to local grocers, versus one trip to the grocery store.

[Beka27]

i buy veggies every 5-6 days. i’ve been able to get a 7th day sometimes, but they start to look a bit iffy (at least in my fridge) at day 6 & 7. you can still feed slightly wilted stuff, but in general, i go by the thinking that if i would not eat a particular veggie, i won’t feed it to the buns.

[jerseygirl]

For the record…….here the differance of what fecal pellets and cecal pellets look like.  Gotta love it – Poop Pictures!
(borrowed pics from The Qunitessential Rabbit site – must go look at that one further – lots of pics re medical issues, very useful!)

1. Fecals
2. Cecals

117464953758.jpg
117464955329.jpg

[Beka27]

thanks for posting that Jersey!  i haven’t seen that site before!

here’s the link, it looks like they have a TON of info… i’ll have to bookmark that for further reading…

http://www.qrabbit.com/

[Beka27]

that site has a section about unexpected litters too, with A. DOR. A. BLE. pics of babies…

http://www.qrabbit.com/raisingbabies.html

[sinistermooess]

That’s great! So I have only ever seen cecals then once since they have been here.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Beka27 on 01/07/2009 4:46 PM

thanks for posting that Jersey!  i haven’t seen that site before!

here’s the link, it looks like they have a TON of info… i’ll have to bookmark that for further reading…

http://www.qrabbit.com/

Yes, it’s amazing what you turn up when you run a cecal search in Google Images!   I’ve bookmarked it too, we’ll see whether it meets our approval……..

 

[Hedi]

I havent seen anyone ask but have you looked on your Walmart pellet package to see what they are made of? Adults require Timothy based pellets because Alfalfa pellets will make them fat. Also if your pellets have anything in them other than pellets then its the equivelent of feeding your bun McDonalds every day (nuts, seeds,etc). If you need a cheap pellet you can hunt around for one and Im sure people on here will have great advice. I buy my pellets from my local HRS.

I think the biggest problem most bunny slaves have is watching portions with treats for buns. I keep seeing videos on youtube of bunnies eating bananas-whole bananas and whole carrots!!

A “small sliver” of banana is acceptable. Not more than that. Too much = poopybutt.

My buns also love craisins and raisins but that have a lot of sugar in them which can also cause poopybutt. So limit these to just a few a day.

Carrots are also crazy full of sugar and it is a myth all rabbits love them. Some bunnies just dont like carrots and I swear are insulted by that! lol I started buying bags of carrot slivers so that I can put a few in with their dinner and they think they have hit the jackpot. lol

I can tell you all 4 of my buns love the same veggies- brussel sprouts (they love them!), green/curly/romaine lettuces, flat leaf parsley (much more than curly), Endive, Cilantro, fennel tops, watercress and radish tops.

Collard greens and Kale have given two of mine gas issues so I never feed these. So keep those gas making greens in mind.

Also start researching on BB the topic of a bunny medical kit so you can be prepared if something was to happen.

[sinistermooess]

*raises hand guiltily”

I was doing that. Thank the bunny gods I found this place.

[Beka27]

*raises hand guiltily along with sinistermooess*

lol! i used to do that too! once i learned that it wasn’t good, i stopped, but then my husband kept trying to sneak the bunny whole carrots and other unnecessary treats… it’s definitely a learning process, but you will get there!

[Balefulregards]

Sarah –

I once woke up to Coco sitting in her cage – with a WHOLE BEET thrown in next to her.
(I was having a bout of insomnia so I was sleeping at strange times)

She was sitting next to it looking very insulted. But Terrance said “I thought she would like it!”

When we first got her, I gave her those yogurt type treats too. And three or four strawberries at one sitting.
No wonder she loved me. I was like the Candy man coming.

They still sneak her treats ( whole baby carrots and tons of papaya tablets) until I threaten them with the clean up of the poopybutt – then they knock it off.

She still moves like the Monty Python rabbit when she hears ANY pills rattle – which means every morning when I take my Prozac she RACES over looking hopeful – ( or any ibuprofen…or sinus meds…) She will actually thrown herself in front of you in the hopes of a treat.

This morning, I was putting her salad in her cage and she grabbed on leaf and actually pulled it out of my hand – snapped her head away and chewed it. I think I was in trouble for something..but I am not sure what.

[Beka27]

LMAO!!! i remember the beet story Baleful! that was hilarious! haha… our “helpful” men…

[ScooterandAnnette]

Our bunny’s diets are probably frowned upon, but we’ve never had any kind of problem with poopybutt or stasis or anything like that. They get banana in the morning (2 bananas between 6 bunnies). We don’t cut up any veggies and just give them to them whole. Right now they’re devouring some romaine (one head between the six of them, the leaves are torn off to make it easier to divide), tomorrow they’ll probably get carrots and we’ll just give them to them whole (3-4 carrots between them). I don’t understand about chopping the veggies – they’ve got good, strong teeth that they need to exercise, biting into a carrot should be good for that.

I know I’m going to get lots of people telling me how terrible that is for them and how they’re going to get horrible stomach and digestive problems, but they’ve been eating this same diet since we got the first bunny 4 years ago with no problems whatsoever, every indication is that we have happy, healthy buns.

Now if a bunny is experiencing digestive problems then absolutely taking precautions like only giving small amounts of veggies at a time is a very good idea, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the case that feeding them more than that, or whole veggies, is all that bad a thing or something to be scared about if you’ve been doing it with no problems so far.
– Annette

[Beka27]

it might have to do with the fact that they are used to that diet too. if that was not the norm for your buns and then all of a sudden you gave a whole carrot, that would likely cause some issues. we used to give carrots aplenty to our first bun and i can’t remember him ever having poopy butt or other digestive problems, but i was also not as observant then, and i know a lot more now, so i might not have noticed. he did pass away young, only a few years old. i will never know if it was diet-related or if it was something else altogether.

[Hedi]

Some of our veggies I do tear into smaller pieces just so they dont have this big thing hanging out of their mouth. With my dwarf I always worry she cant get to stuff. With carrots and other small things like grapes I always chop down. My thinking is I am afraid they could choke on it (some of this stuff is the perfect size to get stuck). Sometimes they eat so fast that I worry.

But we have ALL done the bad stuff..yogurt drops, whole carrots, etc so never feel bad. My husband and I always talk about being amazed w/ all the bad stuff we did with Carrera its a wonder she is healthy now! So dont feel bad. We definitely live and learn.

[Lightchick]

I think different buns, just like different people, have varying reactions to foods. For example, Hedi said she gives hers buns brussels sprouts, but not kale. My buns have exactly the opposite reaction. They LOVE kale, and do fine with it (it’s not a primary lettuce, but I probably give them a bunch every week and a half between the two of them), but no matter how much I try to acclimate them to brussels sprouts, they hate them, and get poopy butt if I do manage to get them to eat any. So I guess some of it is individual trial-and-error…

[Author]

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