Fresh vegetables must be avoided?

[Nath]

So sorry if this is a silly question, it’s been only a week since I got my Dexter and I’ve never had a pet before him! I’m getting conflicting infos so I thought I could ask in here?

I already checked out the vegetables list and the fruits list you have (btw, thank you so much!) but I couldn’t find if it’s ok to give them fresh to our bunny? I thought it was obvious but my mother-in-law (it was her who gave Dexter to me) told me that when she bought him they said that we shouldn’t feed fresh vegetables neither fresh fruits to bunnies in any occasion, that we must let them dry before feeding our pet.

I’m a little bit concerned because it’s been two days that I’m giving fresh lettuce to Dexter. Is it ok?

Ps: Binky Bunny is saving my life, I’m really grateful for what you guys do <3

[tobyluv]

You mentioned in another thread that Dexter is 6 – 8 months old, so it’s fine for him to have greens and veggies now. You do have to go slowly, in case he isn’t used to veggies, so just start him out with one veggie, such as romaine lettuce, then introduce a new one each week. The veggies and greens definitely should be fresh, they don’t need to be dried. Whoever said that to your mother in law obviously doesn’t know much about rabbit care.  Go easy on any fruits, due to the sugar content. That goes for carrots too – they have a lot of sugar. Rabbits can be given dried fruit, such a raisins or craisins, but dried fruit has more of a concentration of sugar, so fresh is better than dried.

[lovebellabun]

Omg I have only had mine for a few weeks and everything says fresh is the best. The more moisture the best. Slowly introduce veggies from the list, no iceburg lettuce. Something like romaine. Follow the last and do it slowly since he isn’t used to it. Also, hay hay hay hay/ Like timothy or orchard grass. Oh and make sure the veggies are washed well. Fruit is only from the list and small amounts sometimes. Someone on her said 1 a year but I think more often than that is ok. So, basically start slow, wash, fresher the better, and lots of hay and water. oh and since you are going to add different foods, look up GI Stasis. Don’t panic like I have every second. Just get the meds they have, and them on hand. Read this site up and down and ask questions.

[LBJ10]

Fresh veggies are best. Was this a pet shop providing this information about only giving dried veggies? I honestly have never heard anyone suggest that.

[flemishwhite]

I’ve been going on over 12 years now feeding bunnies, house bunnies.  Rabbits two main things to eat are fresh green vegetables including grass.  Grass hays are very important for bunnies since the grass hays include silicates that wear the rabbits teeth down.  Their teeth are always growing and they need the silicates in hay to control their teeth growth.  If they don’t have enough abrasives in their diet, you’re going to have vet bills for dental work. 

DON’T AVOID FRESH LEAF VEGGIES FOR THE RABBITS.   Our Flemish babies get carrot tops, fennel tops, cilantro, romaine lettuce, parsely, dandelion leaves, bok choy, etc.  Don’t give rabbits ice berg lettuce.  Ice berg lettuce gives them diarrhea.  Rabbits living as wild animals eat a lot of grass.  They also are very happy eating grass hays.  The grass hay we feed our buns are oat hay.

Our two Flemish rabbits, PBB’s (Pretty Big Bunnies) really eat a lot of food!  Of course, with a lot of food goes in, a lot comes out!!!

[Nath]

Thank you! I thought it was weird too… And yes, it was a pet shop providing this information, but at the same time they don’t seem to know much about rabbit care… The litter box for example was never suggested to me, they said the bunny would pee/poop wherever inside his cage. I discovered the litter box in here, at Binky Bunnys website

[LittlePuffyTail]

Pet shops tend to give bad advice re: rabbits. Wrong housing, unhealthy food, leashes, etc.

[Bam]

I totally agree with the others. Fresh greens esp leafy greens are great for buns. And pet shop staff often don’t know enough about rabbits to give safe advice. A lot of the treats that are sold in pet shops are actually quite harmful to bunnies, like dried corn-cobs and yoghurt drops and seed bars.

[LBJ10]

OMG, pet shops give awful advice. I just thought this one was extra weird. Like I can see a pet shop saying not to feed a bunny veggies at all because there are a lot of misconceptions about that. But where did the only dried thing come from? Weird.

[Author]

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