Lettuce and sunflower seeds?

[angoralvr]

Ok, I’m on another forum and one of the members keeps telling everyone that lettuce will kill their bunnies. I know that head lettuce is bad for bunnies but leaf lettuce isn’t. What is the difference in the two that one would be safe while the other is not?

Also, the same member recommends sunflower seeds for the bunnies coats, but I thought seeds were bad for bunnies?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

As far as I know…

Seeds are not bad, just high calories and unneccesary….Also the only lettuce I think you shouldn’t feed is iceburg…

Anyone else? :s

[Cadbury]

I agree with K&K about the lettuce. Only iceberg is bad, I believe every other lettuce is ok. I feed tons of lettuce to Cadbury without a problem. Not sure about the seeds – I’ve never given them to the buns.

[kralspace]

Hi Angoragirl, I’ve been following that thread too, the lady saying ALL lettuce is absolutely bad was pretty domineering on several subjects this week. It’s kinda scarey how she’s not even allowing the possibility of any opinion except her own on there.

[Sage Cat]

Head lettuce is bad but leaf lettuce isn’t – this statement makes no scene. A head of lettuce is what the one group of lettuce leaves joined at the root is called. Head formation and leaf structure are how lettuces are categorized.

All lettuces are good for bunny’s. It is just that Iceberg Lettuce (also called crisp-head) has no nutritional value – so, why bother with it. Maybe that is what you are calling “head lettuce”?

BTW – Butterhead, Boston and Bibb – are all the exact same thing.

Here is a little more info: wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettuce

[angoralvr]

Iceburg lettuce=head lettuce yes. . . at least that is the only kind of lettuce I have commonly heard called head lettuce.

[angoralvr]

Posted By kralspace on 03/24/2008 9:08 AM
Hi Angoragirl, I’ve been following that thread too, the lady saying ALL lettuce is absolutely bad was pretty domineering on several subjects this week. It’s kinda scarey how she’s not even allowing the possibility of any opinion except her own on there.

I know, I thought it seemed kind of rude. . . . If you’ve been following the thread you know I came close to getting into a disagreement over the whole thing…..

 

You must be the other person I always see referring people here then?

[angoralvr]

Same person also said they give all their bunnies alfalfa. . . . . . . . . I’m just thinking I need to ignore them.

[kralspace]

yep, I’m OwnedByBunnies,

I was lucky enough to be directed to this site by other members on craigslist so I like to return the favor when I can.

Kathy

I could see a fight coming several times this past weekend, especially over the Snuffles. She was bascially saying, ‘do what I say or your rabbits WILL die’.

[angoralvr]

I can’t stand people that get all uppity like that. . . even if they do have good advice, more likely then not they are ignored because of their attitudes towards everyone else.

[Gravehearted]

ooo sunflower seeds. my mom used to live on them, while she graded papers when i was a kid. I remember my very first rabbit, Droste used to hop up on her lap to eat them. he just loved them. now this was the early 1980s when we didn’t know much about rabbit diet – so he used to get several every day. So, no – nowadays, i wouldn’t give them to a rabbit due to the high fat content.

i’ve found in general many people dole out poor rabbit advice on the internet. yahoo answers spawns some horrifying advice – there are only a handful of users on there who know *anything* at all about good rabbit care on there! yikes! i visit on occasion, but often find it really distressing.

we are very lucky to have many knowledgeable users on BB! but i always like doing research on one of the websites I trust or calling Auntie Heather when I’m unsure about something.

[kralspace]

aagggghhh, the same member just suggested to someone who would like to find a mate (neutered, that is) for their bunny, that they take it to a bunny show and find a ‘willing buck’! *bangs head against wall*

[angoralvr]

Alright. . . So I am officially discounting everything posted by said person. . . . good to know!

[skunklionshow]

My students were gluttons for sunflower seeds.  I had a “no seeds” rule in the classroom, b/c they would frequently leave the shells everywhere…it drove me CRAZY!  All that to say, yes they can have sunflower seeds as treats, but they are high in calories.  Also, most people eat the salted ones, and that extra sodium isn’t good for bunnies.  So you can just, sparingly and w/o the salt.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Wow, what a sad, pathetic soul that really needs a rabbit education. Sheesh. Worst yet, a know-it-all who is foisting this stuff onto unknowing new bunny people. Sad, very sad. Iceberg lettuce is not good, is has no nurtional value, however leafy lettuce like romaine, boston bib etc. are just fine for our four-legged furballs. Also with seeds, they are high in starch as well and there is potential for them to cause an impaction in large quantities like you would find in the pelleted food with all the colored bits, seeds, nuts etc. Could I have a moment or two in a locked room with this person? Oh yes…and some brass knuckles… LOL Just kidding. I’ll just sick my two rabbits on them.

[rabbitsmba]

I am familiar with that thread and poster as well. She also said that head tilt spreads to the lungs and is like leukemia. And she makes oatmeal every morning for her bunnies.

I think she has definitely had some bad rabbit experiences but I think someone fed her wrong info as well. Kralspace, what if she takes your advice and joins these boards like I did? ACK!

Well, hopefully she will learn a few things….

[kralspace]

could get pretty lively, I would think…lol. She was usually responding to a question and I really mean for the questioner to come to the forum, but if she does, she does. People like that really irk me and while I may try to stay out of the way, I won’t hesitate to stand up for myself either.

I had just never seen someone post such fixed ‘facts’ stating if you don’t do it her way, your rabbits WILL die.

Kathy

[skunklionshow]

Rabbitsmba:  Your bunny is so cute.  He/she looks like a doe, I mean a bambi doe, not a bunny doe.  So cute!  Welcome!

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