Wheat Hay & Zante Currants

[MimzMum]

Okay, two questions here:

First, is it okay for bunnies to eat wheat hay every day? My two have gotten totally used to this and they now refuse to eat timothy. Or any other hay for that matter. It really keeps their digestions running beautifully, but I’m worried about the nutrient content. (I do supplement with timothy pellets and fresh veggies each day.)

 

And I just found something called “Zante Currants” in the dried fruit aisle. (packaged by SunMaid, the raisin people) Are these okay for bunnies to eat as snacks? They claim to be no sugar added and no preservatives, etc. I don’t feed many snacks, but would like some variety over regular raisins, craisins or dried blueberries (Mimzy’s fave).

Thankies!

[BinkyBunny]

I really like your avatar! (I keep forgetting to mention that)

I don’t recommend bunnies having only wheat hay as it is a grain hay, and is higher in calories. And though it is great for bunnies who may have  calcium sensitivity issues because it is very low in calcium, it is still best to keep the digestive tract in balance and prevent an overload of higher calorie intake. So, if you get another type of hay, and they still refuse it, or just pick out the wheat only, you could give them the wheat hay every couple of days to get them to eat other kinds of hay.

Regarding Timothy – Were they diving into it before, or have they always been light Timothy eaters? If so, as some bunnies are not Timothy fans, you can try Orchard, or Meadow mix which has Orchard, blue, rye and meadow.

[MimzMum]

No Binky, they used to love their timothy (with the occasional need for orchard on Pip’s part) and now they won’t touch it. They won’t even eat the Binky Timothy, which is so much nicer than the Kaytee brand.
*sigh* How about if I swap it out for oat and how often should I change the hay type? I know one can set off a stasis episode by switching food too often. I don’t want to put their little tummies in danger by not having them eat hay often enough. If they don’t get any down even for a day the next morning we have very tiny poops and cranky bunnies.

Does anyone have any idea on the currants?

[BinkyBunny]

oh, right! Zante Currants..yeah..I don’t know. LOL! I didn’t even know what they were, but I guess they are a smallish grape? I’ll have to ask around about that one.

Regarding the hay. What about if you gradually add more Timothy and Oat in? I mean, I know for the first few days they’ll eat their favorite first, but they should end up eating the Timothy and Oat as their hunger rises. Let us know how that goes!

[osprey]

Wikipedia lists ‘Zante currant’ as a species of small, seedless grape, Vitis vinifera.  Medirabbit lists grapes of the Vitis genus as OK as treats for bunnies.  Since these are dried, the sugars are concentrated, so these should probably be fed in very limited quantities.

[BinkyBunny]

great info Osprey!! Thanks!

[MimzMum]

Thanks osprey and Binky! Yes, gratefully, I did try putting together the timmy and oat hays and the result was they did start eating it again. So *whew!*, dodged the bullet there.
The only thing that disturbs me is how Pip seems to strain a little at toilet whilst eating the timothy. I’ve been feeding them the willow bunches w/leaves on from BB.com (which they LOVE) as treats, could those bind them up any? Maybe I should continue to mix bits of oat in with the timmy hay, just to keep their insides going?

[BinkyBunny]

The willow leaves are actually high in fiber and are very good for digestion. It is normal for bunnies to poo while they are eating, could that be what you are seeing, or when you say “straining” what is happening actually?

how is his water intake? And what is is urine color? Is there any whitish or sludge?

[MimzMum]

Mimzy drinks like a fish! ^_^ I have one of those 16 oz bottles and he drains one per day!
Pip is more like a led horse, she only sips if she feels like it. I’d like to see her drinking more, but can’t seem to convince her.
They both love those leaves, but they don’t make it to the litter box munching stage. I’m lucky if I get my fingers back! 0_o

All eliminations are perfectly normal, I just notice that Mimzy’s tend to get tinier when he’s not eating the wheat and Pip tends to hold herself up by her front paws when she’s having ‘difficulty’. I would guess it’s cause she’s female…it seems to be a curse of the gender. I think she holds herself up like that to add a little gravity to the situation?

But the mixture of a little of the wheat and the more timothy seems to be an acceptable offering. They are eating it for the most part and I don’t see Pippi standing on the side of her box lately.

Can I ask, about how much hay do you all have to consider ‘throw away’ because they pull it out of the bale and use it more for sleepign on than eating? Or how much do they usually have ‘leftover’ after a day or a night? I wonder that I may be putting too much of one and not enough of the other down since I tend to have ‘rejected’ hay all over the pen floor in the morning. (Neither of them will eat from a hay manger anymore, they just pull it off the wall and toss the hay around, making an incredible racket at the same time.)

[BinkyBunny]

I keep getting the genders of mimzy and pip mixed up.

What little hay trouble makers! For some reason Rucy likes to pull out hay and just lay on it, while jack just munches away.
Mine eat out of hay mangers, but I am always adding a handful or so per day. Since there hay mangers are always topped off, I don’t really have a “left-over” amount to measure. Maybe someone else would be able to help with that.

It is more difficult to keep track of hay and to save it if it’s on the ground. It sounds like they could be digging through it all to get to the “good stuff’ What to do…what to do. Can you put it in a a little cardboard box,be sure it’s too small for them to sit in so they won’t use it as a litterbox, but where they could keep it in one place but yet rifle through it right there.

Regarding Mimz water intake…has he always consumed that much water?

Keep an eye on Pip and that straining thing as it can be indicative of a urinary tract infection. How long had it been going on? Have you noticed that she is urinating outside of the box more?

[MimzMum]

No, Pip isn’t straining anymore that I can see. She hasn’t peed outside the box lately either, but I do notice quite a few ‘flyballs’ when she starts really moving around in the xpen. Totally normal for her. And she will squeeze her butt into ANY size cardboard box, but I’m trying to see if I can’t get something rigged up to keep her from spilling hay AND keep things quiet at the same time. ^_^

Mimzy is a relatively good water drinker. I think I may be exaggerating it a bit however. He doesn’t go through that 16 oz bottle every day, I just noticed it’s still full from yesterday. So I was off.

I’ve had to curtail his willow leaf bundles though, I’m thinking he may be allergic to them. He hadn’t sneezed in days and I put one in his pen last night and BAM! sneezing again. Bummer, he really liked those and there was no sugar in them. Ah well, more for Pippi (and she won’t complain!)

[BinkyBunny]

Ah, that’s too bad if he is allergic to the willow leaves as they are a bunny favorite, but at least you may have found the culprit.

It’s good to hear that Pip is back to normal.

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