Lettuce question

[JackRabbit]

The approved bunny veggie lists say green leaf, red leaf, and romaine are OK. Romaine gives one of mine mushy poops so I’m looking for alternative lettuce varieties. I saw something called “living lettuce” in the grocery store and the clerk said its a form of bibb lettuce. Is this kind Ok? I’ve also heard of butter lettuce (don’t know what that is), but is it Ok? Any other lettuce types that are good fir bunnies?

Also, anyone have any suggestions for veggies that keep fairly long, are not high in calcium or oxilates? My buns currently get green leaf, red leaf, romaine (except one bun), basil, mint, and thyme, plus a bite of kale (high in calcium but it’s only one small piece and they love it!). Looking for a little variety!

Thanks!

[Stickerbunny]

Kale doesn’t have to be limited so much, if it doesn’t give any problems. They used to recommend it, but the recommendation has changed.

I’m not sure what butter leaf lettuce or bibb lettuce is

Cilantro is a favorite of mine and if you store it properly, it keeps a while. Just don’t let it get too wet.

[JackRabbit]

I haven’t had much luck with small leaf herbs storagewise. How do you store it?

[BunnyBrigade]

Arugula and dill are really big loves with my buns. And I recently added watercress to their diet. They really seem to like it. Butterbean lettuce….I have been wondering the same if was okay to give it to them but haven’t tried it. One of the ladies from the rescue that we got Ian and Hugo from likes to give her buns rosemary. She says they’re not all too big fans of the greenery on it but they do like the stalks and enjoy nomming on the wood.

Jackrabbit the best was I found to store cilantro is to wash it and put the ends of the cilantro in a jar filled with water. Then you cover the tops of the cilantro with a ziplockk bag. It keeps it, if you have a good fridge, for a week and a half. Not too bad in my mind.

[LongEaredLions]

I do believe both Bibb lettuce and butter lettuce are safe for bunnies.
A few that mine love are endive, cilantro, escarole, and bok-Choy.
Kale is fine to feed a portion of.

[Nora]

Parsley is pretty sturdy and Pippin devours it. The only thing I’ve given him that he didn’t like much was watercress.

[Sarita]

Bibb lettuce is fine – its the same as butter lettuce or boston lettuce – all the same.

I think any lettuce other than iceberg are fine. I think they usually just list the common ones because you can usually find those. You can do a spring mix too but the only problem with those is that the red leaf lettuces seem to go bad quicker than the green leaf ones in the mix so I think you have to use it up pretty quick once it’s opened.

You can also do frisee aka curly endive as well – it’s kind of pricey though but it’s another lettuce. Or regular endive too. Arugula is another good one as well or even watercress – just let yourself go wild in the produce section :~)

[Usagi1618]

My boys are picky eaters, and if I introduce a new leafy green to them, it takes about two or three introductions for them to even sniff the stuff. Mine only like cilantro, parsley and romaine, they hate basil surprisingly and other leafy greens. I think anything green is fine, except iceberg, even I don’t like eating iceberg lettuce so I don’t really give it to my young’uns. Are you just talking about cecals? or are all of the poops mushy?

[Deleted User]

I try to shop for Henry’s veggies once a week (though have been known to make a second trip – spoiled bunny!) and buy him every type of lettuce except for iceberg for the sake of variety, with ‘butter’ lettuce being one of them. I know some BBer’s say iceberg is ok for bun’s, but because I was discouraged from day one, it’s something I don’t consider – it just no longer occurs to me, and because there is normally 3 other varieties available to me every time I shop I’m happy to stick with what I know and trust. Also, it takes the thought process out of it – much easier to shop when you don’t have to think and remember…. LOL!
I’ll just share with you what I feed Henry every night on the chance it gives you some idea’s for your guy’s….
Lettuce – all varieties except iceberg
Cabbage – Henry loves his cabbage
Kale – like Stickerbunny, Henry has 1/2 to a full leaf every night
Carrot – a few thin slices
Brocilli – cause I make my kids eat it! Henry has to toooo! Lol!
Parsely – either standard or curley
This is what I buy each week specifically for him. But if I buy cauliflower, sweet potato or pumpkin I’ll give him a bit of that as well.

Keep in mind, Henry likes to dine on a bit of dog food along with a coke to wash it down – nothing wrong with that???

PS – Henry hates basil too Usagi1618, which is a bugga cause it’s the only herb that is growing in my yard.  Dam bunny!

[Stickerbunny]

Storing it I find a vegetable container with paper towels on the bottom and middle works best. That way it doesn’t get too wet and get brown and slimy.

[Nora]

I can only usually get 2 vegetables at a time for Pippin, otherwise they go bad before he can eat them. Usually I do one lettuce and one herb. Although I’m not really sure if I am feeding him the right amount. “1 cup of vegetables” is hard for me to picture. But I just figure give him a decent amount, and it’s not like lettuce is super high in calories so hopefully it’s okay!

[Usagi1618]

Nora, Pippin is still baby-ish/teen, one cup isn’t too much at all lo. Adult rabbits usually get 1-2 cups. It doesn’t seem as ridiculous once they get bigger.

[Meatloaf N Bunnito]

My buns go CRAZY over basil! Meatloaf likes mint as well. They prefer baby bok-choy over the full grown version. Not sure why… Maybe it’s sweeter? They like spinach and arugala… They will nibble at parsley… Bunnito is much much pickier than Meatloaf and it takes some prodding on my end to get him to try new foods. The produce section at the grocery stores here is always a bit sketchy so I can’t wait til I move to hopefully have a better and fresher selection to choose from. My buns deserve it. =D

[JackRabbit]

Thanks for the ideas everyone! Since Moshi has more of a sensitive tummy than my other two, I think I’ll go through the suggested veggies one per week with all of them.

Usagi – it’s occasionally cecals (I know that this usually means too rich of a diet for Mosh), but usually it’s plain soft poops (not smelly). So far, always only one “cycle”, either find it in the morning or when I get home at night, and always normal poops are happening too. Romaine definitely upsets him.

[Author]

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