good veg to feed rabbits?

Question

I have a lovley rabbit, which has been on a diet lately! She is just having hay twice a day and veg once a day. she loves fresh greens, and broccoli but what else can i give her? i have been told not to give her to many carrots, only to give them as a treat!

Answer 1

Rabbits need unlimited amounts of good quality timothy hay (not alfalfa), not only for their diet, but the chewing help their wellbeing. Rabbits are grazers by nature.

I've struggled too with finding edibles for my rabbits. Here's a link to a website I use which details some rabbit safe foods:

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/safefoods.htm

If you're cutting out pellets altogether, you need to make sure that your rabbit is getting all of the vitamins she needs so make sure the diet is balanced. Also remember to feed new vegetables in small quantities for a start. A rabbit's digestive system is very easy to upset when introducing new foods.

PS, I've seen lettuce suggested a few times. NEVER give a rabbit lettuce. Lettuce is a diuretic and can cause digestive upsets which could kill your pet.

Mine get a small amount of Science Selective pellets in a morning (just enough to cover the bottom of the bowl), unlimited hay all day and 1/2 cup of veggies at bedtime (brocolli, cauliflower, basil, little bit of parsley).

Answer 2

I had 12 rabbits at one time and was in charge of 196!!!! (long story)
One rule to remember is NEVER ever feed a rabbit avacado. It is POISONOUS to rabbits.
This demonstrates very well the difference between rabbits digestion and human.
Too many greens can give rabbits diarrhea. Especially lettuce, which should only be given as an occasional treat in small amounts toherwise it can cause colitis. The best fresh greens to give your rabbit is plain old grass - God's rabbit food as I would say! If you have a garden try putting out a covered run for her. This will not only let her get some fresh grass but will excersize her as well and give her the opertunity to do what rabbits do - forage for food. If however you don't have a lawn you can put her out on then she would love to come in the house and be set free for some excersize. But this comes with it's own problems. Like chewing of wires, carpet, wood etc. etc. But they can easily be house trained to use a litter tray with straw in it.
Most proprietry brand rabbit feeds are nutritionally balanced and are much better for her than feeding her nothing but fresh veg. If you are concerned about her weight then try to find one that doesn't contain maize as this is very fattening. I used to make up my own by mixing rabbit pellets, maize, crushed oats, and dried crushed peas. Sometimes I'd buy extra treats to add to it like locust beans.
Please stop feeding her all that veg though as you could easily cause her digestive problems. One treat of fresh veg a day (carrot, apple, cabbage, broccoli, and they simply LOVE bananas) on top of a balanced hard feed (packet feed) plus unlimited hay and always plenty of water should do her well.
You should also have something hard for her to chew on, a piece of apple wood or any wood so long as it's not poisonous (yew) as their teeth constantly grow and they need to chew hard things to keep them down. Otherwise you'll find yourself taking her to the vet to have her teeth clipped. Which you may have to do anyway!
Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Bunny's Fruit / Veggie List

General guidelines are to feed a minimum of 1 cup of vegetables for each 4 lbs. of body weight. Select at least three types of vegetables daily. A variety is necessary in order to obtain the necessary nutrients, with one each day that contains Vitamin A, indicated by a * below. Add one vegetable to the diet at a time. Eliminate if it causes soft stools or diarrhea. Remember - each rabbit is an individual, and you will need to alter these guidelines to meet your rabbits' specific requirements based on his health and sensitivity to certain foods.

Limit fruits to 1-2 tablespoons per 5 lbs. of body weight (none if dieting) from the list below of high fiber fruits. Sugary fruits such as bananas and grapes should be used only sparingly, as occasional treats. Bunnies have a sweet tooth and if left to their own devices will devour sugary foods to the exclusion of healthful ones.
Vegetables:
Alfalfa, radish & clover sprouts
Basil
Beet greens (tops)*
Bok choy
Broccoli (mostly leaves/stems)*
Brussels sprouts
Carrot & carrot tops*
Celery
Cilantro
Clover
Collard greens*
Dandelion greens and flowers (no pesticides)*
Endive*
Escarole
Green peppers
Kale *
Mint
Must

Answer 4

The veg mentioned are all good but try giving a hard veg like turnip or swede for the teeth I think mix and match try growing dandelions and clove etc in a pot so they will be fresh you can make up a pot say dands lettuce french beans etc

Answer 5

carrot and cabbage, apple, toast are good, carrot, two much lettuce will give rabbit the run's, i dont give it to mine, i buy excel light for my rabbit's, it has all the protein they need and it is for large rabbits who need to diet, can be brought from most good pet shops, or pets at home. The green excel is normal food, the light blue is diet excel known as excel light, recommend from my vet. Good luck

Answer 6

do not give a rabbit lettuce!!!!! contrary to popular belief they cannot digest it, its really bad for them. I fed my rabbit cabbage, carrots (although they should not be given every day, only as a treat). broccolli was a favourite but i would consult a vet/the net about whats best xxxx

Answer 7

It is not good to give your rabbit vegetables unless you want to give your rabbit diahrrea. They can especially get diahrrea if you give vegetables in excess. And it's not good to try putting your rabbit on a diet like how people diet. Rabbit nutrition is not like animal nutrition and they should be treated differently. Find a good rabbit feed that doesn't have a lot of fat in it or a lot of crude protein if you want to prevent your rabbit from getting fat. Also the feed should have little to no corn in it if you want to prevent it from getting fat. Give a rabbit just what it will eat of rabbit pellets in 24 hours. They should just finish up everything in the food bowl by the end of one day. What makes rabbits fat is not really how much you feed them but rather what you feed them.

The rabbit pellets are formulated by animal nutritionists to meet all of the nutritional needs for your rabbit. When you start adding things to their diet you start throwing off that nutritional balance that your rabbit is supposed to have in it's diet. And by doing so, you are actually hurting instead of helping your rabbit.

Just because rabbits like some vegetables doesn't mean they are good for them. Just like just because junk food and soda pop taste good doesn't mean that's what you should comprise a good portion of your diet out of soda pop and junk food.

A show formula will normally work better at keeping your rabbit from getting fat than a family ration will. Another way to help keep your rabbit lean is to add more fiber to their diet. A good way to do that is to give them some stemmy hay such as timothy hay or orchard grass hay.

Two good rabbit feeds that I would recommend are Heinold Rabbit Feed or Purina Rabbit Feed.

You can tell how fat your rabbit is by feeling how loose the hide is up around the neck. The looser the hide is, the fatter your rabbit is. Also feel over the back of your rabbit. The back of your rabbit should not feel bony. If so, your rabbit feed may not contain enough protein. If you are using a show formula and the back feels bony, I recommend going to a family ration formula with about 17% protein. The family ration has slightly more protein and will keep your rabbit from getting bony on top. Another way to add protein is to give a little wide leafed hay such as alfalfa or clover.

Answer 8

Rabbits love cabbage (not lettuce), grass, dandelion leaves etc. No harm in the odd carrot.

Answer 9

Lettuce and carrots. My rabbits love celery.

Answer 10

Dandylion leaves and flowers are good, so is seedling grass, and both are free :)
Cabbage and spinach are also usually taken with pleasure;