Safe Treats to Give to Rabbits Prone to Gas

[Hanelizabeth]

Hi i have a chincilla, angora cross 11 month old bunny called Liliana. In the past she’s had gas and a couple of times GI statis. Each time the cause is gas and i always avoid the gas promoting foods and make sure she eats extra 1rst Cut Timothy hay. However, I’d still like to treat her to something and I’ve cut out pellets from her diet which is one of her favourite foods. I scatter feed her in a digging box with her pellets and now that they are cut out from her diet i was wondering if anyone has a safe alternative for treats/food to scatter for her, as i still want her to be stimulated as well as this is a part of her routine and i dont want to disrupt that and cause stress.

I would appreciate any suggestions or advice as this forum has helped me plenty of times in the past and is such a great community. Thank you.

[DanaNM]

Maybe some dried herbs? Certain herbs are thought to help gas, such as fennel and mint. They would be nice and fragrant and probably very enriching. 🙂 A small amount of oat hay might also be nice and agree with her tummy.

There was recently a virtual house rabbit society conference and there was a vet there saying they have been seeing really good results in chronic stasis/gas buns with feeding three types of hay in combo: timothy, orchard, and bermuda grass. It might be worth incorporating some additional grass hays to her diet to see if that helps as well! 🙂

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Hanelizabeth]

Thank you! I will definitely try some herb mixes- i gave her some dandelion leaves today and she seems to be doing fine right now (thank goodness) I will definitely try some of these suggestions and see if it helps her. Thank you so much for responding 😊

[Bam]

I second the fennel and mint recommendation! I had a bun with a difficult tummy, his favorite veg was herb fennel  and when he had a tummy upset, dried mint (from all mint teabags) was one of the few things he’d eat willingly.

For some reason, buns with a sensitive stomach tend to tolerate dry herbs and veg better than fresh. You can dry most veggies except perhaps lettuce, and feed as treets. I dried bulb fennel in thin slices for my tummy bun. Just remember dry veg weigh about a tenth of what fresh veg weighs, so you have to try and convert the dry vegs to fresh in your head so as not to give too much.

Obviously start with small amounts of whatever you give.

Grass hay and also fresh grass in small amounts are the best prebiotics for rabbits. A prebiotic is the “food” for the good gut bacteria.

 

 

[Hanelizabeth]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Thank you for your suggestions! I will definitely try to grab some fennel from the shop and incorporate it into her diet.</p>
Also drying her food is a really good idea- i never thought about that. I usually give her a small amount than a normal rabbit would be given and its usually a salad mix including safe veggies for both my buns but perhaps drying them might also improve her gut.

I actually went looking for certain herbs that help with digestion/help with gas (dandelion leaves etc) in the pitch black so they can dry over night 😂

I was wondering if maybe drying fruit treats like blueberries and bananas at home would be a good idea instead of the actual fruit as a sweet treat? (I usually only give her a small bit of banana if she’s been at the vet or has had her butt sprayed with the flystrike prevention stuff from the vet because she loathes it 😅)

[Hanelizabeth]

Oh i forgot to add i usually get fresh grass from a mixed grass field including many types of fresh grass (one being timothy hay) in the spring and summer as a supplement to her hay but i never thought to cut extra for the winter- I should definitely do that next year.

[DanaNM]

Any sugars (whether dried or otherwise) can be a problem for some buns, especially if they already have tummy issue (the sugars can alter the balance of their gut biota and cause gas, etc.). The risk of overdoing it might be higher when dried, since you might give more than you would normally once it shrinks down? I think a less sweet fruit might be a safer bet. Maybe a tiny piece of those freeze-dried raspberries? I’ve heard some bunnies also like unsweetened cranberries.

That said, if you’ve been giving her a tiny bit of fruit every once in a while and she hasn’t had a problem, I think it’s prob fine to keep doing that for special circumstances.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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