Treat suggestions other than Oxbow barley biscuits?

[bonilla&BUB]

I fed my buns (holland lops) some of Oxbows barley biscuits – they loved them! And went nuts over them. I am only concerned a tad about the ingredients contained in them… any opinions? I was only feeding one biscuit per day. 

http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=1571

Ingredients

Organic Barley Flour, Organic Alfalfa Meal, Organic Molasses, Organic Carrots, Organic Apples, Organic Rolled Oat Flakes, Organic Canola Oil (naturally preserved with organic sunflower oil, natural mixed tocopherols, lecithin and rosemary extract).

Guaranteed Analysis

• Crude Protein min 12.00%
• Crude Fat min 7.00%
• Crude Fiber max 10.00%
• Moisture max 10.00%

The only problem is, I have run out. And I have a separate bag of orchard grass hay (that I sometimes mix in with their timothy). The bag crinkles just like the treat bag did and so they both get so excited when they hear the sound I feel so terrible when I don’t have a treat to give. I have only been hesitant on buying them again because I am not sure about the ingredients and the long term impact on a buns digestive system. Does anyone feed these or know about these kind of manufactured treats? 

Or, does anyone have any suggestions for better treats? Other treats I already feed are grapes, strawberries, apple, banana, and carrots (very small amounts of each – one serving per day).

Thank you! <3

[sarahthegemini]

I just give extra veggies or herbs as treats. My buns especially love thyme and dill, so often I’ll put that on their plate of veggies but give them a bit more as a bedtime treat. Or I give them dried dandelion or plantain as treats throughout the day. I don’t buy pet shop treats. I was also giving them dried cranberries as a bedtime treat but after Buttercup’s stasis I’ve decided to avoid all fruits.

[Azerane]

Yes, fresh or dried herbs or forage. I also home dry my own fruit for treats. Apple, papaya, carrot, etc

[vanessa]

I second sarahthegemini. I don’t buy pet store or online treats. My bunnies get pellets, hay, and veggies. The see their veggies as treats. I don’t give them fruit except to hide medicine. Lancelot was recovering from stasis, malnutrition and a host of other problems when I adopted him, so I don’t want to teast him by giving the others fruit. So no-one gets fruit. That being said – if I happen to be cutting strawberries or apples for myself, I give them the strawberry tops and the apple cores (no seeds). But that is not a daily thing. I eat different fruit each day, so it works out to about once a month that they get strawberry tops/apple cores. My bunnies favorite veggie treats are bell pepper, celery, cilantro, and radish.

[Paige]

I also feed herbs as treats. Sometimes I like to give my bun just some Timothy heads because he likes those so much.
Personally I don’t feed store bought treats because there are added sugars, oil and flour in them. If you are looking for a treat that is not just fruit, you could make your own with hay dust, a small amount of smashed banana and some pellet dust. You can blend the pellets in your blender. And just bake them on low heat, til they dry out.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My bunnies love Sunseed Dried Papaya treats. They are often sold in the bird section as they can be fed to birds as well as small animals.

[bonilla&BUB]

Thank you so much! I might have to buy a dehydrator! I have not fed herbs before -> is this something you also dry or do you mean the shakers with dry herbs? How much do you feed?

One of my lops is 4.5lbs and the other is 2.2 lbs.

You all have been so helpful: I did not buy the store treats –

[vanessa]

Dried or fresh. My bunnies love dried hibiscus and rose petals. I use fresh herbs as part of their veggie salad. I try to give them one type of herb a day. I split a bunch of cilantro or parsley between 4 bunnies, they each get a 6-inch piece of rosemary from my garden, I’d give them a twig of basil each, a handful of mint, a twig of dill, a small bunch of thyme. I love my dehydrator. I use it for fruit for myself, fruit for my fruit-eating birds, hay cookies for the bunnies, and at the end of the gardening season, I dry the remaining herbs for winter.

[Paige]

Wow! It seems like your bunnies are really used to herbs. I would Iove to feed that much, but my bun has a more sensitive stomach. He can have 1 mint leaf, 1 stalk/piece of parsley, 1 really small piece of dill, and 1 stalk/piece of cilantro in a day without problems, but I only give that much every other day. My bunny is 4 pounds.
I wish I could get a dehydrator! Those dried herbs in shakers are not fresh at all. ? I also have tried giving my bunny chamomile in the tea bags, but he doesn’t eat that either. He does like to drink the tea though, lol. Since he likes the tea so much I get the tea bags with only chamomile and after making the tea, I cool it and let him have it.
Flowers and forage are also very healthy treats, but can be so hard to find cheap in the US unfortunately. I might order from Viovet and pay the expensive shipping for some forage though. It pains me to see dandelions and plantain in my yard, but I can’t give it to him because raccoons can spread roundworm through their poo. ?

[Azerane]

You can dry herbs by hanging them up in a cool, dark, dry place, you can also dry them in the oven on a low temperature setting (about 100 celcius) for about 20 minutes and further air drying them another day or so.

I have dried dandelion and plantain just sitting out on a cake cooling rack.

[Gina.Jenny]

I mainly use the daily veg or forage as treats, but I also keep some barley rings in. These are meant for horses, and so are suitable for a bun, cheap and definitely seen by all six of my buns as a super-treat. They can also be used to gain weight for an underweight bun, which is why I first bought them, so they are very high calorie to a bun, and need to be given only as a rare treat now they are no longer underweight.

[Blue Moon]

my buns love the oxbow simple rewards apple and banana ones they go psycho for these treats

[Blue Moon]

I was wondering if it is ok to give rosemary to rabbits

[vanessa]

Absolutely 🙂 I have 2 rosemary shrubs in my garden, and I pick a 6-inch twig for each bunny. They could probably eat more than that, but it’s a nice addition to their regular veggie salad.

[Blue Moon]

thank you so much I just wanted to make sure not to poison my poor buns by giving them a treat thanks again.

[bonilla&BUB]

Oops I meant to write I have not fed dried herbs before! They have tried many, many fresh herbs

vanessa where do you find rose petals and hibiscus? tell me more about your hay cookies!

Paige, I have never thought of feeding cool tea – is this common? I was hoping to pick dandelions in the spring, but we also have racoons and skunks where we live in BC (Canada)!! I have just treated them both for pinworms and have been successful (it was really bad) – so I don’t want to have to go through that again. Who would you order from?

Azerane, plaintain is similar to banana, correct? So that should be fed as a “treat”, proportionally?

Gina.jenny, where do you get a barley ring from?

Thanks again all!!

[Paige]

I’m not sure if it’s common, but I think I read about it in the BB store. Obviously I would order from BB, but also Viovet because they have UK products and lots of forages! But shipping is $12 USD and they’re is a 2kg limit, I think.

[vanessa]

Starwest Botanicals Hibiscus Flowers dried, $14.60 per pound with shipping. I feed a small handful at a time, once or twice a week. https://www.amazon.com/Starwest-Botanicals-Hibiscus-Flowers-Organic/dp/B00ZDO4ZWC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1489604032&sr=8-5&keywords=starwest+botanicals+hibiscus

I tend to vary the recipe I use for hay cookies according to what is locally available. https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/155660/Default.aspx That’s a thread I posted about my recent cookie recipe. The basic recipe that I use (and vary) is 1.25 cups “stuff” – here you could use crushed pellets, hay dust, oat groats (for underweight bunies), I like to use critical care or Sherwood Forest’s version called SARx, and ground up compressed hay cubes. Blend up 1/2 a carrot, 1/2 a banana, 2 bunches parsley, 1/2 cup water, plus additional water to work it into a consistency that is easy for you to scoop out. I use small icecream scoops that hold about a teaspoon, of water, so the ball you can make with that icecream scoop is about 2 tsp total. I use my food dehydrator to dry the cookies. I don’t bake them.

If I don’t have fresh parsley, I add the same weight in a substitute veggie such as butter lettuce, cilantrol, bell pepper, chickweed/dandelion, or any other veggie. After 36 hours in the dehydrator on the lowest heat setting, they are ready.

[Cici]

I don’t give my mini-lop Momo too many treats. Just because she is still young and I don’t want her digestive system to be bombarded with too much sugars and such.

Momo is 4 months however here are list of things I give her currently as treats. 

1. Fresh Apples and Carrots. I would also recommend any fruit like apples, bananas, most berries freeze-dried will also be a good alternative.
2. Timothy Hay Cubes (She loves them so much and it keeps her busy for about a half an hour) I break them in half usually because they are about 1-2 inches in length.

LINK:
Kaytee Natural Timothy Hay Cubes for Rabbits & Small Animals

https://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Timothy-Hay-Cubes-1-lb/dp/B0002DK8OI/ref=pd_sim_199_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0002DK8OI&pd_rd_r=83YN06NHY8AADNS67E5B&pd_rd_w=pZzuO&pd_rd_wg=389Vh&psc=1&refRID=83YN06NHY8AADNS67E5B&refinements=p_89%3AOxbow

Vanessa’s idea to bake your own is also very smart!! I might try that recipe for myself LOL

[Paige]

There is a website called herbco and I have never ordered from there before but they have lots of cheap herbs and flowers. But shipping is expensive

And if Azerane does not mind
Plantain is also a weed and it grows in a spiral like dandelion

[vanessa]

Those Timothy hay cubes that Cici mentioned are good treats too. Just Timothy hay, no additives, and at first I didn’t think my bunnies woudl find them as amazing as a treat – but they really do. Plus it is the only hay I can get Lancelot to eat. So he gets unlimited hay cubes. I don’t give Morgana and Avalon unlimited hay cubes, just one a week. They are such good hay eater, I don’t want to spoil that. The hay cubes aren’t as good for their molars, so I’d rather keep the other bunnies eating regular hay.

[bonilla&BUB]

The problem with the cubes Cici is that they contain alfalfa which should not be given to buns over 4 months.

[Paige]

You are correct about the alfalfa
But a small amount every so often will not harm the bunny, unless your bunny is very very sensitive to calcium

[vanessa]

Some of the cubes are Timothy/Alfalfa, others are just Timothy – no alfalfa. I use both. My bunnies have been just fine.

[Author]

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