Greens

[Holly]

Hi,

I have a question.  When I was in 4-H many moons ago, they told us to limit the amount of fresh grass, and lettuce we gave our buns because of diahrrea.  We always gave them pellets, unlimited hay, and maybe a cupful of stuff once or twice a week.

I have been reading the nutrition stuff, and you all reccomend greens everyday. Is there a certain type that is better than others.

I heard iceberg lettuce is a no no.

We are going to go grocery shopping sometime in the next couple of days and I want to pick up something for holly, but I don’t want to deal with runny butt problems

[Sarita]

I honestly do not understand the runny butt problems with greens (although I know there are a few rabbits that I’ve known that are very sensitive to greens) – seems like my runny butt problems happen more with pellets then greens.

Some good greens to start with are flat leaf parsley and curly leaf parsley. also green leaf lettuce. Those are some that my rabbits seem to favor. There are tons more but you will probably just want to start introducing one at a time for now.

[Beka27]

if you go up to bunny info > diet at the top there is a whole list of good and bad foods.  i’ve printed the list out and i carry it in my purse.  every couple weeks i try a new food off of the list, along with Meadow’s regular veggies (endive, escarole, parlsey or cilantro).  i like to give her 3 or 4 different veggies each day, but of course, you need to introduce them one at a time.  this will also help you learn what she does and does not like.  if i try something that Meadow is not thrilled with, i continue to give it to her until it’s gone (or i get fresh veggies) assuming it doesn’t make her sick, but then i make a note on my list that she does not really like it.  i shop for veggies about every 5-7 days depending on how long they last.  it’s very rewarding giving Meadow fresh veggies, b/c she loves them so much.  she’s eating very few pellets, and that makes me happy too b/c i know she’s getting the best possible diet. 

[Holly]

Thanks!  I did that. I also copied and pasted it and put it in a file.  So if I ever needed it, I could just grab it off my pc .

LOL some of these I have never heard of.  Hmm It looks like Holly’s mommy might trys to figure out what some of these are too.  I know what Bok Choy is because I lived in China for a year.  I might even make some Chinese dumplings. Not for Holly though

[Holly]

We went to the store today, and I bought Holly some parsly and some spinach.  I tried the parsly. She was like what’s this at first. She gobbled it right up.  So, I’ll have to see how it affects her.  Since I am adding greens to her diet, I am going to give her an 1/8 cup of pellets. We’ll see how this goes.  Tomorrow I’ll give her some spinach. After that, I’ll mix it together if it goes well.

[JK]

I would be careful about spinach, kale and collards as they are high in calcium.  I would only give the bun these occasionally.  In fact, my vet told me they are not to be given at all because Edson has higher than normal calcium levels in his pee. Easy things to try first are romaine lettuce, mint, chard & parsley. Do check Bunny Info above and got to Diet.

[Holly]

Thanks, I will note that on my list. I printed out the diet list from this site.  Spinach is in dark and it said it be ok to gi ve her that once a day.  I’ll take it easy with it though. Or am I mis understanding.  The bold ones should be limited more than the ones that are not bold?

[JK]

The ones in bold are the ones high in Vitamin A. If your bun doesn’t have high calcium levels then it’s probably ok to give spinach. I think the kale and the collards are the super gassy ones.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Like it was mentioned earlier, do not feed veggies high in calcium every day. Feed it one week then take a two week break from it, otherwise it can build up in their systems and cause health issues.

[Holly]

Will do.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Cool! By the way that is such a cute avatar with the bundle of hay in the mouth! Oh I alsi wanted to add that too much iron isn’t good either (Spinach has a lot compared to other veggies).

[Holly]

Thanks! She does that sometimes. This pic was the first time I saw her doing it.  I was almost late to work taking it, but it was worth it. She just grabs a mouthful and packs it around for a while before lying it back down and eating some of it. LOL

I don’t ever want to feed Holly something that will be bad for her.  This may be stupid, but how can I find out what is in each green, so that I can make the best choices in what I get her?

[Author]

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