daisys diet, i am starting to get worried

[Baby-Daisy]

A month ago, when daisy was a out side bunny, she wouls eat, 4-5 oz. Of her food a day. But now I nodiced she would only eat about 2 or 3 oz. In 3 days. But now she has unlimited hay, and each day I give her a half of cup of fruit and vegies. I will give her more vegies and fruit soon, I just want her to get used to it slowly. Is she eating less food because of unlimited hay and the vegies and fruit I give her, or is something wrong?

[LoveChaCha]

That is most likely happening. Bunnies don’t need a whole bunch of pellets in their diet, in fact some are healthy without pellets! My bunny gets less than a tablespoon of pellets each morning, unlimited hay all day, and 4-5 cups of vegetables at night. You may need to watch how much fruit you give her because fruit is very fatty for buns. Maybe a tiny piece of fruit per day is good for Daisy.

[Baby-Daisy]

And I know rabbits can eat spinach but what about baby spinach?

[Baby-Daisy]

I give her a slice of banna and some times apple

[Sarita]

Baby Daisy, we have given you links about diet and veggies – please read to get the answers you need.

[Baby-Daisy]

Sarita I DO read them, but none of them said about baby spinach I just said they could eat spiach, so is baby spinach thhe same as spinach??

[Sarita]

Yes, it’s the same but you only feed it in small amounts per the article.

[Baby-Daisy]

Like 1 leaf a day small ammount or half of leaf?

[LBJ10]

She can have more than a leaf of baby spinach. They aren’t that big. I would suggest that if you’re giving spinach that you mix it with something else so it is 1/3 spinach (or less) and 2/3 whatever else (lettuce, etc).

I wonder if part of the reason she doesn’t seem as hungry now is because she is inside. She doesn’t need all the extra calories to keep her body temp up in the cold weather.

[tanlover14]

LBJ, I’m pretty sure the bun is still being kept outside for half the day. I also worry that she’s being stressed out from all the moving around you’re doing with her.

[tanlover14]

I just re-read the post — so she previously didn’t have access to unlimited hay? If you’re feeding her unlimited hay now and weren’t before then that would probably be a good reason as to why she is eating less.

[Baby-Daisy]

ok she is inside full time now

[Baby-Daisy]

ok she is inside full time now

[Baby-Daisy]

Oh and lovechacha, what kind of veggies do you give you bunnies, and how much of each?

[sophie_gretel]

Baby daisy, if you read the links that the members have provided you, it will let you know how much to feed Daisy.

[tanlover14]

Baby-Daisy — it’s really better to go through the lists we provided you and then have your parents help you come up with a food guide for your bunny. Such as scoping out the supermarket and seeing which best fits your area.

Every day my bunnies get two salads — 4 cups total of salad. I pre-mix once a day with 1/3 baby spring mix, 1/3 endive, and 1/3 kale. I do it specifically in 3rds because when you feed things such as spinach or parsley they should only make up 1/3 of the amount of veggies fed per day and should be interchanged at least weekly. I would suggest just sticking to 3 veggies that are HEALTHY from the list so you don’t have to worry about these percentages and changing. Such as 1/3 romaine, 1/3 endive, and 1/3 cilantro. And every once in a while maybe changing one for a variety. Or even 1/2 romaine, 1/2 endive.

I also highly suggest taking the fruit out of the “cups” you give her as it’s quite easy to overfeed what should be considered sweets/candy for bunnies. Instead give your bunny tiny bites of fruit to help encourage her to get to know and trust you.

[tanlover14]

I realized I said scoping out the supermarket and seeing what best fits your area — I didn’t really explain. I know in my area kale is EXTREMELY cheap whereas in other areas it’s expensive. Which is why I suggest you show your parents so they can go to the store with you and help you adjust the veggies to the cheapest amount of money for them while at the same time getting Daisy the veggies she needs.

[Baby-Daisy]

What I give her now is a half cup or parsely and one slice of bananna and that is what I ben giving her but I’ve been slowly increasing it

[Baby-Daisy]

Sorry I meant of parsely

[CinnabunMom]

Since Daisy is new to your life and you’re trying to get her diet sorted out, I would suggest taking the banana out of the equation for right now. Stick with leafy greens. Have you tried a lettuce? My bun LOVES her lettuce, especially green leaf, red leaf and romaine. Lettuce is one of those veggies that is very safe and healthy for buns, and most buns love the taste. Hay and veggies are much more important than the fruit and too many sugary things can lead to an upset bunny tummy.

[Baby-Daisy]

Ok so romaine, not iceburge lettus right?

[Binx86]

Here’s an easy way that I get my buns their daily veggies… First off, I have one of these :http://www.walmart.com/ip/16637050?adid=22222222227000835970&wmlspartner=wlpa&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem 

It’s WELL worth the investment and keeps the veggies fresh if you don’t have time to get the portions ready daily.  Mine keeps their greens fresh for up to 5 days.

Now, every week I buy a head of romaine lettuce, and then our Wal-Mart has a little 4 pack of organic lettuce for about $2.50 and it has petite tango, gem, and oak lettuces in it (all of which are dark green/red leafy varieties and looks like this: http://www.taproduce.com/consumer/f…an_Lettuce)  and a bunch of parsley. (I change out the parsley every other week with cilantro)

I cut all of it up and mix it good and throw it in the salad spinner.  Every day they each get a heaping handful that comes out to be about 2 cups. 

For Daisy one heaping handful would be enough.  And this is really simple to do and would only cost about $6 a week.

[Baby-Daisy]

I have another question, can rabbits have cucumber, on binky bunny in bunny info it dies not list cucumber, it list cucumber peel, but before I read that they could not have seeds, so couldn’t I cut it long ways and then ” gut” out the seeds, I also read somewhere that they could not eat the peel. On one website I went on, I will post the link soon, it said all lettus can kil rabbits. So please help me to clearfiy this.

[Sir Binky]

I don’t know about cucumber, but romaine lettuce is safe for rabbits. I’ve also read things that say to never give your rabbit lettuce, but they’re probably referring to iceberg lettuce, which you shouldn’t feed to your rabbit because it has no nutritional value for them. I feed my rabbit romaine lettuce, parsley, and cilantro. One place I read said that a good rule of thumb is to give a pile of veggies twice the size of the rabbit’s head, but I’d have to check. I’ve also read that you should have minimum 2 cups for every 5-6 pounds of rabbit, so I give my rabbit much less than 2 cups.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

^ I believe it was discussed that its a minimum of 2 cups of veggies, even if the bun is less than 5lbs? It’s been awhile since we’ve talked about that, so maybe someone else can chime in.

If its not on the list, I wouldn’t offer it right now. There are plenty of alternatives rather than offer something that you are unsure of. Rabbit.org has a long list as well, I printed mine out and take it with me to the grocery store.

[Baby-Daisy]

What portion of the diet should be fruit? 1/8 1/4 or less?

[Sam&Rex]

Fruit should only be given as a treat, and many rabbits do just fine with no fruit at all. I’ve heard that the rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon fruit per 6 pounds of rabbit. Because it’s so full of sugar too much can upset a rabbits stomach.

[CinnabunMom]

I agree with the above statements. If it’s not on the list, don’t give it to them. That list is really comprehensive and so long that your bun will never be bored of any food because there are so many different things to offer. Stick with lettuce for awhile (but not iceberg) until your bun is fully adjusted to her new life.

[Quantum]

Here’s the House Rabbit Society’s veggie shopping list here.  Easy-peasy: 3 types of greens, pick 2 from column A and 1 from column B and off you go.  Print off a couple of copies so you can throw one in your (or into whoever does the shopping’s) pocket. “Lettuce” means any sort other than Iceberg whose main constituent is water.  Why have you bun fill up on something without much nutritional value?

Easier than posting on each individual possible veggie is to read the Bunny Info link above.  If it isn’t on the list, just assume that you shouldn’t feed it.  There’s enough variety that skipping a couple things because they aren’t listed isn’t going to make finding greens for your bun impossible.

[Baby-Daisy]

Ok thanks!!

[Baby-Daisy]

Sorry i have another question, it says they can have radish tops, but can they have radishes

[CinnabunMom]

I wouldn’t give then the actual radish, no. The tops are fine.

[Sir Binky]

Sam and Lady’s Human: Here is the “healthy diet” section of Binky Bunny, and in the vegetables section it says that you should give a minimum of 2 cups for every 6 pounds of rabbit, so if the rabbit is smaller, 2 cups would be too much.

[Malp_15]

I believe what S&L’s Human was talking about was a previous thread from a while ago, where it was discussed (with forum leaders), that you can start at 2 cups of veggies for any adult rabbit under 6 pounds. My guys are 3lbs and they each get 3 cups of veggies a day.

[LoveChaCha]

My 4 pound dwarf gets 4-6 cups a vegetables a day and does well on it.

Chacha bun gets:

-Romaine
-Green or Red leaf
-Cilantro
-Italian Parsley
-Radicchio
-Carrot Tops (if I get any from work)
-Dandelions

[FooFoosMommy2]

My 3.5 pound bun gets about 2 cups of veggies a day (I have given her more and she doesnt eat it, it wilts and then gets played with). She gets parsley, a mix of lettuce, arugula, cilantro, and kale.

[Author]

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