Ideal feeding schedule?

[Alicia Conklin]

Currently in the morning I fill Tucker’s dish with fresh greens an then he eats throughout the day and then in the evening I let the kids hand feed him something like carrot tops, celery, something like that.  He has pellets that he goes to and nibbles throughout the day and hay that he has access too all day as well.  This morning he hasn’t eaten his veggies as much right away and is kind of going back and nibbling throughout the day.  So that led me to a few questions…

 

1.  Am I possibly giving him too much veggies?  He will finish these by the next day but it’ll probably be this evening by the time he finishes them.  He’s a dwarf bunny, but I think he’s a larger dwarf..if that makes any sense.. anyway, I am not sure how to measure greens (like is it two cups loose or what would be two cups if it was packed more?) and it’s in a rectangle tupperware thing that’s about 3″ by 6″ and about 1inch high. 

2.  Are the greens ok to be sitting out all day and having him nibble?  I always remove any leftovers at bedtime or before which is about 11pm and about 14 hours after he gets them.

3.  Would it be better for his digestive system to get a little bit at different times throughout the day? 

4.  He’s only 6 mos old, he’s not very interested in his pellets..I think that’s because he prefers his veggies.  I’ve only had him for about 2 weeks but his previous owner had started him on veggies and said he loved them and I have been adding new veggies only one at a time every few days to make sure it doesn’t bother his stomach.  He has perfect poops (lol…as perfect as poop can be anyway!) and everything..but since he’s so young it worries me that he is not into his pellets.  If he needs to be eating the pellets (right now I wanna say he eats about a teaspoon or so a day) is there a way you can recommend to make him want them more? 

5.  He has unlimited access to hay but I don’t see him eating the hay alll that often.  He eats it but it doesn’t seem to be that much and there is never all that much gone from his basket..maybe he doesn’t like the hay???  If the hay is available to him..is it ok that he doesn’t seem to eat that much?

[babybunsmum]

i follow the reccomendations from my vet which pretty much match those on bb’s diet page.  i restrict my buns pellets by their body weight (they’re 5 & 7 lbs so both get only 1/4 cup daily) and give them at least 2 cups of greens.  to measure greens i was told to pack them tight.  both of their bowls are 2 cups & so i pack their bowls and then add water to the brim so they’re nice & wet. 

i have been giving them their pellets & greens first thing in the morning but may switch to 1 cup of greens morning & 1 at night when the weather is really hot. 

of course they each get unlimited timothy hay.  pinky eats lots more hay (she’s the 7lb bun) and she also gets one raisin for a treat every day.  baby gets a raisin for a treat after bonding sessions only.  i’ll give them a couple of carrot peel strands maybe once a week.

i’m not sure for a 6 month old if these rules are still modified or if you could already feed as though an adult bun… best to check with others on that one.  i think his hay consumption could be hampered by some of the evening treats he’s getting.  or if he’s eating too much of his pellets.   i’d recommend starting to measure the pellets if you’re not already, check the recommended amount, and possibly reduce it slightly to encourage more hay consumption.  hay is really important to keep the whole digestive system working.  my baby bun didn’t eat much hay until i resticted her pellets.  i’d think that too many treats (anything not in the greens category) could also fill bun up so he’s not interested in his hay.

[Alicia Conklin]

Yea his “treats” are the greens off the top of the carrot usually, I just call them treats mainly because the kids get to feed him and so it’s more of a treat for them LOL.

I do measure his pellets, but he never finishes the amount that I give him. Like yesterday I gave him 1/4 cup of pellets. He nibbled on them yesterday and this morning and there’s still about half of what I gave him in there. Which brings up another question lol…is it ok to leave them in there that long? If they get wet, or if he poops in there I change them right away and don’t leave them in there of course.

I think I am going to maybe put a smaller hay basket in there so I can measure how much hay he is actually eating…right now his is pretty big so he might actually be eating alot but since the basket is so big it’s hard to tell. I know he WAS eating alot before when I had just a little basket of it..I think I will start doing that again.

I’m going to move his pellets up to his second floor..that’s where his greens are and he spends more time up there…so maybe moving them will make him notice them more and eat them more.

I think because he’s only 6 mos he’s supposed to be eating more pellets? I really need to print this stuff out because I always forget.

I thought I knew how to care for bunnies LOL I had so many when I was a kid but they were outside buns and so they were I guess fed differently since they needed to bulk up for the cold weather…man I feel so bad for those buns now..I was a kid and did what my parents said to do…I never knew I was doing it so wrong!

[Beka27]

are you chopping the celery into short pieces?  the long strands are not good for their digestive system, so they need to be cut into one inch pieces or shorter.

1) is the container you’re using a two-cup container?  fill up a measuring cup with two cups (of beans or something dry) and dump it in and see how close it is.  two cups is the recommendation but now i’m seeing suggestions of even more… up to 3 cups depending on the rabbit’s size.  he will start to eat more veggies as his pellets are reduced.  and i think like human children, some days they will seem to barely eat, other days they will practically lick the bowl clean. 

2) the greens are fine sitting out.  they may get a bit wilty, but you have to remember that in the wild their greens are not always perfectly fresh and chilled.  some buns might not even like them fresh outta the fridge b/c they’re too cold.  my bun will eat some veggies, go sleep for 6 hours, then wake up and eat some more.

3) someone made the mention not long ago that pellets and veggies should be fed separately b/c the pellets take a lot longer to digest and that can lead to gas if combined with veggies… or something along those lines.  can whoever said that please clarify this and/or post a link to where they got the info?  i feed veggies in the morning (with fresh hay) and pellets (1/3rd cup) late evening (again with some fresh hay).

4) i don’t think eating fewer pellets is a problem.  what kind is he on… alfalfa or timothy based?  if he’s on alfalfa you might want to get some timothy and start introducing them gradually over the next month or two.  most buns eat too many pellets, so i think that’s a better problem to have.  there was a rabbit food pyramid picture and now i can’t find it… does anyone have the link that they could post?

5) try a different kind of hay.  Meadow was barely nibbling hay (i was throwing away A LOT!) but i switched to a “different flavor” a meadow and an orchard grass, and she’s been devouring it.  the grass hay is the good stuff you want to use, the legume hay (like alfalfa) is too high in calories.  usually at 7 months you make the switch to the adult food, but you can probably start doing that now since he has a good repertoire of veggies in his diet already.

i think i covered everything.  if not or if you still have more question please ask again.

[babybunsmum]

lol.  i know what you mean.  my first 2 buns did not get the benefit of all of this knowledge… poor things.  thank goodness they were otherwise well cared for & certainly loved lots. 

i also call greens treats… thats funny. 

i know there are diff dietary frecommendations for baby buns but i’m not familiar with them or with the age at which buns can be treated as adults.  at 10 months old when i adopted pinky i was feeding her as i mentioned and baby bun is almost 8 years old  so it’s been a while since her youth! 

please some one correct me if i’m wrong… i don’t think that a lack of interest in pellets is anything to be concerned with *if* a bun is getting lots of greens (which yours is) and *if* they are a healthy weight (you mention yours is pretty big so obviously not lacking in sustenance) but i would try to tweak things to encourage hay consumption.  good idea to try to measure this just to check & see where you’re at. 

hopefully some one else chimes in here re: age of buns & diet. 

[Beka27]

i took a long time typing so i’ll respond to what you just said…  the carrot tops are fine for a treat.

i would dump out the old pellets each day and put in fresh ones. 

give him a handful of hay twice a day.  that way you are knowing how much he is eating, and like i said, try a different flavor.  put it in the litterbox too, he might prefer that.

please don’t feel bad about what you did as a child.  you are an adult now and you are doing your very best to learn about the proper way to care for him.  that’s what counts now.

[Beka27]

 

 read the HRS FAQ on Diet:  

this has info on the ages and diet.  7 months is when you start to switch to the adult diet, but it seems he’s already basically there, so i think that’s fine.

 

[Alicia Conklin]

Ooh wow I did not know that..I will go take his celery out and cut it up. 

I will go measure his container too…I have been just eye-balling it. 

hmm..I had seen that people said they fed the pellets seperately but I didn’t realize that there was an actual health reason for that..I will start putting his pellets in there at night and then his greens during the day.

He’s still on alfalfa pellets, I think nexy payday when we go out to the store I will get some timothy pellets and start mixing them in to switch him over. 

He has timothy hay, I will get some different flavors for him to try..do those have to be introduced one at a time like veggies do?

Thanks so much for all the advice! everyone is always so helpful here

[Alicia Conklin]

I do put it in the litter box but then he just poops on it..I was thinking of getting a holder and putting one above each litter box..that way he can eat while he’s in there without pooping on it LOL.

 

[Beka27]

not many people realize that about the celery. i didn’t when i first got Meadow. someone on here was kind enough to let me know. i am so bad at “eye-balling”… i couldn’t tell if something was a cup or a pound… lol. yes, i’d get the tim pellets and start to switch over. do it bit by bit over the next one to two months. the HRS link has the specifics of a good pellet… check the back… you want at least 25% fiber and no more than 14 (i believe) % protein. i would get one new kind of hay and mix it in with his tim hay to see if he likes it.

[rabbitsmba]

Posted By Beka27 on 05/12/2008 8:22 AM

3) someone made the mention not long ago that pellets and veggies should be fed separately b/c the pellets take a lot longer to digest and that can lead to gas if combined with veggies… or something along those lines.  can whoever said that please clarify this and/or post a link to where they got the info?  

there was a rabbit food pyramid picture and now i can’t find it… does anyone have the link that they could post?

I believe both of these references are to me.  I know I have posted before about feeding pellets and greens separately.  My source was a fellow bunny slave whose one bunny was consistently gassy.  She received this advice from another bunny slave from a rabbit health organization.  I have looked online to find anything that refers to this but haven’t been able to come up with a link, so my only source is word of mouth.  Since following this pattern of feeding, my friend’s rabbit has had no gas issues, and since I started it, none in my house either – although it wasn’t really a problem.

The idea is this – pellets take longer to digest than greens, so when greens and pellets are fed together, the digestive system is slowed down to accomodate the absorbtion fo the pellets but at the same time the greens are left in the stomach longer than is ideal and *may* add to a gas upset in the tummy.  By serving pellets and greens at least 6 hours apart (I serve them 12 hours apart, morning and evening), pellets get digested at their optimal slower pace and greens will get digested at their optimal, faster pace.

Like I said, there is no hard vet evidence to prove this and the only track record I have is with my own bunns and other bunnies who’s slaves have adopted this pattern, but for them it has worked and certainly doesn’t do any harm to the bunny.   As always, it’s best to discuss with your vet and get their opinion…

And here is the link to the Rabbit Food Pyramid…..

http://www.fosterbunnies.com/food.htm

 

[babybunsmum]

hmmm… interesting!  neither of my buns have had lots of gas probs but this is worth trying anyways.  maybe it’ll stave off future probs?  i’m off to re-think my feeding schedule…

[Alicia Conklin]

LOL I have one unhappy bun right now…hehe I went in and took his pellets out, I took his bowl of veggies so that I could measure it and chop up his celery and I put his hay into a little container so that I know how much he eats. He was looking at me like “what the heck are you doing to my food woman???” but luckily I was able to give him his Eeyore and apparently Eeyore needed some grooming so that distracted him from what I was doing LOL

[Beka27]

THANK YOU RABBITSMBA!!!!!! i guess it was you! lol… and i’m going to bookmark the bunny pyramid.

i have been feeding the veggies and pellets about 8 hours apart and i have not had any problems with gas (not that it was a big issue before, just a few flare-ups here and there). and of course, discuss with the vet as well. he or she may have a different opinion.

[JK]

Ok here’s my 2 cents.  Actually celery is not all that good to give because there is very little nutrition in celery.  There are a lot better nutritious vegetables or greens such as romaine lettuce, baby greens, chard, parsley and a little mint. I stay away from all gassy vegetables, the broccoli family in particular.  I give Edson 1/8-1/4 cup of pellets in the early morning and then his greens in the late afternoon. I have never ever had any problems with gas, poopy butt or digestive problems.  He waits like clockwork for his meals let me tell you! I do have a hay chowhound so I have a lot of timothy hay for him and I refresh that a couple times a day too.

[Bunnies4ever]

I follow the same diet/routine for my buns also knowltons. They get 1/8 pellets each in the morning, hay all day, then veggies in the evening. I have never fed my rabbits celery. I have had no trouble with gas or digestive problems.

[babybunsmum]

yes i agree… celery doesn’t have as much nutritional content as the dark leafy greens which are so important for bun buns.  altho celery is a great treat… better than sugary veg / fruit.  and if you’re trying to eliminate those from your buns diet it’s awesome to still have something to treat with so you keep the bonding part of feeding treats.  also celery is great if you’re worried about hydration for whatever reason since it has a very high water content.

so today i tryed changing up the buns feeding since i have always fed pelets & greens at the same time.  they did not seem impressed.  and i was torn which to feed now & which to feed later.  so i ended up going with feeding greens in the morning since they always saved their pellets for after greens were done anyways.  as i type this i can hear pinky throwing her empty pellet dish around her cage in frustration.  lol

[rabbitsmba]

Awwwww poor Pinky! I hope my feeding schedule suggestion doesn’t create a national bunny uproar! They will get used to it and then they can look forward to TWO feeding times everyday instead of just one…..

[kralspace]

Hang in there, Pinky will get used to it. When I switched my two couples over, one condo took it pretty well, the other couple staged a revolt for sure. Pringles and Toby threw EVERYTHING that would go out the opening, food bowls, water bowl, toys, blankies, even some hay. This went on for almost a week, but now they’ve adjusted, I think.

Either that, or they’re planning their next move!

Kathy

[Beka27]

Meadow has her limited pellet bowl all evening and night, but in the morning when i get her greens i completely remove the EMPTY pellet bowl until the evening. it seems if it’s not in her cage, she doesn’t know what she’s missing and she’ll eat hay and veggies without “complaint”.

[skunklionshow]

I do unlimited hay, in the litterbox and a binky’s willow basket, all the time.  They really like that willow basket, they nibble on that to tick me off…b/c it’s such a cute hay basket.  I limit my pellets to 1/4 cup daily.  I feed pellets in the am and leave them in until evening.  In the eve., I take out the pellets and put in my veggies.  I leave the veggies in overnight and start the cycle again in the morning. 

I put together this schedule b/c for the longest, both were pellet dependent and wouldn’t eat hay or veggies.  Everyone on binky helped me be strong that they weren’t going to starve.  I like doing the veggies in the eve., b/c I have more time to do the prep.  I’m not a morning person.  I give papaya tabs, raisins, craisins, or even fruit pieces as treats.  B/c Jessie is a chunky monkey, they are limited to one treat a day…sometimes 2 if I can’t get those sad eyes out of my mind   Sorry but it’s the only time I get Jessi love.

My Jess looks just like your tucker bun…she a netherland dwarf.  Yours looks like a good weight…like I said Jess is kinda chunky.  She used to have that concave belly look that tuck has.  PS…I beat myself up over my childhood rabbits.  I was so disgusted that they were caged in the garage and only got pellets.  Please do as Beka says and forgive yourself.  I’m sure those bunns felt loved!

[Liza]

Velvet gets her morning veggies and a hand full of hay. Then I go off to work. When I come back, I change her litterbox, make it up new and give her another hand of hay to eat. She loves her hay! She also gets veggies in the evening and at around 7pm, it’s dinner time. She gets 1/4 cup of timothy pellets and one dried papaya cube. She has lost some weight since she came here, which she really needed. She was obese when she came here (her feet were very raw). She is a mini rex bunny, so I am very careful about what she gets to eat and what she doesn’t get.
I am lucky she loves her hay!

[Alicia Conklin]

I wanted to update:

Thank you everyone for your ideas and advice…I have since switched Tucker over to veggies given in the morning and left for him to eat all day and then in the evening taking the veggies out and putting his pellets back in and letting him munch on those overnight. Now he seems to be eating ALOT more of his pellets…eating mostly all of his 1/4 cup and he’s been going for the hay more since putting it in a smaller container for him…he’s still not eating as much as I hear from other people here that their bunnies like but he definitely is eating some and I am going to buy him a different kind of hay to mix in with his timothy to see if maybe he just needs more variation. I also am thinking of buying a better brand of hay..I hear bunnies love oxbow, and then using the cheaper (Kaytee brand) hay for his litter boxes since mostly he just sits on those and doesn’t eat them anyway and I’d hate to waste money on something he’s just going to sit on LOL

His celery is now cut up into small pieces and he only gets one short stalk every few days and I’ve centered his daily veggies around romaine lettuce, red lettuce, carrot tops and collards and occasionally some spinach. I’m going to look for more of the herbs that bunnies like this weekend…maybe to introduce him to some new flavor…although he is a big fan of the lettuces and carrot tops as well. Actually…he doesn’t even seem to LIKE the celery much since I cut it up…

[JK]

That sounds like you’ve made some great changes. Watch the spinach because it is very high in calcium. Try mint! Edson loves it and sometimes I give that to him as a bedtime treat. Also, try Binky Bunny’s hay! It’s outstanding. It’s pesticide free and stored in a cool facility so no rodents get into it. My ONE rabbit goes thru one bale (about 40 oz.) a week now. He’s a bit of a pig.

[Alicia Conklin]

Yea I have only given it to him once now, and I figure I’ll only give it maybe twice a week..and I didn’t give him that much of it.  I’ll keep an eye on him to make sure it’s not affecting him negatively. 

There is actually a big pot of herbs at Sam’s Club and it has mint, basil, parsley and oregano I think….maybe some cilantro too?  It also has a tomato plant in the middle of it…so I have to find out if that is safe or not…I don’t see it on the list to give or the list to avoid…anyone know if that is ok?  Anyway, if it’s not I definitely know what tomato plant leaves look like so I figure that would be a great pot to have since I could just pick off some fresh pieces for him from there

[Beka27]

your schedule sounds perfect! that’s great that he’s starting to eat the pellets and hay. as far as the pellets, even tho they’re not the best thing for him to eat, they do serve to fill in nutritional gaps here and there, so that’s good he is eating them, in a limited amount. buns can’t have tomatoes…. not sure about the tomato leaves tho. anyone else know? other veggies that my bun loves are escarole and endive (both kinds of lettuce), dandelion greens, cilantro and parsley (the flat leaf italian parsley is more fragrant and supposedly more nutritous than the curly, but my bun loves both types.) what i have done is print out the list of good/bad veggies and i take it to the store with me, b/c once confronted with a hundred things i can never remember what’s what. i make a notation on my list if i try something, if Meadow loves it or if she disapproves. i always do an herb, a type of lettuce and a couple other things each week… she gets about 4 different veggies each day.

*i have more fun grocery shopping for the bun than i do the fmaily… shhhh!*

[Sarita]

No to tomato leaves – according to my friend’s guinea pig recommended veggie list the tomato leaves are poisonous – tomatoes are high in acid too – they are probably okay but not the best things you can feed them since they aren’t the recommended dark leafy greens.

My rabbits love the fresh herbs too – dill, mint, basil, sage (well not too many like the sage but some do).

[Author]

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