Correct Diet?

[senatcha93]

This is my free roam bunnys daily diet:

1. Water obviously
2. Pellets, refill when empty
3. Hay, again different kinds of wild grasses
4. Grass from garden, Leafy greens from fridge
5. 2-3 Dried Dandelion Roots, 1 tsp fennel seeds – he absolutely loves those
6. A few carob seeds – because my mom gives him those whenever she calls him, I hate it but can’t do anything about it

Does this seem okay? I refill his bowl with pellets when I notice that it is empty, every second day or so. Can this cause obesity? The things is I have heard of people not giving their bunnies pellets. But luckily I found a german brand that doesn’t contain any flour, starch, etc. Only 16 different kinds of wild grass – no more. It is labeled as snack food but why should I give my bun other pellets that contains junk when I can give him this which is clearly all natural and shouldn’t be labeled as a snack.

[Bunnybuzz]

Hi! Every thing sounds good except, maybe the Pellets? How much do you give him a day? How big is the bowl?

Sounds like you’re a great bunny owner!=)

[SuperBunnyto]

First off, yay for free roaming!

On pellets, too many pellets can cause obesity, I think, but different people have different opinions on use of pellets.

I personally don’t like giving my buns too many, as I supplement their diet with herbs and fresh veggies. I limit the pellets for my bunnies to 1/4 cup (1/8 cup per bunny) daily. I haven’t looked closely at all the ingredients in the pellets I use, though.

I love that you give them both hay and fresh grasses. I too use dandelion root, but dried and just a pinch about three times per week (I think too much can give them upset stomach? But I’m really not sure…). Do you give it fresh? I also like giving them dandelion greens every other week for a couple of days (my buns loooove dandelion greens and root).

I have absolutely no knowledge about the seeds you mentioned (sorry).

Those are my two cents on that. I think your buns are lucky to have such a caring care taker!

[senatcha93]

Since his pellets only contain wild grasses and no more do you think it will still cause obesity? If it had other things in it I probably wouldn’t refill this as often. I only put a handful in his bowl.
This is the one I’m buying: https://www.meintierdiscount.de/Nager-Bunny-Nature-ALLGAeUER-FRISCHGRUeNSNACK-Loewenzahn-400-g,34989,695p.htm?&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Google+Shopping&utm_campaign=Preisvergleiche
It costs me 2,99 Euro and lasts 2-3 weeks which is a pretty good deal.

It contains: meadow foxtail, brown knapweed, meadow fescue, red fescue, smoot meadow-grass, ryegrass, tall oatgrass, timothy, ostrich grass, dandelion leafs, geese finger herb, horn herb, yarrow herb, ribwort, white clover, pointed clover, horn clover.

Oh I should cut back on the dried dandelion roots then? I always wondered why his tummy made such noises lol Makes totally sense now.

[SuperBunnyto]

The ingredients in the pellets do sound wholesome and good. (I tried looking at the link, but my German is rusty, and I could only understand a little of what it said, so I’m going by your list.) Although I’m still a fan of limiting pellets, maybe you can monitor your bunnies’ weight to make sure they’re not getting overweight.

I think dandelion root can have a laxative effect on bunnies. That’s why I only give it a few times a week instead of every day. It is good for them, though, and my bunnies love the days when they get it.

[Bunnybuzz]

I translated the link you sent because I don’t know German lol. It sounds like a great brand. But still do you give them a handful a day? Two?

I don’t know much about dandelion roots or the seeds you were talking about but every thing else sounds great!

[senatcha93]

I give him a handful a day! Last night before I went to sleep I refilled it with another handful. If it was any other brand of pellets I wouldn’t do this but I guess I don’t feel as bad because it is basically just dried grass?
I contacted the brand a few weeks ago and the lady from customer service told me that I should give my bunny their regular pellets because mine only contains grass and are therefore labeled as a snack. But *quote* bunnies need vitamins which can be found in grains and oils therefore we have pellets which contain all of this(which costs like $10 more). Should I stick with the pellets I have?

[SuperBunnyto]

The thing about pellets is that there are different schools of thought on whether bunnies need pellets or not. Some people don’t offer pellets to their bunnies at all, but make sure to offer plenty of hay and veggies. Other people offer only a limited amount. In general, I think the only thing that people agree upon is that too many is not healthy. However, you’re buying pellets that don’t have any extra stuff in it, so it might be different.

If you have a bunny savvy vet in your area, I would recommend asking their opinion. If that’s not possible, they monitor their health. Are they getting overweight? Do your bunnies appear in good health?

Sorry I cannot answer your question more definitively.

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