How much veggies to feed young rabbit?

[emmabunny]

Hi all, Emma is about 12 weeks old and I started her on occasional veggies two weeks ago (long story, but I was told that she was about 14 weeks old when I first started giving her veggies to try, and the vet has since told me that she is a month younger than I thought she was). Luckily she did not have any problems with having veggies before turning 12 weeks! I’m following HRS’s guidelines and giving her a new veggie to try every three days (less than .5 oz a day). She loves every veggie she has tried and none of them have given her issues (she had kale a couple of times, carrot tops a couple of times, celery tops and romaine so far). She has also done well with a very small piece of apple (I wasn’t planning on giving her fruit at this age but I was eating an apple one day and she was literally climbing all over me to get it. She would have climbed into my mouth if she could ! 

My questions are:  

1.) For the veggies that have passed the “3 day test”, can I give them to her daily, and if so, in what quantity (should it be less than .5oz a day)?

2.) Can I increase the amount of veggies slowly over time until she reaches the age that she can have a cup or more (depending on what her weight will be)? She loves veggies so I would like to give them to her more frequently if it’s safe to do so. 

3.) Is it ok to give her a small (teaspoon amount) of fruit like apple once every few days? Or is she too young? 

Currently Emma is getting unlimited alfalfa pellets, unlimited orchard grass and alfalfa hay (husband is allergic to Timothy) and unlimited water. 

Would really appreciate your experiences and thoughts on feeding veggies to a young rabbit. Thanks!  

[teddy+toby]

I feed my three month olds two carrots or a handful of leafy greens but u are supposed to feed them

An approximate amounBunny greenst to feed would be around 1 cup of greens for 2 lbs of rabbit body weight once a day or divided into multiple feedings a day.

[emmabunny]

Thank you for your feedback! I have started increasing the amount of (tested) vegetables and now she is eating about a cup of leafy greens every day (she is currently 2 lbs).

[StachesMommy]

I’m actually glad you asked this because I was just about to ask the same thing! Lol. My bunny just started on veggies too and she did well with baby red romaine and basil but I wasn’t sure how much to give. She will be 4 months this 16th. I waited a little longer than 12 weeks to start her on veggies because she had poopy butt issues when she was younger and some other health issues so I wanted to just be careful until everything got better. I’ve only been giving the tested amount of 2inch pieces of romaine and a basil leaf. I guess I can slowly up the amount of romaine to 1 cup a day? She is about 2lbs too. She eats the romaine and I feel so bad because she goes crazy sniffing and licking my hand for more. Oh man, is Emma adorable!

[emmabunny]

Thanks for the compliment!! I would love to see a pic of your furbaby- Our buns are about the same age and size! I’ve slowly increased the amount of tested veggies that Emma gets, until we got to a point where she can have a daily salad that adds up to a cup. We’ve only gotten to a cup 5 days ago (romaine + kale + carrot tops), so now I’m going to start testing other new veggies for variety (less than 1/2 oz of new veggie every three days). Today she will have a little bit of new dandelion greens added to her salad (but the salad will still amount to 1 cup). As she grows (and she is growing quickly!!) I plan to increase the size and variety of her salad.   

When in doubt, it seems like slow and steady is the best approach for introducing new foods! This is just what has worked for us so far though- since your bun has had some other health issues, it might be better to get a rabbit vet’s opinion. If that’s not possible, the best bet is probably to go very slowly in increasing the amount and variety of vegetables (as you are planning!), and making sure she eats enough hay to help digest all the new foods! 

I hope somebody with more experience will be able to chime in and let us know if we are doing anything wrong..! I’ve found it difficult to find much information regarding daily vegetable quantities for bunnies that are 3 to 7 months old. 

[Mordaith]

When I asked how much veggies I should feed my young rabbit, the Vet (who is on the list of suggested rabbit vets) told me that she recommends less pellets, and more veggies. Pretty much as much veggies as he wants. I only really limit his veggies if I think something is upsetting his tummy or if I notice he isn’t eating much hay.

A variety of veggies is often recommended, I’ve seen a suggested number between 3 and 5 different types. Slow introduction is a good idea. We do a 10 day introduction, increasing portion size by a 10th each day, until we get to the desired typical portion.

He seems pretty happy, loves getting his Kale in the mornings!

[Azerane]

The veggies that have passed the test can certainly be fed daily, but only if they are not high in oxalic acid. This list on HRS website tells you what is high in oxalic and needs to be rotated out, and what isn’t. http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/ Binky Bunny also has a list: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/VeggieList/tabid/144/Default.aspx I personally also like to rotate greens that are high in calcium such as kale, rocket, rosemary etc. So one day I would feed 2 or 3 greens that could be fed daily plus a green high in oxalic acid. The next day I would feed 2 or 3 daily greens plus a green high in calcium. One day of the week I liked to skip the “high in…” green completely and just feed some suitable daily greens.

As for the treats, you can give some and a teaspoon isn’t much, that being said she is very small so perhaps just start with one small piece and progress slowly up to a teaspoon.

[StachesMommy]

@ Emma – My avatar is my little one. She was about 11 weeks in the photo. My dog just happens to be tine-tiny!! They are actually almost about the same size now! Lol.

Yes, I have been testing the baby red romaine for 5 days. I guess on the 7th day I will up the amount to 1/4 cup and so on. She does eat a ton of hay and so far she is doing really well. Thank you everyone for the advice!

[emmabunny]

Thank you all for the advice! I haven’t given Emma any veggies with high oxalic acid yet (I’ve been playing it safe with low oxalic acid leafy greens), but will definitely rotate them in and out when they are added to her repertoire!

@StachesMommy aw your little one is adorable!!

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