Will Rabbits Lose Tolerance to Fruits

[Jase8788]

Hi, First post, this may be a stupid question, But can rabbits lose tolerance to fruits if they’re not fed them enough?

After a couple of bouts of gas within a week a couple of weeks back i’ve been taking a serious look at my furry friends diet. She is having way more hay and way less Kale and treats, I’ve also started feeding her one of each of the oxbow digestive support tablets daily (the normal and papaya ones).

So my question is about apples. I work from home 3 days a week and historically she has always had the apple core with the pips removed every day I’m at home. When sorting her diet I have decided this is too much and am cutting her down.

So the question is, can rabbits lose tolerance to fruit if you cut them down too much? For example this week I’ve fed her a quarter of a core on Monday, but nothing since. Is once a week too little or is it just a case of once they can tolerate something they will be ok with it in smaller quantity’s whatever happens?

[Bam]

This is the opposite of a stupid question.

GI microbiota is an area of active research, but there’s still so many things that aren’t understood. What can be said though, is that there is a whole host of various gut microbes that interact in many different ways in the rabbit gut. There are bacteria, yeasts (fungi) and possibly also certain viruses that the rabbit body “employ” to extract and partially digest their food. The human gut depends a lot on digestive enzymes, the rabbit gut relies to a much greater extent on gut microbes.

TLDR: Certain gut microbes prefer certain nutrients. Some thrive on simple sugars. If they don’t get simple sugars, they won’t thrive and the wont multiply as much. So if the bun suddenly gets a more significant amount of simple sugars (as in fruit or fresh spring grass), the GI system isn’t really prepared to deal with it in a calm and orderly manner. The small-ish colonies of sugar-loving microbes will be like “oh wow!!” And start to multiply like the proverbial house on fire. Unfortunately, some of these sugar-loving microbes are not at all “good bacteria”, they’re rather the kinds that cause illness if they get to be too many.

All this explains why its important to wean rabbits on to new foods slowly. In my opinion its very good for rabbits to get a little bit of a lot of different foods on a near-daily basis, to try and create a sturdy and diverse gut microbiome, but this can of course be debated.

[Jase8788]

Thanks for the reply Bam 🙂 ,

 

So perhaps that suggests a small amount a couple of times a week is ok and probably the way to go?

[Bam]

I think so, yes. Of course if you notice that some particular food item seems to always cause trouble, regardless of how little you give, it’d be wise to cut it out altogether.

In the wild rabbits forage on vast areas. Even if they mostly prefer grass during spring and summer and early fall, the grass is growing in different soils and will have   different nutritional content.

Here in the fall, our wild rabbits will eat windfall fruit. They seem to esp love pears.

[Jase8788]

Makes total sense. Thanks very much.

[Jase8788]

Sorry Bam, Could I get a bit more advise please?  When we talk about simple sugars they would be in treats as well?  So at the moment I have some Burgess Excel Nature Snacks which include Banana, Blueberry, Apple and Carrot. There will be limited amounts of simple sugars in those?

[Bam]

I think those treats are fine (it’s a reputable brand, Burgess makes great quality rabbit feed), if given in moderation and introduced slowly.

The main problem with high calorie foodfor buns is that the bun might fill up on them and not feel an urge to eat enough hay. Hay is vital for good digestive health, including (the extremely important) dental health. Rabbits are highly selective eaters and will always opt for the most calorie dense food available, much more so than most other animals.

ETA: I give my bun small pieces of fruit incl carrot infrequently.

[Jase8788]

Thanks Bam, you’ve been super helpful 🙂

[DanaNM]

Great response from Bam! I agree an apple core a day is too much. Since your bun was having some issues cutting out fruit would be my first step, or reducing it a lot. I very rarely give my buns fruit, and it’s usually something like a single blue berry or a few bites of my apple. 🙂

. . . 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.  

[Jase8788]

Super good to know thanks Dana,  Pebbles is nearly 4 now and is quite a big rabbit so I know I’m going to have to be more careful with her diet.

Good to know you only feed yours fruit occasionally and don’t see negative effects on the times you do.

I asked Bam a question above about treats before I’d seen you’d replied, if you had any thoughts on that I’d love to hear them as well 🙂

[DanaNM]

I agree with Bam, the treats look fine to me, as long as they aren’t fed too often. With my buns they basically get 1 treat a day, it could be a pre-made product, carrot, or a piece of fruit (not one of each). I’ve heard the comparison that 1 baby carrot is like a snickers bar for a bun.  I might be a stickler but I haven’t had any GI problems in my buns in years and I haven’t seen any ill effects from an occasional fruit treat. 🙂 Hay forms the basis of a healthy gut microbiome, so when you develop that with good hay eating they are better able to handle small amounts of other foods.

For reference, my 4 buns get a leafy green salad once a day (about a large handful each), about a tablespoon of pellets, and lots of hay. They are all around 4-5 lbs. As I mentioned this has worked really well for my buns! I def noticed better poops when I started feeding a bit less salad (I used to feed it twice a day and prob about 2 handfuls each time). My girl Myra used to have some gas/stasis warning signs when molting but that also stopped with the current diet.

. . . 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.  

[Bam]

Ad Dana says, a bun that eats hay is “prepared” for whatever befalls it. Hay doesnt look v alluring to us humans, but it does contain lots of nutients and loads of the all-important fiber. To the human eye, straw is similar to hay, but on a microscopic level it isnt.

[Author]

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