No veg?

[MerlinsMom]

Bear with me as this may become a bit of a long story… So as some of you may know I recently adopted a new female bunny from my local rescue centre (where I also work) to bond with my existing male. She was brought to the rescue at four weeks old with her mother and two siblings. I adopted her at 16 weeks old.
When I got her home I just started feeding her the same pellets I use for Merlin (burgess excel rabbit). I also started introducing a bit of veg to her as she previously hadn’t been given any at the rescue as she was too young. I started her off with a little bit of kale lettuce. From day one she had quite soft poo and the occasional uneaten cecal. I decided to put her back on the food she was having at the rescue (burgess excel rabbit junior) and wean her over slowly to the adult pellets. She was still get squishy poo so I took out the veg too. This seems to be working and now she only has squishy poo once or twice a week, I am still in the process of weaning her onto the adult food.
As she is now housed with Merlin it makes it very difficult at feeding time. They are already getting different pellets so have to be watched and it’s difficult keeping her away from the veg. So I guess I’m asking what do I do? Is it ok for her not to have any veg at all? I’ve read lots of different things about what age you should introduce veg to young rabbits – some say 3 months and some say 6 months. I started feeding Merlin veg as soon as I got him at 9 weeks (didn’t know any better then) and he never had any problems. Both of my buns are under six months of age so should I not be feeding them any veg until they reach this age?

[DUSTBUNNY-CLYDE]

most of the posts i’ve read said to wait till 6mos. , my boys are 41/2 mos. and I think I’m going to wait the full 6 mos. I figure they have plenty of alfalfa and are on oxbow young bunny pellets. I do give them dried papaya and alfalfa based crunchy treats once in a while. good luck!!!

[peppypoo]

Is she spayed yet? If not, I would suggest that you house them separately for now (though side by side is fine) even if Merlin is neutered. This would solve your co-feeding problem as well. The House Rabbit Society recommends introducing veggies at around 12 weeks, just a bit at a time. I would keep her on the junior pellets and re-introduce veggies, perhaps with a different type and go from there.

[MerlinsMom]

They are both neutered and have been for over a month (they speyed Freya early because it turned out her siblings were male).
I live in the uk and the brand of pellets I feed are basically one of the top feeds you can get and they say their adult food can be fed from four months of age so that’s why I’m trying to wean her onto it as she’s almost five months now.

[Deleted User]

If you start your bun on veggies early. You just want to make sure you start them off with a small amount of veggies and not give your bun too much.

[MerlinsMom]

I’m thinking about withholding all veg until they are both six months old. I’ve read so many conflicting things about the right age to start feeding veg, to me it seems like Freya’s digestive system isn’t developed enough to handle veg yet… Could this be right or am I just totally making this up? Lol are some bunnies just prone to having sensitive stomachs like some dogs and cats? The brand of food I use also make a sensitive diet which is what makes me question this.

[Deleted User]

Some rabbits are just more prone to stomach issues than others. My little girl Skipper has an extremely sensitive stomach compared to our foster Ian. As a baby (we got her around 5-6 weeks) her stomach couldn’t handle alfalfa. She would get really mushy poos. So we started her on veggies to compensate for the lack of nutrients. And what vegetables we didn’t introduce to her as a baby she oddly can’t handle. It wouldn’t hurt to start your bun on veggies now. I would just make sure to stick to introducing one new veggie every two weeks. And starting off with a small amount. As long as you monitor your bun and make sure there’s nothing odd looking going on with your bun’s poos you’re good. =]

[Stickerbunny]

Some bunnies are prone to having sensitive tummies, if kale is giving her issues, try a different one, maybe you can find one that will not upset her. Romaine is usually a good one to start with, as it is pretty bland. Stickers (my female) started getting veggies at 4 months, because that is when I got her. But, for example, I can’t give them italian parsley because it upsets Powders stomach. It is a little game of figuring out what they can eat and what they cannot. Some buns are so sensitive that they can only eat 1-2 types of veggies. Also, any change in diet can cause stomach upset and since you are both trying to change pellets AND add veggies, that could be doing it. Maybe get her flipped over to the new pellets first, then begin introducing vegetables, so her system isn’t taking a double whammy shock.

[Jesse97]

I would maybe wait until 5-6 months. Some rabbits just have more sensitive stomachs compared to others. Just remember when trying out new veggies to feed very little and only one at a time. This way you know exactly what veggies upset your rabbits stomach. If you start feeding more than one at a time you won’t know what veggie is giving her troubles.

Hope this helps.

[MerlinsMom]

I’ve decided to cut out all veggies for both of them while i finish weaning Freya onto the adult food, then slowly introduce them back on to veggies one at a time.
It’ll only take another couple of days to finish the weaning process so Merlin won’t be without veg for long. Incidentally I haven’t seen any squishy poo for a couple of days now so I think I’m on the right track.

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