What fresh food to give my rabbit?

My new 7 wk old rabbit, Socks, is a double-maned lionhead. He is really sweet! However, he is my first rabbit and although he is lovely, i want to give him some greens. What age can he have these? What is best, since everywhere i look there are different things being said! Anyone got ideas? Also, what toys do you find are most popular with bunnies?


ThanxWhat fresh food to give my rabbit?
Good thing you asked. Give your bunny NO GREENS until he over 4 months old. He was just weaned and this is a critical time for his system. Keep him on his pellets.





I don't give any greens until they are 4 months old to prevent enteritis (diarhea) which is the #1 killer of baby bunnies. So NO GREENS. I can't tell you how many times I've heard about baby rabbits dying 5 days after being brought home (from a pet store) because a) they were too young, and b) because the clerk told them to feed the baby carrots, lettuce, etc.





I know there House Rabbit Society is out there telling everyone that a veggie-only diet is best but you need to know that promoting that diet and telling half-truths is part of their bigger agenda and not what is best for the rabbit.





The HRS vet that came up with that diet (they've changed their diet recommendation at least 4 times) did so because there were a lot of obese rabbit coming in. Instead of trusting that the general public was smart enough to just feed their rabbits less (duh) they decided to seize the opportunity to further their agenda by telling people that pellets are bad. After all, that is what the evil breeders use to fatten up their rabbits so they can be eaten, right? And those hard green things don't look like anything you would find in nature so, of course, it's not what a rabbit would eat if it were ';in the wild';, right?





Well, besides the fact that a domestic rabbit is no more wild than your average dairy cow, that theory is a bunch of bologna. First of all, pellets ARE the natural diet of rabbits. It is exactly what a rabbit would eat in the wild for 3/4 of the year. Grasses (hays) and grains. They are made of quality hay and grains and few other yummies that aid digestion like Yucca.





It is totally UNnatural for a rabbit to eat kale, strawberries, banana, carrot, etc. They would never find those things in the wild and if they did ever happen upon them they would not find them in large quantities. Remember, a wild strawberry is about the size of a peanut M%26amp;M at best. I say the day I see a rabbit climbing a tree in the Bahamas to pick, peel, and eat a banana is the day I'll start giving our rabbits a veg-only diet. LOL.





Pellets are a balanced and consistent diet for a rabbit. It is virtually impossible to make sure your rabbit is getting a balanced diet if you just give it veggies.





If you question how good pellets are for rabbits just go to a rabbit show. You will see the most beautiful rabbits there than you will see anywhere else in the country. They will be lean, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, shiny coated, active, and healthy. Those rabbits are fed a pellet based diet, NEVER a veggie-only diet.





That said, remember pellets are the base of the diet meaning that most of the nutrition is from the pellets. Your rabbit will enjoy treats of greens when it is older but in the meantime you can give him other treats like 1 tablespoon of old-fashioned oatmeal (uncooked), a few cheerios, a small piece of dried bread, black oil sunflower seeds, etc. Also, remember they need hay and fresh water every day.





When you do start to give your rabbit greens start slow and go easy on high sugar foods like fruit and carrots. My rabbits love a small piece of apple, green oat grass that I grow in my back yard, unsprayed dandilions, etc. I also use my juicer to get the sugary juice out of carrots and use the tasty pulp to mix with scotch oats, oat flour, wheat germ oil, a tad bit of the juice, etc to make a dough that is shaped and dried in the oven at a low temp to make healthy treats that rabbits gobble up. Its low sugar, low protein, high fiber and high in flavor.





Toys can be hard, plastic baby toys. A baby keyring he can rattle and toss, a light weight car to push, a rattle. Also a straw hand broom with the nylon or plastic stitching removed, a paper lunch bag with hay, cheerios, and one of his favorite toys inside. He'll work on getting to the goodies inside and it will keep him busy. An untreated sea grass mat or untreated willow basket are great, too. Soak popsicle sticks in concentrated apple juice, let them dry out and give them as a sweet chew toy. Any chewing or shredding parrot toy is perfect for rabbits. A cardboard box or paper grocery bag with safe inks make a great clubhouse. One of my rabbits has a toy horse that she likes. I like the homemade toys best.





Congrats on your new bunny. Remember to play with him every day and practice your handling skills but most of all HAVE FUN! :)What fresh food to give my rabbit?
How cute!


At this age he won't really want treats. When they're young they don't want anything except for the basic pellet-hay-water diet.


For toys, I stuff old toilet paper rolls with hay and stick a carrot in the middle. The bunny likes to fish through the hay and try to sniff out the carrot so he can find it. It's really cute but I would suggest waiting till he's older to try this since young bunnies don't really want carrots or greens or any of those goodies. The vet said something about their taste buds aren't developed yet or their teeth haven't grown enough to eat hard things yet or something. I forget.
my rabbit likes apples,fresh grapes(no raisons, it gives my rabbit at least, the runs), apples, strawberries, old fashoin quaker oat meal(raw, only a pinch), carrots, some rabbits like celery but mine doesnt, rabbits also like to eat the bark of apple tree sticks u can get them urself or buy them from a pet store the sticks could also be used as a toy. rabbits also like to eat hay, grass, leaves, dandeillions r poisious to rabbits.
For a complete list of what you can aand can't feed your rabbit and everything else you may want to know about owning a pet rabbit got to www.rabbit.org
Lettuce, carrots, broccoli, almost everything besides spinach. If you give spinach to a rabbit they go CRAZY!!!!
I love rabbits. They will eat just about any veggies or fruits. It's great when you make a salad because they can have pretty much all the left over bits.





-Romaine lettuce is good (darker green lettuces have more vitamins and not such a high water content


-carrots and thier greens


-broccoli is full of nutrients.





They like fruit but you have to be careful about how much they get because it can cause the runs.


Apples are usually a favorite.


Banana chips are good. Just make sure they are not deep fried or sugar coated.


Most dried fruits will be gobbled up pretty quickly.
The majority of a rabbits diet should include high roughage foods like hay. Make sure it is of high quality-slightly green tinged and no mould or dust. This encourages tooth wear and dental health. Rabbits teeth grow like fingernails and need constant hard grinding to keep healthy.


Use a complete pellet food, but don't feed to excess or your rabbit may get fat. Avoid mixed/grain cereal mixtures as the rabbit will pick out all the high calorie unhealthy bits and leave the rest.


Feed greens sparingly eg carrots/cabbage and allow you rabbit to graze fresh grass.


Young rabbits can tolerate high calcium vegetables such as broccoli, kale and spinach but avoid feeding these to excess in older rabbits as this can make them prone to sludgy urine.


If feeding an alfalfa based pellet change to Timothy hay based one in adult rabbits for the same reason.
Rabbits love greens, but too much will give them wet tail. So feed greens in moderation. Dark leafy greens ( never feed ice berg lettuce) kale, spinach, parsley, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, whole radishes ( including the greens) you can also give them the tops that you cut off the strawberries, a small slice of banana. They love carrots of course. The bulk of a rabbits diet should be Timothy Hay and water, and pellets. Bunnies like toys they can flip. I have a bunny toy that resembles a rattle. That one is a favorite. The wood toys they can chew are very good. Good luck with your bunny. I bet he is adorable.
Commercially prepared food is best for rabbits because it is specifically produced to meet all of a rabbit's dietary needs. If you would like to supplement that with other foods, I recommend providing some fresh hay (timothy or grass hay is best). You can also use store bought treats to spoil Socks.





Your question though, was specifically about fresh food. I've found that in extremely young rabbits, it is best to avoid fresh foods. Once Socks is a little older you can slowly begin to introduce fresh foods. If he is already eating hay, it will be easier to transition to fresh foods. Start out very slow, giving only one very small peice each day and watching for any signs of diahrrea. If Socks shows any sign of diahrrea, stop the fresh foods for a few days and go back to hay and pellets.





Here are some examples of food items you can feed Socks: Carrot tops, beet tops, dandelion greens and flowers (these are excellent, but be not to feed pesticides), collard greens, escarole, romaine lettuce, (don't give light colored leaf lettuce or iceberg lettuce), chickweed, plantain, endive, Swiss chard, parsley, clover, broccoli (don't forget the leaves), carrot, pea pods (the flat edible kind), basil, borage, wheat grass, mescalin greens mixes, peppermint leaves, raspberry leaves, raddichio, bok choy and escarole.





And of course, there is the option of letting Socks hop in an enclosed yard or on a leash to nibble grass right from the ground. If you choose to do this, check that you are in a safe area, avoid areas near roads because of exhaust, and don't let him anywhere that has been sprayed with chemicals. Also never leave him unattended, it only takes a second for something to happen.





As for toys, those are easy. My rabbits love to play with empty toilet paper rolls and baby toys with large parts. You can avoid the expensive toys at the pet store, and go to a dollar store and buy a set of baby keys, teething rings, etc. Just be sure there aren't parts Socks can chew off! Other great toys include many cat or bird toys (especially the ';indestructable'; ones made for large birds like Macaws). My rabbits also enjoy playing with plastic Easter eggs. Hide a treat in them and they will work to get it open.





One last fun thing to give Socks can combine as a toy, a treat, and a tooth file. I like to give my rabbits a few horse treats each week. They love to throw them around their cages, gnaw them, and finally eat them. They are sort of like chew toys for dogs.





Good luck with Socks, rabbits are a lot of fun and I'm sure you'll be good friends for a long time! I'm including a link to my web site, it has several articles on rabbit care I think you might find interesting.
At this age you should NOT feed any fresh foods to your rabbit. A young rabbit's digestive system is not developed enough to handle these things. Eating things like veggies and fruit can lead to diarrhea or enteritis. Both of these ilnesses can kill a young rabbit quickly.


I never give fresh foods to any rabbit under the age of 6 months. Also absolutely NO LETTUCE , this is nothing but water and is a diuretic as is celery.


Until that time they should have pellets and good hay.


The pellets should have at least 16% protein in them and NO corn. The first ingredient listed should be alfalfa or alfalfa meal. A food with yucca in it is also helpful. do not feed the foods with brightly colored ';treats'; in it. these contain sugar and artificial colors which are both very bad for rabbits.





When they are 6 months old an occasionl piece of apple or carrot as a small treat is okay. But do not overfeed any fresh food to a rabbit.





Instead of giving treats to your rabbit how about some ';toys'; instead. Make sure the bunny has a wood block to chew on, rabbit's teeth never stop growing so they need to chew.


My rabbits get- golf balls, plastic baseballs, wiffle balls, plastic easter eggs, wooden blocks, plastic baby key rings, cardboard tubes. They love to pick things up and throw them around.





The best thing to reward your rabbit is your attention and love, too much food and treats can make a rabbit fat and unhealthy








Good luck with your bunny- they are great pets. Just rememberthey are not a dog or cat. They do not act or learn the same way these animals do.