do bunnies need oats?

[Pancake]

sorry for all the questions but I don’t know if bunnies need oats and if they do is there like a certian kind or something, and how old do they half to be to have them?

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh hey don’t worry one bit about asking questions! For goodness sake, that is what we are here for.  Bunnies don’t need oats (although they might try to convince you otherwise), they should be given as a treat and sparingly. I would wait until they are at least 12 weeks old and if they cause a digestive problem, eliminate them alltogether. A few whole grain goodies are some home made bunny cookies, a few Cheerios, or a small whole grain cracker (or piece of one) like Wasa. Rabbits should get no more than 1/2 a teaspoon per pound of body weight per day.

[Toki+Pumpkin+Elmo]

I also saw it somewhere that you can give whole grain bread to buns. Is this true?

[Scarlet_Rose]

My source says that it must be dry.  I would be careful as the yeast in it can cause an imbalance in the GI tract.  With the whole grain bread, be sure that it says 100% whole grain, some say "whole wheat" or "whole grain" and are often just colored with caramel coloring to give the look as if they were made from 100% whole grain.

[osprey]

I have to agree with Scarlet Rose on this one.  Unless your rabbit is a wool producer or severely undernourished, oats should be fed sparingly.  Some of the bunny people I work with at our rescue feed oat groats, which I guess are just crushed oat seeds, as a treat or as a food to get a bun eating again post surgery or after a bout of stasis.  My guys get oat hay almost every day, which has small immature oat seed heads on it.  These seeds still have the husks on, so are a good source of fiber.

[Gravehearted]

We’ve used oats groats when a bunny is underweight or recovering from an illness, but in general bunnies should not need them.
I would not recommend whole grain bread either.

Rabbits have very delicate gi tracts with a careful balance of good and bad bacterias keeping things healthy. It’s really best to not muck around with feeding them things outside of the norms – so lots of hay, limited pellets, a nice sized portion of suggested greens and very limited non-commercial treats. I avoid pretty much all commercial treats since they’re often really loaded with sugar.

[Deleted User]

Pancake I am glad you asked. I am at my wits end trying to get Shadow to eat hay/grasses other than alfalfa. I have ordered the mini bail of oat hay but was wondering if it would considered another form of oat groats.

[Pancake]

thanks everyone!!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I also wondered this…So what do you guys think?

Kahlua, my little lionhead, is pretty skinny…She eats alot, I freefeed veggies/hay/pellets and both girl seem to get a good balance, not eating too many pellets or anything like that. But Kahlua is pretty skinny -although you can only tell when you hold her…She was born in July so she is young but not baby-young…
Would any of you advise giving her oats to ‘fatten her up’ a little? I would feed without Kokanee around so she doesn’t catch wind of this treat…I have whole grain, unsweetened plain oatmeal I could heat up a little with water and give to her? What do you think and how much should I give if I do?

[Scarlet_Rose]

K & K, has the vet diagnosed your rabbit as being underweight?  I would hesitate to tell you to go ahead and feed Kahlua to fatten her up. Here are a few articles: Feeding Skinny Bunnies, One Fat and One Skinny Bunny in a Pair. Do you have a scale to weigh her?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

No…She hasn’t been in to the vet yet…She just feels kind of skinny…I just have a human scale, but maybe I can borrow my parents food scale and see…She is only five months old so I dont’ really know what she should weigh…I will read those articles…What do you think?

[Scarlet_Rose]

It has a lot to do with her weight and breed.  You can weigh yourself and then hold her and weigh the both of you and subtract your weight and the difference being the weight of your rabbit. But if she is so small, that might not work. Without actually being able to see her and feel her ribs, I can’t really say for certain. That’s something you might want to bring up with the vet on the next visit.  She seems to be eating and pooing OK? Her mood alright?

[Author]

Messages