vitamin c

[daisy]

I was at the petstore theother day and I asked a worker a question about rabbit toys. Then she asked if I was giving my bunny vit c and I said no, she said well you need to buy this and showed me a package and put some drops in her water because they don’t produce it and they need it. Has anyone heard rabbits need vit c. She told me if I didn’t give her the drops to put a slice of orange in her cage. I cant do that and I didn’t htink it would be good for her. At this point she hasn’t had vit c drops because her poop still isn’t regular and I didn’t want to throw another loop in their. But I bought them and then I wasn’t sure if she was being truthful. Any thoughts

 

[Bunnies4ever]

I think Vitamin C is for guinea pigs, not rabbits.

[daisy]

Yea, on the package it shows guinea pigs and cavvys but I wasnt sure

[BunMumTiff]

I give my bunny usally once a week a small pice or orange with the peel, I also add vitamins in her water just to be safe but I have been doing that every other day

[osprey]

As the others have said, bunnies do not require supplemental Vitamin C.  Guinea Pigs/Cavies are the guys who need extra vitamin C, and this is often given as a reason to not house GPs and bunnies together.  Since their dietary requirements are different, they should not be fed together.

 

 

[MooBunnay]

Hi! I’ve never heard of bunnies needing Vitamin C, and considering all of the rescue people I work with, I’m sure someone would have notified me if I was doing something wrong with their diet (they are very perfectionist about their bunny diets!) I do not think you need to give them the Vitamin C – and if the bunny is still trying to get used to a better diet, you don’t have to introduce the Vitamin C as something new!

[Deleted User]

No rabbits don’t need additional Vitamin C … they should get all their nutrients from their pellets and greens. However, rabbits do require additional Vitamin E in their diet, particularly if they are susceptible to Floppy Bunny Syndrome. This is a term used by vets here in Australia … bunny goes virtually floppy and have limited movement in their hind legs and their head is floppy and can die in a few hours if not treated promptly. An injection is given to keep their digestive system going.

My Lily died of floppy bunny syndrome … she survived the first episode, but unfortunately she passed away the second time … she was 12 months old. I probably did not get her to the vet quick enough. I have since changed my vet and he advised me that floppy bunny has been around for donkeys’ years and vets should be aware of this (if they are good, he pointed out). I learnt a very good lesson from him … if your bunny has any symptoms wrap him/her up tightly in a blanket to restrict their movement and keep them quiet. Less movement the better apparently.

Guinea pigs do not produce Vitamin C and require supplementing into their diet. I generally crush up a Vit C tablet and put in their water bottle every month, plus I feed my piggies food rich in Vit C eg. tomatoes, orange, capsicum etc.

I have had posted here previously about Floppy Bunny Syndrome.

Dawn
xx

[ubergoober]

I have never heard of this either. I used to have to give my Chinchilla’s vitamin C daily through the meant for human orange tablets and through their diet (craisins are a good source). This is only because they dont produce it themselves. I have never heard that bunnies are the same and I would actually beg to differ

[Hedi]

Any way you can educate that store on this? I’d hate to think they are giving that info to all bunny owners coming in their store.

Have you ever considered buying stuff at other places than pet stores? Im guilty myself-i bought my first two buns from petstores and bought supplies from them for a long time which kinda pushes those petstores to continue selling Rabbits that end up in the shelters or out on the streets. Target has a wide selection of bunny foods, timothy hay, feline pine, etc. And there are tons of online bunny stores that donate to shelters when you order stuff. I know that rabbitstop.com has a lot of neat stuff and they are fairly cheap.

The cheapest rabbit food I have found that is good for a rabbit is Purina Rabbit Chow. But its hard to find. Here it is $6 for a 25lb bag and only $12 for a 50lb bag!! That will last forever! If you go to Purinas website you can look to see who carries their rabbit food. We have a Complete Petmart here in OHio that does not sell any animals and carries the smaller bag. I actually buy mine from a horse farm.

If we stop buying from petstores maybe one day they will stop selling the rabbits. At least if you are buying from somewhere that you know then you will know the $ isnt going to buy animals from all the animal mills.

[CaptJackRabbit]

I have a couple quick questions about amount of food. First, I had heard that you should only buy as much rabbit food as you could use in under something like 6 months, because it looses nutritional value much after that time. Is this true? I have an option of a 5 lb (for $5) or 20 lb bag (for $9), and have always chosen the smaller one (and am just finishing it up after a couple months) b/c I had read that some where. Is this true, or do people buy in bulk w/o problem?

Secondly, how much pellets do you people with smaller buns feed? Mine’s a dwarf, around 3-4 lbs, and I fed alot when I first got him (like a 1/2 cup, b/c that’s what he was used to), but now less. Just over 1/4 cup, and he has access to hay all day and a good handful of romaine or parsley plus a treat (baby carrot, brocolli, dried cranberry, etc.). Does that seem about right? He has been leaving some in the dish, so I think he’s not starving or anything.

[MooBunnay]

That sounds like a very good diet – giving the bunny free access to hay all day and limiting their pellets are the key ingredients to a good diet! I have a dwarf bunny, he is bonded to another dwarf and I give the two of them a 1/4 cup of pellets per day, so about 1/8th of a cup each. Here on Binky Bunny 1/4-1/2 cup per 6 lbs. of bunny is recommended (per the House Rabbit Society diet) so you might want to consider even a little less pellets since you bunny is a bit smaller. My bunnies get oat hay, with a lot of seed heads in it, so thats also why I cut down their pellets to a smaller amount, because I was afraid they were getting too many calories.

I think that if you could store the pellets in some type of airtight container that they could keep longer, I always buy the Oxbow bags so they are not that big. My bunnies do NOT however eat day old pellets, they are very snobby like that so I think the pellets must get stale or something if they are not in an airtight container.

[BinkyBunny]

Daisy – everyone who said vitamin C is not needed is right. You’ll see ads for it in petstores, all over the net, but it really isn’t needed unless there is some sort of health issue that requires it, and your vet would inform you on that if that ever was needed.

And to BumTiff – vitamin supplements are not needed (unless there is a health issues that prevents a bunny from eating enough or the rabbit not getting enough nutrients through diet) otherwise the extra minerals and vitamins can lead to a diet that is too rich for a rabbit which can cause digestive upsets over a long period of time.

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