Parsley / Raisin addiction

[Alicia Conklin]

How much parsley is too much parsley?  I went to the grocery store yesterday to get Tucker some kale and something else to add to his salads and saw that their italian parsley looked very nom-worthy. I picked up a big bunch of it and Tucker LOVES it. I mean absolutely loves it..it’s binky worthy even!! And I mean crazy one after another after another binkies and like running the bunny 500 that he never does at this time of the morning.  And all the parsley is gone from the salad leaving even the romaine which is usually a favorite. 

So, I of course have that big bunch and it won’t last but a few days..and we’re not real big parsley fans in this house other then Tucker so I was just wondering how much parsley can I give?  Is it just as any other green would be or will it give digestive problems if I feed too much.  She’s already had like three strands (long strands with some smaller strands attached..I’m not up on my parsley terms so not sure what that’s really called) so I don’t know if that’s already too much or if more would be ok…we just haven’t come across a veggie that was this “wooohooo!!” to Tucker since baby bok choy..which I can’t find anymore and can only find regular which is still eh but it’s not a favorite. 

 

Tucker also has a raisin addiction that we’re trying to break.  I was watching my husband give Tucker his raisin treat the other day and freaked out when I saw he was giving him not A raisin but raisinS and it was quite a few!!  Conversation went a bit like this

Me: AAAGHH what are you doing???

Mike: giving her waisins cos she wuvs them don’t you Tucker!!

Me: yea but you need to give like ONE how many did you just give????

Mike: only like 5-6 that’s only a little bit

Me: Maybe for me or you but she’s a rabbit..that’s ALOT of raisins for a little tummy

Mike: Well I always give her that much and she’s fine

Me: Well from now on just one or two a DAY not an hour a DAY

GAAHHH!!! So now Tucker looks obese to me lol which I am sure is not the case but I need to break the raisin habit.  The thing is that Tucker runs over to Mike as soon as she sees him.  Which…duh..he’s giving her tons of raisins!!! But Mike loves that Tucker is so much of a fan of him and so I’d like him to still be able to give treats..but I need a healthy one.  I was thinking the parsley but if I save that for just treats it’ll never last and I’ll be wasting it.  Although since most of his treats are in the afternoon/evenings and veggie time is in the morning maybe that will still be a “woohooo” factor for Tucker.

But basically and ok..finally I get to my point!  Are there any other healthy treats, herbs or what not that we could give Tucker that could be LIKE raisins but not raisins and something that he could give her instead?  I was thinking maybe I’d start an herb garden and if we were just plucking one or two leaves for treats it’d last enough to regrow and I could keep up the herb garden.  Are there any herbs that rabbits go absolutely nuts for?

[kimberleyanddarren]

how about cutting the raisins into little peices? that way he can give her a small bit of what she likes everytime she comes a running but it wont affect her health, ive found my two love basil, parsley but arent very keen on corriander. i think its just trial and error

[Veronica Vigilant]

I feed parsley in the same amnts that I feed romaine lettuce- it’s one of my buns favorite so I usually buy at least 2 big bunches of it and they get a good handfull of it each morning along with romaine, green or red leaf lettuce, cilantro, and something else random…

[JK]

I also give Edson a handful most days and no problems.

[Deleted User]

Shadow is a big parsley fan…for a 4 pound bun, he eats a lot of greens, but as long as there is no sign of poopy butt, it is fine for him. The only down side of giving so much parsley or other greens is it can put them off eating enough hay. We have hay issues and I have to go through all kinds of gyrations to get him to eat enough hay.

[MimzMum]

Mim & Pip seem to like about four sprigs of Italian large leaf parsley per day. But I trade off green treats to include romaine lettuce, kale (once a week) and dandelion greens during season. They’ll eat red leaf lettuce once in awhile also and carrot tops (sometimes with carrot still attached) are a fave. But so far, Fiver doesn’t seem to share the enthusiasm for the parsley or carrots and it’s probably just as well.

I just watch for the poopy butt, and reduce the offending vegetable accordingly.

Five raisins IS a lot of sugar. I found Mimzy would get loose stool from that many. Now his fave treat is dried blueberries, but those are making him fat. >.<
So we switch off with dried strawberry for Pip (only treat she can eat without leaving cecals everywhere) or the occasional Craisin and we also try to limit the amount of carrots, but those didn’t cause anywhere near as much trouble as the fruit.

Isn’t it odd, we’re told to get five servings of fruit OR vegetables per day for healthy eating, but good grief! if we served our bunnies that much they’d turn into little furry basketballs! 0_o

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Healthy treats that you can give in bigger amounts, would be herbs. You can feed one tiny leaf of oregano, just as you would a raisin and feed five to six or even more (I give a whole sprig of herbs at a time so that’s a fine amount)

[Alicia Conklin]

Ok thanks guys!  I think I am going to try a few herbs in a little pot and see if she likes those. 

Luckily she’s never gotten any poopy butt from raisins or any kind of fruit really.  I think as far as bunny tummies go Tucker’s is pretty strong.  Which is definitely a good thing.  She’s a great first house bunny hehe  any mistakes I make don’t seem to affect her as much as they probably would with some bunnies.

All this feeding is all new to me!!! When I had rabbits as a teenager they had just hay and unlimited pellets.  Occasionally they’d get some leftover veggies but it wasn’t a consistent thing. 

[Ashley]

I know that raisins and grapes and chocolate are all very poisonous to dogs – are raisins okay to give to bunnies?

[Balefulregards]

Agonyaw- Raisins are like manna from heaven to bunnies. Coco goes nuts for the golden raisins.

Coco eats a big old handful of parsley a day – right now she has a mix of red leaf lettuce, mint, italian flat leaf parsley, baby bok choy , and a few snow peas.

I get most of my stuff at the middle eastern market – or Indian markets that are around the neighborhood I live in -Each piece costs between .99 and 1.29 – so I chop it up and make her a three day salad.

Not a hit= dill, basil, carrot tops. And she doesn’t love the snow peas. She will occasionally eat a little cilantro or a sprig of rosemary. I ‘ve also tried the thai and greek basil I have growing in my garden to not impressive reviews.

It is a constant test with us. She will love something for a few days and then turn her nose up at it. Amazing for a rabbit that never saw a green for the years she was caged by her previous owner!

[Ashley]

So by your response I’m assuming they are not poisonous to bunnies as they are to dogs? 

Because even as few as 5 to 7 grapes/raisins can kill a dog. 

[Alicia Conklin]

Nope, not toxic…just not good for their waist line

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Raisins are fine for bunnies as are grapes.

For dogs the no-no list used to be just chocolate and black licorice-> Now add raisins, grapes (liver failure), tomatoes especially the foliage and cooked onions

[MarkBun]

Oh, and chocolate isn’t good for buns – not for the same reason exactly but any really high sugar intake can distrupt or even mutate the bacteria in their system that is necessary for their digestion.

But to put your mind at ease TB, before I knew better, I would feed Maryann anywhere from 6-10 raisins a day for the first 4 years of her life. When I learned better, I cut that back to 2-4 depending upon what I am trying to accomplish with her. I know even that amount is too high but she has shown no ill effects from it from the last 6 years.

I am still slowly reducing it though as just because she hasn’t shown any issues yet, doesn’t mean they won’t happen.

[Beka27]

if the worst thing that happens to Tucker is that he get 5 or 6 raisins a day (while not ideal!) i think he will be okay. your Mike sounds like my Mike. he is a the treat-giver-outer. the buns run to him b/c he has the treats, and he likes feeling loved by them. i have adjusted by not giving any treats at all. i have asked many times for him to cut back, but they each get 2 or 3 raisins a day as well as 2 papaya tablets. i just recently realized that he is also giving treats at 5 am when he wakes up for work. they are quite spoiled. their diet, aside from that is superb, they eat tons of veggies and hay, and the poop is always good.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I agree with Beka I don’t think that’s too much! Depending on their diet and size and poops, it sounds fine.

I have to admit, I give about 5-6 treats per day, craisins/papaya tablets…they just love them so much and they are such good hay eaters…*For shame Lesley for shame!!* LOL

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