Feeding lionhead bunny?

Question

hi i just got a lionhead bunny and im wondering why he refuses to eat pellets that i bought from the pet store....does he need those to be healthy? because all he will eat so far is carrots,skinned apple, and celery....i also plan to find some grass hay for him....would this be a healthy diet?

Answer 1

The pellets are not good for bunnys. They are condenced hay, and will expand in their stomach, and are very bad for them. I feed my rabbits hay ONLY.  And with the (you dont need to skn the apple) apples, celery, and carrots, Thats good for him. But you should feed him more stuff like spinach, and corn. (look up a list online of all the things a rabbit can eat.) But do not feed it to him everyday. It can, and will give him the runs, and make him sick. Only feed him fruits and veggies once or twice a week.

Answer 2

He needs unlimited timothy hay. Apples and carrots are both very sugary and should be limited. He can be fed romain lettuce, parsely, cilantro, red peppers, dandelions and much more.

This is for an adult rabbit 6 months and up:

You should figure out how much he weighs. For every 6 pounds you should feed 1/4 to 1/2 of pellets. So if he weighs 3 pounds he should be fed about 1/8 cups of pellets a day.

If he is a baby rabbit up to 6 months he should have unlimited alfalfa hay and unlimited pellets

Answer 3

hello there

this should be your feeding schedule:

♦timothy hay every time.every hour.give the rabbit unlimited amounts of this for healthy dental assurance.

♦pellets once every meal.give him 1/4 cups of pellets.

♦veggies and greens once a day.also,lion heads shed a lot because they are long-haired rabbits.so i suggest feeding him pineapple and pineapple juice to help with the shedding process.

pellets is only a SUBSTITUTE for hay.all nutrients in the pellets are in the hay also.so pellets isn't that important but it should still be given,all right?

remember:avoid apple cores,potatoes,iceberg lettuce and cabbages.

those give the rabbit a bad case of diarrhea.

have a nice day!  Ã¢Â˜Â¼

Answer 4

That is a healthy diet but dont feed your bunny vegtibles like carrots and stuff until they are 6 months of age because they cant digest them and can become deathly ill and die so sad.....

I have a lionhead rabbit names sugar that does not eat a hole lot she is 5 months old and she loves alfalfa and some vitamens that my mom got from the pet store that look like vegtibles.

Answer 5

No, dried food should be the main part of your rabbits diet.  Contact wherever you got your rabbit from and find out what food it normally eats, if you have changed brands that will be the problem, get the right brand and it will eat it fine.  If you only feed it on fresh foods it will kill it.

Pellets are not condensed hay, they are a combination of all the different ingredients in normal dried food which is good if your rabbit dislikes any parts of dried food and is what I feed all my rabbits on.  Your rabbit should not be fed on hay only, it dosent contain enough nutrients but should be fed along with dried food and fresh food.

Answer 6

Tinkerbell is the only person so far that I agree with.  Tinkerbell gave you some very good advice.  Mr. Mister is incorrect that all of the nutrients in rabbit pellets are in hay also.  Rabbit pellets have vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, fat, etc that are set to certain levels and percentages to make sure that your rabbit receives all of the nutrients that it needs.  The rabbit pellets are specifically formulated to give your rabbit a balanced diet.  Too much hay for example can cause a build up of too much calcium in the rabbit's diet because some hays are very high in calcium which can cause urine problems for the rabbit, since excess calcium is excreted through the urine.

The first thing I would recommend doing is quit feeding your rabbit the carrots, skinned apple, and celery.  Those types of food are low in nutrition value and high in water content.  They are also low in fiber.  What happens is your rabbit will get full on them and not eat its pellets.  Also because those foods you are feeding besides the pellets are low in fiber and high in water content, the rabbit's digestive system is made to retain water and low fiber foods longer.  That can cause a problem called GI Stasis.  The food in the rabbit stays in the rabbit longer than it should.  When the food stays in the rabbit, the digestive system basically stops (stasis meaning stop, and GI = gastro intestinal).  When the digestive system stops and the food stays in, the rabbit isn't going to eat anymore.

Here's what you should do:

1. Stop feeding the fruits and vegetables.

2. Feed hay, rabbit pellets, and water from now on.

3. Contact the person you got the rabbit off of and find out what brand of rabbit pellets they used.  Use the same rabbit pellets as the person you got the rabbit off of.  Rabbits hate change in their diet.  And changing a rabbit's diet can make it quit eating or make it get diarrhea.  Changing a rabbit's diet puts stress on them, especially if they are young and especially if the weather is hot.

Answer 7

Pellets should be in the diet so you know he is getting the right nutrition. The pellets he eats should not have all the coloured bits in it because he will pick out all the bits he likes. It should have just pellets. You should give him two handfuls of pellets in the morning and in the evening. He should have a big cup of vegetables during the day, fruit and carrots are too sugary so should only be given as treats. Here is a list of veg he should have

Alfalfa, radish & clover sprouts

Basil

Beet greens (tops)*

Bok choy

Broccoli (mostly leaves/stems)*

Brussels sprouts

Carrot & carrot tops*

Celery

Cilantro

Clover

Collard greens*

Dandelion greens and flowers (no pesticides)*

Endive*

Escarole

Green peppers

Kale (!)*

Mint

Mustard greens*

Parsley*

Pea pods (the flat edible kind)*

Peppermint leaves

Raddichio

Radish tops

Raspberry leaves

Romaine lettuce (no iceberg or light colored leaf)*

Spinach (!)*

Watercress*

Wheat grass

Spinach should only be given sometimes.

Your rabbit should also have hay available for him to eat ALL the time as it is 95% percent of his diet. I also give mine a big bowl of grass, clovers, daisys, dock leaves that I pick in my garden