Rabbit questions

lindens

I used to feed mine dandelion and clover and groundsel leaves picked from the hedges as well as the odd carrot.

calleyw

I have had rabbits for most of my life and I have never spent £20 a week on vegetables for them.

I use to buy a 15KG bag of pellets for about £10 and then buy something called readigrass again about £10 a 15kg Bag. It is not grass but not hay that was used to for bedding and lining the litter tray. They have a bowl of pellets everyday. And it is then topped up with some greens.

So they always have access to readigrass and I put bits and pieces of green items from the kitchen such as cabbage, carrots etc. Also dry pieces of bread out to give them something to chew. As I know lops can have problems with there teeth and need to keep them down.

Also pick grass and dandylions to feed them as well. Just make sure no cats or dogs have fouled on it.

Never had any major health problems with my rabbits unless you count dying from old age. When I take them to have their jabs done the vet always say they are fine.

Yours


Calley

Threadhead

you havent mentioned feeding them hay. this should be the main part of their diet. have a look on the rabbit rehome website - ( sorry cant put up a link, but you could google it) for some brilliant advice.

Willow195

Hi

Yes I do feed them hay, buy a couple of bales from the pet shop each week.

I had read on various sites and books that greens etc should make up a big part of the rabbits diet, hence why not really feeding them pellets.

Will take the suggestions about picking dandelions etc.

Thank you

MoneySavingStudent_2

Hi There, (Welcome To MoneySavingExpert Forum Btw! :hello: )

My Rabbits
I have 2 dwarf rabbits and 1 albino Lop..
They are all on pellets. The dwarf rabbits are on Excel Dwarf pellets and the Albino is on the normal Excel Dwarf pellets.

Where I Buy
Pets at home sell these bags on offer sometimes (Buy one get one free etc)
but if you have a farm shop near by, i recommend supporting your local supplier.
We have a farm shop a couple of miles away which we take a trip to. They sell a huge bag of Long hay for £1.80! Its extremely fresh and its not been tampered with as much as a bag from pets at home would be. Plus its a bigger bag for cheaper! My rabbits love it and like it alot more!
The farm shop also sell the Excel food for a couple of pence cheaper so i also buy the food from there.

My Rabbits Diet
My Rabbits diet is: 70% Hay, 20% Veg, 10% Pellets. This is suitable for my rabbits as they are all a healthy weight and the diet has been confirmed as suitable by my vet. The main thing to remember is Give them what they would have in the wild and you cant go too far wrong. If you get stuck or need help just ring your vet!

My rabbits also love to just be outside in the run eatting grass all day!
My rabbits also like it when i wrap the pellets up inside a lettuce leaf, its like a game for them to get it out!

The Bill
I have never spent £20 a week on them!

Weekly Spend:
£1.80 per bag of hay (times 2 a week) = £3.60
Fresh Veg = £5

Monthly Spend:
15KG Bag Of Dwarf Food = £10 (Ish)
15KG Bag Of Normal Food = £10 (Ish)
(And sometimes they are on Buy One Get One Free! AND they dont usually go threw it all in one month so this isnt even every month!)

Jellicat

Up their hay and reduce their vegetables. Rabbits are designed to live off grass...hay should always represent the bulk of their diet, it should be fed ad lib. Greens should be eaten in a fair amount but the basis of a rabbit's diet is hay...lots of people dont feed them pellets at all and they are perfectly healthy on hay and some veg. Bear in mind that grass provides poor nutrition, if you overload a bunny with veg they will probably get the runs! Buy the biggest bales you can find room for to reduce costs. We used to feed our rabbits off our pony's hay bales but of course thats not an option for most . The rest of their diet should be made up from veg...try feeding them on the cheapest stuff such as carrots, and employ the usual moneysaving tricks of buying value brands and shopping in the evening. All I can suggest I'm afraid. You could try local markets and farmers markets if you have them? THey might be cheaper and you are not paying money to evil supermarkets! Oh and avoid iceberg lettuce like the plague.

Well done you for keeping their pellets to a minimum. My previous rabbit had serious problems which may well have been avoided if we'd kept him on a pellet diet. If they dont eat pellets, their teeth tend to grind down better, and they dont get flystrike as they eat their caecotrophs (soft poo) instead of letting it mat to their stomaches...urggh. Good luck with em!

ETA: Grow your own, maybe?

MoneySavingStudent_2

If youve got new rabbits! Remember to get them a vitamin stick/rock! They loose vitamins easily so get them something like this:
http://www.petsathome.com/find/category-is-6+small+pets/breed-is-rabbit/category-is-6F+Health/product-is-20343

My rabbits love them!
Also get them one of these each! (when i buy one its gone the next day as my rabbits love to play with them!!!)
http://www.petsathome.com/find/keyword-is-willow+ball/product-is-18893


Remember to check ebay too!

bexbex

loads of hay and rabbit pellets. (wagg bunny food)
My polish rabbit won't eat grass or vegetables just the occasional herbs, turns his nose up at everything else, where as my cross breed will eat anything and everything.
I grow herbs in the garden just for them to eat and have been growing carrots from seed in an old toy box for them as he loves the green on top more then the actual carrot! lol

bexbex

I got this one from ebay and I have to say the quality is fantastic. It has a top panel you can shut bunny in for the night and a slopping felted roof to keep it dry. I paid £50 for mine but they go for lots of different prices on there you just have to keep looking for one.
My rabbit is crossed with a giant and is the size of a cat so you can see it's quite roomie for him.

MoneySavingStudent_2

Hi,
I brought a 6 ft one for £54 off ebay. its a brilliant thing with fold up sides. Its great for what i need it for, which is basically just for them to run in the garden in now and again. Also i can bring it inside in the winter so they have lots of room on there normal cage without having to go outside when its snowing