I found:

• Apple
• Hazel
• Ginko
• Rose
• Raspberry
• Blackberry
• Strawberry
• Grape
• Nasturtium
• Sage
• Rosemary
• Basil

I did find a little bit of clover and a baby dandelion.

Then I wondered, which would they actually want to eat? Non toxic doesn’t necessarily mean tasty. So I gave Scamp a little bit of each to see which he’d go for first. Can you guess?

See if you got it right…

That’s a yumm to strawberry leaves, ginko, apple, clover and rose, then he decided the pile of grass from earlier was a better option and skipped off.

What’s your bunnies favourite and do you have any other plant ideas?

I’m sure some people will read this in horror… many rabbit owners buy more veg for their rabbits than themselves. I’m not suggesting that you should feed your rabbit anything that has gone bad. However, many of the parts of vegetables that people routinely throw away are perfectly fit for consumption and are often the best bits for rabbits to eat. For example carrots tops are much better for rabbits than the carrot itself.

We sort all leftovers from fruit and vegetables in to two categories, anything in good condition and safe for rabbits goes in the ‘rabbit bowl’ ready for dinner time and anything unsuitable, either because it’s unsafe or has gone bad, goes in the compost box. Once your in the habit, it’s no hassle and you’d be surprised how much there is that your rabbit can eat. Here are seven ‘vegetable scrap’ dinners (each bowl full is split between my two rabbits):

Left: celeriac, carrot peel, butternut squash, parsnip, leek leaves (not bulb).
Right: sweet pepper, strawberry leaves, apple core, carrot peel



Left: swede, parsnip, carrot peel, butternut squash.
Right:Pear peel & core (yum stewed pears!), carrot peel.



Left: carrot peel, cabbage, apple peel.
Right: carrot peel, parsnip, sweet pepper, butternut squash, sweet potato (only small amounts – some people don’t feed this), apple core


Left: broccoli stalk, kiwi peel, carrot top, mango, pear, apple, melon rind
Right: same plus Scamp.

It was interesting to record what we and they eat. I didn’t realise we ate so many carrots! We did eat other things that didn’t provide anything for the rabbits like peas, sweetcorn, runner beans, stoned fruit, etc. It also made me think a little more leafy veg would be good (I wish shops didn’t chop off all the leaves before sale). Their diet is quite seasonal; this time of year we are eating a lot of winter veg like squash and root crops. As spring comes around there will be more leafy veg plus weeds and grass. I’ll have to have a think next autumn about what we can grow over winter in the greenhouse to add to that, maybe the trays of grass could move inside.

The above is, of course, fed alongside lots of tasty hay.

That’s carrot, sprouts and parsnip, then there is broccoli today to add to that. The parsnips are home-grown, my first try at parsnips, so we saved them for Christmas. It dig take a bit of work to get them out of the frozen ground but they tasted great. Here’s a piccy, yummm….

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your having a good time

Hay

Hay is fed to rabbits as a substitute for fresh grass. It is grass that has been cut and left to dry. Good hay should be green and smell sweet, not be dusty or smell musty (excuse the pun). The greener hay is the closer it is nutritionally to grass. Old brown hay will have plenty of fibre but is not so good for providing all the other nutrients a rabbits needs. It’s also less tasty… not that I’ve personally tried it.

There are different types of grass such as Timothy, Meadow and Orchard. Sometimes grass is also grown with legumes like Alfalfa. This increases the protein level which makes it too fattening to feed as the main diet for the average adult rabbit, although it can be good for growing youngsters or putting weight on an older rabbit. Alfalfa is also higher in calcium, again good for growing youngsters but too much can be bad for adults.

Straw

Straw is the stalks from grain crops after the grain heads have been taken off. It’s yellow and the stalks are hollow like a drinking straw. Straw is great for insulating so it is used for bedding to keep rabbits warm on cold winter nights. Straw has a lower nutritional value than hay so it’s not suitable to feed as a replacement for grass. If you use it for bedding, add some hay on top for your rabbit to snack on. It’s perfectly safe if your rabbit does nibble the straw a bit too though.

It is tasty, if you are a rabbit, and will often tempt rabbits who turn their noses up in disgust at hay. It is also high in fibre, great for wearing down teeth and the rabbit digestion system has been perfected to digest it.

So why do many rabbits never get to eat it?

There is often a worry among rabbit owners that fresh foods can upset the gut and cause diarrhoea. It’s true, if you suddenly gave your rabbit a large pile of grass it probably would upset their gut, but a large pile of a different brand of dry food or treats would have the same effect. New foods need to be introduced to rabbits gradually. Start by feeding small quantities of grass daily and build up the quantity gradually over10 days of more.

If you are picking grass, rather than letting your rabbit graze, then use scissors or pull it up. Do not feed lawn mower clippings. The heat and crushing action causes the grass to start fermenting which will upset the gut if eaten.

Don’t have a lawn? No problem. Grass is easy to grow and can be grown in trays, window boxes or pots on your window sill.  Put some general purpose compost (available at garden centres/DIY shops) in a tray or pot and sprinkle grass seed on top. Water if it gets dry and wait.

You can either cut the grass or put the whole tray/pot in your rabbits pen.  If you put the tray in your rabbits pen take it out again after they’ve eating it and allow it regrow. In a few weeks it will be ready for them to eat again. As well as being tasty it is an excellent form of enrichment to prevent your rabbit getting bored.

Normal lawn grass seed is fine to use but you you can also buy Timothy grass seed or seed/weed mixes that contain other plants such clover, dandelion and thistle (as shown below).

The different plants help provide different vitamins & minerals, mimicking a wild rabbit’s diet which contains a varied assortment of plants in addition to grass.

The other type of treat ball is sold in various sizes for rabbits, cats and dogs. They have an opening at the top which can often be adjusted to control the amount of food that falls out. If your rabbit is a chewer avoid brands with raised patterns around the ball that could be chewed off.

What to Put in Your Treat Ball

The name treat ball is a bit misleading. You should not fill your rabbits ball with extra treats, otherwise your rabbit may get fat! Instead put your rabbits normal dry food in to the ball. This should be a portion of its normal amount, not extra. Once your rabbit has the hang of it, you can put all your rabbits dry food in the ball – and throw out your food bowl.

Teaching Your Rabbit to Use It

Some rabbits are quicker at others to pick up how to get get the food out of a the ball. Start by placing the ball with the hole down and a few pieces of food next to it. As your rabbit tries to get the food the ball will move knocking more food out. You may have to help your rabbit a few times until they understand what they need to do. If the opening is adjustable start with it on the widest setting. Once your rabbit has the hang of it they’ll soon be chasing it around super-fast!

Many common and potentially serious health problems are caused or exacerbated by the lack it of, including:

• Gut Stasis
• Excess Cecotropes (sticky poop) which can lead to fly strike
• Overgrown teeth which can result in tooth abscesses and gut stasis

So, below are my top 5 tips for turning your rabbit in to a hay eater.

1. Feed Tastier Hay
Hay is a bit like apples. It comes in lots of different varieties and flavours. Some people like crisp Granny Smiths others like sweet Cox’s, and cooking apples taste horrible (unless cooked). Likewise some rabbits can be quite fussy about the variety of hay they like.

When choosing hay avoid the finely chopped, brownish plastic packed varieties you find in a lot of pet shops. Look for green, long strands that smell nice and aren’t too dusty. Hay sold at feed shops and farms, for horses to eat, is usually good and a lot cheaper then pet shop bags.

Oxbow do a wide range of different hay’s you can try your rabbit with. You do not have to stick to one variety, mix and match to keep your rabbit’s interest.

2. Put Hay Where Your Rabbit Sits
Rabbits prefer to munch hay while they are resting and while they are using their litter tray/toilet area. Putting the hay in these places will catch your rabbit at the time he’s most likely to eat it. If you don’t want to put hay in the litter tray then hang a hay rack above it.

3. Incorporate Hay into Toys
Most rabbits like to play and throw toys around. Incorporating hay in to play activities can encourage them to pull, bite and chew at the hay. A willow ball or cardboard tube filled with hay can be hung from the cage or thrown around by your rabbit.

4. Add Garnish
You can make hay more interesting to your rabbit by mixing in food they like best. This could include dry food, fresh vegetables or dried (bunny safe) herbs. Whilst searching through the hay for the good bits hopefully they’ll eat some hay too.

5. Feed Less Dry Food
Most rabbits have bad hay eating habits because they eat too much dry food. A healthy adult rabbit should only be fed a small quantity of dry food (50g per average size adult rabbit per day is plenty). Dry food tastes good but it doesn’t provide the fibre levels and chewing action needed to keep your rabbit healthy. Reducing the amount of dry food you rabbit gets should help encourage them to eat more hay.

A change in eating habits can indicate teeth problems and should be investigated by a vet. If your rabbit stops eating hay, starts dribbling, has longer than normal front teeth or chews differently to normal then a visit to your vet is needed.