Rabbit Food?

[SecurityStacey]

Hey there.

I'm just gonna kill people with questions here!

I know a very small part of my little guy's diet is pellets - I believe they said 1/4 a cup a day... what kind of pellets do you guys feed your rabbits? Which is the best kind of brand... I got an idea of the nutritional values I should be looking for - but I was wondering what kind of brands you guys feed.

He also gets at least 2 cups of veggies a day - with many different kinds. Is it bad to give him too many veggies? I give him some lettuce, broccoli or parsley whenever he doesn't have any in his cage (he gets other veggies as well in the morning and at night but those are his anytime veggies) and I give him as much Timothy hay as he wants.

I tried to give him a banana slice as a treat but he wanted nothing to do with it. I gave him a little piece of dried apple as a treat and he did seem to like that.

Also, what kind of litters do you use? I currently have carefresh in there because I heard that was safe - but I keep seeing him nibble at it (though he usually nibbles at the timothy hay he has in there.)

Thanks for the help!

[kjhowland]

I'd avoid lettuce. No nutrient value, and too much water, causes loose stools in most animals. Stick with darker leaf vegetables, carrots, etc. variety is the spice of life

[Argentra]

Avoid lettuce, but Romaine is alright in small amounts. Go with veggies like parsley, collard greens(most of the 'greens' are great), cilantro, beet and radish Tops, carrots and tops, and things like that.
Just make sure the main diet source is their grass hay(babies can have some alfalfa).

Pellets can be tricky, since there are a LOT of brands that are just empty calories as it were. The best out there, by popular vote, is what I use: Oxbow.

For bedding, I give him a thick layer of newspaper and some aspen. The aspen absorbs the urine fairly well and he LOVES to shred up the newspaper. You want something absorbent with as little dust as possible, but with big pieces so they don't think it's food. And, as always, avoid Pine and Cedar.

[SecurityStacey]

He does get romaine lettuce - the dark green kind, but I'll limit that. He really likes broccoli and I know I read somewhere it could be bad for them but he hasn't gotten sick at all or anything like that.

I did find out that he hates peppers and wouldn't touch any tomato. I'm gonna pick up some more kinds of veggies today to see what he prefers.

I don't give him any alfalfa because he is 10 months and they said its not really good for him - and he absolutely goes nutters over Timothy hay anyways. I get him first cut mid maturity hay, he seems to like it and it even smells good to me so I think that is working.

He doesn't really seem to like fruit very much, he ate a little dried apple but wouldn't touch any kinds of berry or even fresh apple. He doesn't seem to drink much water (I have a water bottle in his cage that he has access to all the time and a ceramic bowl with water in his playpen (which he has access to at all times except when I'm at work at night)

I've been trying to find organic carrots or beets with leafy tops because I heard that since we don't eat the leafy tops they aren't real careful about what pesticides they use - but I can't find any. Does anyone buy regular carrots with leafy tops and just wash them real good? Is that enough?


As for litter / bedding on rabbit.org I read that a lot of people use carefresh because it is organic - its made from paperpulp - I believe it said that it is the fibers too short for paper. It isn't dusty at all and rabbit.org said it is harmless if ingested... is this not true then?

[littleindiangirl]

I've read countless accounts about carefresh being extremely dusty and prone to molding when wet from rat keepers.

[Argentra]

I would never use carefresh with an animal that urinates as much as a rabbit. That stuff starts out really dusty and absorbs a little too well, leaving soggy bedding and chances for mold. Petsmart uses the stuff for guinea pigs and rats, even though they shouldn't, and the poor dears suffer.

As for leafy tops, I use beet and radish tops from the store and wash REALLY well. No bad effects thus far. And you should leave water on the greens since it's a major source of water for them.
Just keep trying your bun on different food items to see what they like. Some can be really picky.

[GirDance]

I've found that "Yesterday's News" for the litter boxes works wonders, and no dust. Plus it somewhat "clumps" a bit when he goes. As for the rest of the enclosure, I don't use bedding. He has yet to relieve himself anywhere but in the litter boxes (although he does have three) and I tidy up the rest daily so there isn't a fear of him getting acid burn from sitting in it.

I had alway used it with the rats underneath their bedding, so with him I don't really have any other beddings to compare it to.

[GirDance]

Double post... On the food issue... I found this link very useful:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_dise...feeding_en.pdf

[tartcake]

We have a dutch rabbit so she is a smaller breed, but I feed her "spring mix" I buy from the salad section of the grocery. Sometimes I get herb mix instead. The spring mix has baby spinach, arugula, romaine, mustard, tango, red romaine, chard, raccidio according to the package.

I also give her parsley (italian), pea pods, sometimes bussel sprouts (if they look fresh). I have given her turnip greens but I don't think she likes them as well as everything else. She loves strawberry tops. I give her timothy hay at all times and supplement with the pellets. She probably gets 1/4 to 1/2 a cup, depending on which brand I find. I generally use mazurati brand, but sometimes I use Peter's. I had to buy something differnet this trip, Kaytee. I don't know if I will buy it again or not. I just make sure it is made from timothy hay and doesn't have alot of alfafa since she is an adult, and I mix the pellets if I change brands.

I forget what veggies are okay from time to time so I've printed this list to take with me, in case I find something that is new in the produce section.
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html

I use carefresh in her litter pan, with paper towels as a base in the pan, but I change it often because she doesn't like it too dirty. I have used shredded paper but I don't like it as well. I did use newspaper but she jerks it out and shreds it, so now the newspaper is just for her shredding pleasure only.

Does anyone else's rabbit like to be held? Ours hates it. She loves being petted, but doesn't tolerate being held.

[LostNFound]

mine doesn't mind being held ...

I HATE ... HATE carefresh or anyother stuff like it like keytee soft-sorbent ... so flipping messy I have to vaccum around the cage like 10 times a day. and it's dusty ... as soon as this bag is done I swear I am switching! Oh and she is liter trained SO she is just kicking it out ... crazy girl.