Is this diet good?

[Jumpy's mom]

Hi everybody! I was wondering if the diet I am feeding is good. Jumpy (my bunny) is around 2 months old.
His diet:
Unlimited grass*
Unlimited pellets
A handful of veggies and herbs *
Unlimited alfalfa hay

*Note:
He got veggies and grass from a very early age.

[Bam]

It sounds good to me. You can start introducing grass hay too if you like, so he gets into good hay-eating habits at a young age. Alfalfa is yummier though, so you can mix grass and alfalfa. When he becomes 5-6 months, it’s time to wean him off alfalfa and restrict his pellets.

[Scarlet]

Alfalfa hay may need to be limited when he gets older, and especially cut it off to very small amounts once he is over 8 months of age. Too much of it makes them fat and causes them some kidney issues from what I read.

Unlimited pellets worked for one of my rabbits most of their life, and had no weight issues, if anything they maintained a perfect weight with unlimited pellets, but at the first sign he is putting on the pounds, limit the amount given to him by his weight.

What kind of veggies are you giving your rabbit daily?

[Jumpy's mom]

There is no grass hay where I live. He barely eats 1/4 of a cup of pellets.

[Jumpy's mom]

I usually give him lettuce and mint. A few times a week I give him cabbage leaves, broccoli leaves, and broccoli. I tried to give a piece of carrot or red bell pepper but he won’t touch it.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Jumpy’s mom on 2/04/2017 1:33 PM

There is no grass hay where I live. He barely eats 1/4 of a cup of pellets.

You’ll need to find somewhere to get some, he can’t stay on alfalfa hay when he is an adult bun.

[BunnyFriends]

Alfalfa is okay now, but as Sarah and Bam said grass hay is a must when he’s older. You can mix it in now too.

There are plenty of sites selling hay online. I get mine from SmallPetSelect and it’s excellent, so when the time comes you can order some hay online from various places.

[Bam]

If you have good access to grass you can of course feed that and perhaps dry some for feeding during winter (unless you are so lucky that grass grows all year round where you live, of course). We have members from f ex India who have trouble getting good grass hay for their buns. Wild buns primarily eat grass, rabbits are very like horses when it comes to eating habits.

[Danielle]

I think you’ve got a pretty good plan in place. What type of lettuce are you feeding? Finn’s veggie diet is pretty much the same as what the pigs get, save for a few adjustments. I try to keep the main base as a lettuce, but I rotate the type, and I try and feed at least 3 different types a day. So in the morning they may get escarole and a few raddichio leaves, then in the evening they may get green leaf or butter lettuce as an example. Then it’s typically a few slices of bell pepper, which I know you said your buns aren’t fond of. Anything else is an “extra”. So I may do a few radish chips, a baby carrot, an herb such as coriander, parsley or dill, or a couple pieces of fennel. I mix those up and offer something different at each meal, since I split my daily veggies in half. They get part in the morning and part in the evening.

I have never used alfalfa hay with any of the pigs or with bun. I was taught if you’re feeding alfalfa pellets, you don’t NEED to feed alfalfa hay. It can be difficult to ween them off the alfalfa, and sometimes even mixing…some buns will pull out and scatter everything but the alfalfa. If bun is old enough to be introduced to veggies and is eating them comfortably, you an make up for not feeding alfalfa by including veggies that are higher in calcium. Parsley is an excellent source of calcium. I bonded an 8 week old guinea pig with a 3 year old pig, and since an adult guinea pig shouldn’t be eating alfalfa hay or alfalfa based pellets, same with adult buns, I had the baby on an adult diet (timothy hay and timothy based pellets) and would bring him out separately for extra parsley so he was getting a bit more calcium. He’s six months old now, and on his way to being my biggest pig. And not in a fat way. He’s just a very solid, healthy, big baby pig. This is just the way I’ve handled hay though, and it’s worked for my current herd. Alfalfa is a legume, not a grass hay, which is what adults need, and it’s also high in calcium. This is why it’s recommended for growing kits and pregnant/lactating does. Too much calcium in an adult can cause kidney and bladder stones. 

As far as the pellets go, if your kit is is getting unlimited pellets and he’s not finishing them all quickly and is still eating hay, then he can probably continue on the unlimited until he’s about 5-6 months. I cannot offer unlimited pellets to Finn, because he is a pellet fiend. He’ll attack the bag when you’re filling his dish if he can get to it, and he will eat 1/4 of a cup in a matter of hours. He gets 1/4 cup in the morning, it’s usually gone within 2-3 hours and he has access to hay for the remainder of the day. I’ll put another tablespoon in the dish before bedtime for him to have in the pen. I usually keep timothy and meadow hay in the cage, and then sometimes I mix in either orchard grass or botanical hay for something extra. If he had unlimited pellets, he would never eat hay. So the vet and I decided it was in his best interest to not unlimited feed on pellets.

[Azerane]

Posted By Jumpy’s mom on 2/04/2017 1:33 PM

There is no grass hay where I live. He barely eats 1/4 of a cup of pellets.

If you’re ok to post which country or area you’re in, somebody may be able to make suggestions for you for getting grass hay.

[Jumpy's mom]

I have a huge yard with lots of grass.

[Jumpy's mom]

I live in Israel.

[Azerane]

Well that stumps me on that issue then. Hopefully there is someone else who can help

[Jumpy's mom]

Do you know if I can feed alfalfa pellets when he is an adult?
There is no Timothy pellets available.

[Bam]

You should check the nutritional values on the pellet bag and Compass them to fex Oxbow pellets for adult rabbits or Science Selective. You’ll find those values online here together with more info about what a good rabbit pellet should contain:
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp

The main problem with alfalfa is that it’s high in calcium and protein, but in a pellets, that should be balanced out with other ingredients, so a pellet with alfalfadoesn’t have to be unsuitable for an adult bun.

[Jumpy's mom]

I do know that the pellets I am feeding have around 16-17% protein.

[Bam]

16-17% is good for a young growing bun, but a bit too high for an adult. But you can of course compensate for that by giving him a smaller amount + more grass from your yard and fresh veg. You’ll have to keep an eye on his weight, but we all have to do that with our buns because they do have a tendency to get plumpish. If a bunny gets chubby, you cut back on pellets, because that’s the richest food.

[Jumpy's mom]

He doesn’t eat lots of pellets but he loves grass and veggies. I will make sure that he won’t get chubby (it would be hard because he is so fluffy!)

[Author]

Messages