Greens?

[HappyHopperz]

 Hi everyone I have two lop bunnies, one 1 yo and one 7 mo. They are both males, and are getting neutered soon. With our newest addition, he has been having tummy upsets with parsley, until I read that it is high in calcium and shouldn’t  be fed frequently. I haven’t fed it in a while and have swictched to celery instead. Both of them seem to be fine with that, and I have also been giving them a natural coleslaw mix (without the sauce thing, just the vegetable mix) There is no iceberg lettuce in the mix (as I know it should not be fed to rabbits) and they really like it. 

 

I am looking to add more variety to my green collection, and was wondering HOW MUCH and WHAT should be fed daily. I have viewed BB’s thread about diet and his storage ways, and discovered a nice space in our spare refrigerator for a nice plastic box of greens.  My bunnies are both lops, and are estimated to be about 6-8 pounds. I will weigh them today and give you the exact number. I was also wondering, should bunnies be weighed frequently? If so, how frequently? Thank You in advance!

[Sarita]

Abbygirl recently posted this very good article from Dr. Susan Brown DVM, on the House Rabbit Society website, that I think will help you:

rabbit.org/care/veggies.html

 

[Elrohwen]

Generally, 2 cups per day for a 5-ish pound rabbit. I feed romaine, leaf lettuce, and parsley every day – one of mine is picky so I don’t feed much of a variety. In general romaine is a good staple and will last at least a week in the fridge. You can try anything on the BB safe list and see what they like. It’s ok to feed higher calcium veggies daily if your bunny doesn’t have issues with bladder sludge or stones, but you might not want to make it the bulk of their diet (I mostly feed the lettuce varieties with a little handful of parsley on top)

If your young guy has tummy issues, try going back to basics and introduce a small amount of a new veggie each week and see how he does. What quantity of pellets is he getting? It’s more likely that the tummy troubles are caused by too many pellets, but it’s definitely possible for a veggie to cause it too. For bunnies with tummy troubles you might want to avoid anything in the cabbage family because it can cause gas in some rabbits (one of mine is fine with these foods, but the other gets poopy butt so I don’t feed them) – cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, etc.

It’s a good idea to weigh bunnies every month when you do nail trims if you can – it’s a good way to assess their health, especially for older buns. I don’t have a scale, so mine just get weighed when they go to the vet.

[HappyHopperz]

Both of them are getting 1/2 cup daily, I just researched it and realized it was a bit much. I’ll go down to a 1/4 cup, would that work? It probably is too many pellets. Is the coleslaw a nutritious mix to feed? It has carrot, I think red onion, and lettuce-ish.

Thanks for the quick replies, I just found this site. I’ve realized a few mistakes I’ve made, and will fix them There aren’t as many good, helpful sites out there like this one!

[Sarita]

If you read that article, it gives tons of good advice and recommends mixing veggies up and has a list of recommended veggies. No onions…so no, the mix is not recommended.

[HappyHopperz]

My bad, I read the packaging and it is cabbage. Rofl I always get confused between cabbage and onion. It is fine if it is cabbage?

[Sarita]

Well, you really need to rotate the greens…it’s fine but not for every single week. Have you looked into a nice Spring Mix? That has a nice variety of baby lettuces.

[HappyHopperz]

How many varieties are recommended? For two bunnies, how much of greens should you buy for a weeks worth?

[Elrohwen]

We usually say 3 varieties per day. A good mix might be some kind of lettuce, like romaine or leaf lettuce, then a couple herbs like persley, cilantro, mint, etc. You could add some greens too, like mustard greens, collard, kale, spinach, etc. Just make sure to introduce new veggies slowly in case it causes issues – you can add just a little bit in one night, then a little more the next.

It’s possible the cabbage is causing your bunny’s tummy trouble, so I’d cut that out for now and try other veggies for a bit and see if it helps.

[Sarita]

I would highly recommend you read the article that I linked to. It has all the information you are asking about and is written by a very rabbit knowledgeable vet.

[Elrohwen]

Each week, for two buns, I buy about 5 heads of lettuce (mix of romaine and leaf) or 6 if they’re really small, then 5-6 bunches of parsley. Mine don’t get much more variety than that because Otto is so picky.

[KytKattin]

You should have a minimum of 3 varieties, but 4-5 (or even more) is ideal. I think that the coleslaw mix probably isn’t the best. It is too limited and basically is just two types of cabbage. I personally feed: One variety of lettue (green, red, or romaine), cilantro, one or more of these (wheat grass, dandelion greens, kale, turnip greens), and sparingly one variety of high oxalate green, rotated weekly between parsley, mustard greens, spinach, chard.

I can’t help you on the amount. I have a tiny, 3lb bunny that eats at least her weight in veggies per week. One head of lettuce lasts her a week, two bunches of cilantro, and once bunch each of everything else (though the wheat grass lasts me two weeks!). Don’t buy the veggies already chopped/washed and sealed in a plastic bag. You will save a lot of money buying an unprepared plant. I often give her the whole leaf, only breaking it if I want it to stay more in the bowl. They don’t need it in little pieces like we do.

[HappyHopperz]

So you recommend feeding one type of lettuce per week, changing it weekly, and a few types of greens?

[Stickerbunny]

Here is an example of my salads for my two buns:

1 leaf of bok choy
3 leaves of romaine lettuce
1 celery stick

Then might mix it up

2 carrots
3 sprigs of parsley
1 leaf of kale
1 broccoli floret

Or…

2 leaves of romaine
1 leaf of kale
1 slice banana, cut into two, one half for each bun
a small handful of cilantro

 

Here is a picture of one – it’s spinach, kale, carrot, broccoli, cucumber and cilantro

[HappyHopperz]

What is the typical cup amount for a bunny between 6-8 lbs? Is 4 cups suitable?

[Author]

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