feeding a rabbit?

Question

my rabbit is over a year old. her diet is comprised of mostly pellets (the dried vegetable type ones) and meadow hay. whenever i try to feed her vegetables she gets a bit of the runs, even though i only give her small amounts. how should i feed her vegetables? are they important for rabbits?

oh i forgot, she eats alot of carrots too

ok some of you are saying she should eat lots of vegetables and some are saying she should eat no vegetables. who the hell am i supposed to believe? does anybody really know?

Answer 1

try this

Answer 2

I work at a large rabbit rescue and this is what they feed the bunnies. In the morning, pellets that just cover the bottom of the bowl, no more. Hay all day along with unlimited water. They can easily eat 2/3 times their body size in hay each day. In the evening half a carrot and a leaf of greens or the equivalent in broccoli, greens, cabbage, apples, parsley, dandelion leaves etc. If you are going to introduce new foods, do it slowly over a week or so and only introduce one new one each week or so , so you will be able to tell which veg gives her the runs. All this advice can be validated by checking rabbit.org for a list of foods. DO NOT give lettuce which causes the runs, gut stasis and lethargy. Failing this, if she still has the runs, get a vet to give her the once over to make sure it is nothing more serious.

Answer 3

The rabbit's digestive system is a very delicate balance between good bacteria. If you want to add something to her diet, veggies in this case, do it slowly and make sure you give them they right veggies (see http://www.bunnybuddies.org/docs/rabbitcareguide.pdf)

Also, after 6 months of age you should limit the amount of pellets (good quality timothy hay pellets) to about 3-4 tablespoons a day and your bunny needs to have access to unlimited hay (also timothy hay) at any time.

We feed our 5 bunnies a mix of washed different veggies in the morning and evening (romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, cilantro, curly & flatleaf parsley, baby carrots (2-3 per day no more), broccoli and kale. They also get some pellets in the morning and evening and have unlimited access to their hay.

Rabbits can dehydrate quickly so if your bun has the runs keep an eye on her and make sure she drinks. If rabbits (for whatever reason) stop eating they can die within 24 hours (it's called 'stasis'). If you ever suspect your bunny isn't doing well or isn't eating take her to a bunny savvy vet immediately.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Listen--veggies are indeed important in a rabbit's diet, but it might be hard to introduce them if you haven't done so earlier. Try feeding her VERY small amounts of just one kind of vegetable, then wait and see if she gets the runs. Then increase it day-by-day and add small amounts of one or two different veggies. If she gets diarrhea, remove the type of vegetable that caused it. It could also be the kind of vegs you're feeding her--avoid spinach and Iceburg lettuce, and brocolli, and try Romaine/Boston lettuce, dandelions, mint and parsley.

Answer 5

I also give my rabbit pellets and meadow hay. I only give her vegetables occasionally as too many and she will definately get the runs. I give my rabbit excell pellets and rabbit muesli so she has a choice and she gets all the vitamins and minerals she needs from these.
Never feed your rabbit lettuce. It contains a substance called lactucarium which has an effect similar to opium which is used in sleeping draughts for humans. Also, never feed wet or frozen green food to your rabbit as she will fall ill almost instantly.

Answer 6

I've never heard of a rabbit food being made out of dried vegetables. I have seen one or two with dried carrots in them. If you see dried carrots and other vegetables listed as ingredients in your rabbit feed you don't have a very good rabbit feed. Normally you will see rabbit feeds like that in pet stores. The vegetables listed in it are meant to draw the attention of new rabbit raisers that don't know better and think rabbits need and are supposed to get vegetables.

I would recommend not giving your rabbits vegetables at all. You should give your rabbit a good rabbit feed that has about 16-17% protein. Your rabbit may need a little more protein than that if it is a wool breed. Some good rabbit feeds are Heinolds, Purina, and Show Rite.

Vegetables can not only give your rabbit diahrrea but they also help make your rabbit fat. They are high in energy and low in fiber and that makes them very prone to causing diahrrea and to making your rabbit fat. If you want to give your rabbit a snack give it a small handfull of dry timothy hay.

TIME AND TIME AGAIN... I see person after person after person ask why their rabbit has gotten diahrrea after they fed vegetables then a number of people on here that know little to nothing about rabbit nutrition start telling the person how vegetables are good for rabbits and how they need them, then they list off a bunch of good and bad vegetables then they provide a link to www.rabbit.org.

That website has led so many people in the wrong direction and given them bad information regarding rabbit nutrition.

As people we tend to want to think that vegetables should be good for rabbits and that rabbits should be kept together so they don't get lonely. That's just not the case in the real world. Rabbits aren't humans so vegetables are going to have a different affect on a rabbit's nutrition than a human's. And if you leave two rabbits together for too long you are likely to see mounting or fur chewing or biting eventually.

I've spent 25 years raising and showing thousands of rabbits ever since the age of 5. I've won many Best in Shows and I've won several showmanship competitions. I've read tons of books on rabbit diseases and have learned from rabbit breeders that have raised rabbits as far back as the 1920's. I've attended seminars on rabbit nutrition by some of the best experts there is on it. And I have taken animal nutrition courses in college.

Some of the people on here have raised a few pet rabbits and they think they are an expert. Or they refer to www.rabbit.org which gives out some bad info and some good info. There are even many veterinarians who know very little about rabbits. Most veterinarians are used to only caring for dogs and cats, so they have to pull out the vet guide for when the rare person walks in with a rabbit.

Be careful who you get your advice from. Trust the people that show rabbits. If you still have questions, contact the American Rabbit Breeders Association on rabbits, composed of over 40,000 members, including many veterinarians and researchers. They are the experts on rabbits and have been around for about 100 years and they work with universities on the latest rabbit research regarding rabbit diseases, compared to www.rabbit.org which has only been around for a couple years at most.

Answer 7

i would get the rabbit checked out maybe if just the change from dry food to the veg if only giving every so often i only ever feed my rabbit hay and vegetables/ leaves which is what they would eat in the wild and also hard veg is good for their teeth

Answer 8

im an exotics vet tech
this bunny if getting soft runny stools, has the beginnings of GI stasis...u need to get your bunny to an exotics vet, asap, cos this can lead to death if not treated right away. you bunny sounds like he has teeth issues (back molars, not incisors)...what happens is, bunnies who eat lots of pellets after being weened from their mom, dont get proper nutrition. their lower jaw grows slower than the upper jaw, causing a malocclussion. which causes an overbite so to say. this creates points on the back molars, cos the molars (which are meant to grind greens), so ware down (back teeth constantly grow and need to be worn down by grinding of plant matter). if they grow points, when eating, the points will rub up against their tongue and cheeks, which is very painful, causing the rabbit to slow down on eating or stop. (a rabbits GI track is made to constantly have plant matter move thru it, slowing down or stopping of this food mov't can be detrimental). i reccomend u find an exotics vet asap (no matter the distance from u) and get what is called a teeth trim ( make sure they specialize in trimming the back molars, many dog and cat vets trim them incisors, and this does not solve the problem). the exotics vet, should give u a rundown on what to feed your bunny...if not, this is what they SHOULD eat.......
lots of leafy greens like kale, rommaine, chickory, dandilion greens, arugula, parsley, collards, stuff like that, you can find that all in the produce aisle of your local grocery store. you can give fruits as treats (like berries, pineapples, mango, papaya, etc...carrots fall into this category too.) make sure all veggies and fruits are fresh....NO DRIED FRUITS, THEYRE HIGH IN SUGAR, TOO MUCH SUGAR IS BAD FOR A RABBITS GI.
when giving treat foods, make sure u give 1 heaping tablespoon for every 2 pounds your bunny is. example, and 10pound bunny can have 5 heaping tablespoons of treat foods a day. STAY AWAY FROM PET STORE TREATS....LIKE YOGURT DROPS. THEY ARE HIGH IN SUGARS, AND ARE VERY BAD FOR RABBITS.
never feed your rabbits pellets that have colorful things in them or seeds and dried corn...also very bad. starches are bad for a rabbits GI and can cause GI stasis (the shutting down of the gastrointestinal tract), which can lead to death. also, no wheat, or grain type foods, like breads, oats or cereals. if you have any questions, contact me at any time, and good luck
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ps....give lots of timothy hay too....they can never get enough "salads" (consisting of the greens i mentioned before), and hay. that is unlimited...and dont fret, people TRY to say too much greens is bad for a rabbit and will cause diarrhea, this is so false....if that were the case, then every wild rabbit out there known to man, would have diarrhea all over our lawns cause of all the grass they eat.

Answer 9

DOn't give her alot of carrots or vegtables becuz the runs can kill a rabbit. They don't really need it. If you want give her a treat once a week of 1 veggie.

Answer 10

veggies are very important part of rabbit diet. please make sure the rabbit never runs out of hay. they should have enough for a whole day. as for the rabbit getting the runs after eating veggies, i would definitely take him to the vet. the following website is great for rabbit owners http://rabbit.org

Answer 11

Carrots are high in sugar so you shouldn't feed them too often or you'll have an unhealthy bun. Go to http://www.rabbit.org and they have some articles about food.