…IDK what happened.

[Frankz]

I put this in diet & care because it’s to do w/Sunny’s eating…

 

I came home today and apparently, my sister or my mom…not sure who…gave Sunny some dry fruit. While we were in the car from picking me up, they told me they had given her about 3. Even though rabbits shouldn’t have it that much, I figured 3 wasn’t TOO bad. Come to find out, there were about 20 (LITERALLY, I counted) in her bow when I came home to let her out. This is just when I came home, idk how many pieces of the dry frut she’s had. Should she be okay? She’s not getting any for a while, and I think I need to hide the dry fruit. Apparently “rabbits can’t have alot of dry fruit” isn’t getting through. I even tell them to only give her one >_>

 

[hooty22]

Yeah, I understand, my mother was the same way. She had to bunny sit Felony for me for a week. I sent him to her with plenty of hay, pellets and greens and detailed hand written instructions. I informed her that she may give him NO MORE THAN TWO raisins as a treat a day. She calls me frantic one day talking about how Felony’s poops are smushy and smudged all over the place. I calmly say “How many raisins have you been giving him” I find out she’d given him a ‘Oh I don’t know, I just poured some into his bowl because he’s so cute’ answer. I could have killed her.

She should be fine. Just make sure she gets lots of hay, and watch her poops. They might be soft or otherwise not normal as rabbits bellies are very sensitive to changes in diet.

Also, yell at your family 🙂

[MooBunnay]

Well, dried fruit is very sugary, so you definitely need to keep an eye on Sunny’s poops, and try to get her to eat some hay. Definitely don’t give her any treats for a few days (if you can keep your family from giving them to her!) Also, I’ve noticed a lot of dried fruit is preserved with sulfur dioxide to preserve the color of the fruit – I don’t know how bad that is for bunnies, but I’m actually allergic to it, so I would think it would be better not to introduce that into Sunny’s system, so if it is preserved with that, I wouldn’t feed her any more of those particular treats. I know that Sun Maid raisins do not have any sulfur in them, and neither do craisins.

If you need to explain more to your family, explain to them that rabbits stomachs (well, actually their cecums, but don’t get to complicated ) have a very delicate balance, and feeding a lot of fruit can disrupt the proper functioning of their digestive system. This can cause “poopy butt” which is runny poops, and is very dangerous for your bunny. Keep some healthy treats on hand, for example, it is really fun to feed bunnies stalks of parsley – you could have your family give her some of those for a treat. HIDE THE DRIED FRUIT

[BinkyBunny]

I like MooBunnay’s tip of keep some healthy treats on hand for the family to feed. I’d also stick a note on the dried fruit that says DO NOT FEED TO BUNNY!. I don’t think people really understand how hard this can be on a bunny’s system. Hopefully your bunny didn’t eat too much and it’s good that you caught it before he ate 20 more! Geesh.

I also agree that explaining the digestive aspect may help. Many people just think it’s a weight thing and don’t realize any true dangers.

Hopefully your family will get now.

Just keep a close eye, on his poops and eating and drinking habits.

[Frankz]

It seemed not to have bothered her. Her poop was a bit big (nothing crazy) but, that happens every now and then. She’s been eating and drinking everything fine.

[RabbitPam]

That’s good. She’s going to be OK, but definitely Hide or just remove the treats. You should be the only one giving her treats. Slice up a carrot into sticks or circles and let them give her those as treats. A whole carrot stick, ie. 20 pieces, is not going to harm her like a sugary snack. Also mint sprigs, parsley, cilantro, and willow sticks are good as treat snacks or chew toys.

Your family needs training. Boot camp starts tonight. (And my favorite remedy – You cause it, you clean it – let family members clean out any poopy butt. That generally works to learn the lesson. Poor bunny.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

The reason they shouldn’t have a lot of dried fruit is this

Which has more sugar a cup or raisins or a cup of grapes? They are the same fruit of course-but the raisins are small-less then 1/10 the size of a raisin-much more concentrated.
Drying doesn’t add any sugar-but it can make it easier to eat a lot more fruit in a sitting, then you or bunny could if it hadn’t been dried.

So watch poops-lecture the family I think more then a few members have had family members sneaking their rabbit treats.

BTW-what fruit was it? Are we talking raisins or dried peaches?

[Author]

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