Can My Bunny be healthy eating lots of assorted dark greens and no hay?

[Yellowdogfish]

My bunny and I have been together for 8 years. But he is probably around 9 or 10 years old.   He seems to be doing very well.  But here is my problem.  Since I work in a restaurant, I have access to a wide variety of greens.  For the first several years we were together, I only fed the bunny dark leafy greens — but a very wide variety.   I think he would rather starve to death than eat pellets or timothy hay.   FYI  — he has both in great abundance, but just ignores them.  His variety of food is unbelievalbe —  he gets the best gourmet greens possible.  Often they are organic.  Kale, Collards, Mustard, Romaine, Radicchio, Kohlrabi, Dandelions (wild), Plantain leaves (wild), Gourmet Baby spring mix –  this is an assortment of 8 or more greens harvested when very young, raspberry leaves, basil, mint, sage, Boston Lettuce, Red Leaf Lettuce, Curly Leaf Lettuce, and Escarole.   I have also offered to him dozens of other veggies and greens, but these are the only healthy foods he will eat.   I also make a treat blend of dried soy beans, organic sunflower seeds, and assorted bits of dried fruit.  He is fed unlimited amounts of greens, timothy hay and pellets (but he ignores the hay and pellets) and each night for a treat he gets one tablespoon of my treat mix, 1/2 small carrot and 1/5 of a piece of whole fresh fruit or 4 grapes.  

Do I need to be worried that he is not eating his hay and pellets?  HELP!  Please.   Everything I read suggests his diet is wrong.   But he seems OK and loving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sarita]

Well, it sounds like he’s doing good for his age and while conventional wisdom says he should eat hay and it appears you offer it to hm I wouldn’t change anything if it’s working for him right now.

[Stickerbunny]

If he is healthy, at his age, I wouldn’t be trying any drastic changes. If you want to try to entice him to eat hay, you could try offering a variety hay (my bun loves oat/orchard mix as a treat) with some dried fruit he likes mixed in it to encourage foraging.

[Beka27]

What quantity of veggies are you giving him? Does he run out of veggies after awhile? What happens then, does he just not eat anything until he gets fed again the next day?

I’m also inclined to continue as you’re doing… Hay is ideal for keeping the gut moving, but if he won’t eat it at all… There’s not too much you can do.

[Yellowdogfish]

First off — this is a great forum! Wish I had know years ago, that these existed!

I will try making a dry mash with some dried fruit and hay. I know enough to use small amounts of dried fruit. In the past, anytime, Giuseppe ate too much sugar, his cecum became too runny.

Regarding the amount of greens, he is given treats only once per day, but I give Giuseppe unlimited amounts of assorted greens. His feeding bowl is usually replenished at least once per day — usually 3 times every two days. I give him MASSIVE piles of assorted greens at each feeding and he will usually eat about 80% of his bowl before I replenish. The only other veggie he eat are carrots — NOTHING else! I am still amazed at how much he can eat. The pile of greens is about the size of his body! I try to have at least 3 different greens in his bowl at all times. Spring, Summer, and Fall is the best, because there is so much stuff I can give him from my back yard (everything is organic). My property is loaded with bunnies, wish I knew what they were eating. I sometimes take Giuseppe outdoors, which he loves. But he won’t eat anything, unless I pick it and hand feed him.

One more crazy thing about Giuseppe — since the second week he came to live with us, he has had free roam of the house. His cage was dismantled years ago. He pretty much likes to live under my bed and comes out for play, affection, sunbathing, feeding, pooping and tinkling. Yes he is meticulously housebroken — much better than my seven cats. FYI — Giuseppe is the alpha male in the house. It is so funny to see him boss the other cats around. No one messes with him! Actually, Giuseppe does a good job of bossing me around the house. After 8 years, it’s amazing how well you learn to read their body language. I really care for him and want him to be around for a long time.

[Beka27]

He sounds like a sweetie!

Rabbits are supposed to run out of veggies and pellets and be left with only hay the rest of the time. You give a set amount per day (either in one feeding or two) and once that’s gone, they don’t get more info the next feeding time. Rabbits are grazers, so when the “good stuff” is gone, that’s when they have to eat more hay. But again, if he’s thriving on his diet now, I wouldn’t make any big changes.

[LBJ10]

Considering his age, I would be hesitant to make any big changes as well. At this point, you want to do whatever is working to keep him in decent health.

[Beka27]

Regarding the pellets, have you tried hand feeding some as a treat rather than feeding in a bowl? If he will take treats from your hand, that may interest him more than just having them in a bowl.

[Yellowdogfish]

thanks for the advice everyone. last night I allowed Giuseppe’s greens bowl to run empty and sure enough he eventually ate a few pellets. Then he saw me looking and rattled his empty greens bowl. I am a cream puff, I asap filled it up with a nice selection of crisp greens. Tomorrow, I am going to try to hand feed him some hay that has been mashed with some dried dates. I know to be very careful with the sweets. This is an awesome forum.

[Beka27]

Sounds like a plan! Please keep us updated on how this goes!

I’m glad you’re enjoying the forum! These darn rabbits can be so finicky! We need to all put our heads together on how to best outsmart them, lol!

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