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BethanyRose

Veggies for rabbits- what age to start?

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I have 2 11 week old Netherland Dwarf bunnies. The breeder said don't give them green veg until 6 months, I have also read this online. However the vetinary nurse said when I took them at 8 weeks that I should have started already. She suggested I start trying postage stamp size pieces and just one type a week to check for upset tums. So currently they have fresh hay from Haybox, water bowls, Burgess dwarf nuggets (the correct amount) and I've been given them dark green cabbage. They are currently up to 3 postage stamp pieces a day. They like sweetheart cabbage too, have refused parsley and spinach, so just working through what they like. Or should I indeed wait until 6 months?? Their poops have been fine on the little cabbage

They also forage in the grass with a little nature mix like dandelion and plantain

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If you have good quality pellets and hay, they don’t need fresh veg. At the rescue they only get veg when there is a lot of veg in the fridge and not so many guinea pigs. (Who really do need veg)
Because of cartoons and such, most people think bunnies need carrots, but they don’t need it and to much can be harmful. It’s best kept as a treat, rather than a daily part of their diet.

Some are prone to upset tummies, so starting with small amounts is good, if you want to feed veg. Be careful with vegetables that contain a lot of water. It can give them bloat.

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I was once told that carrots to bunnies is a bit like chocolate to us.

One of ours used to love pears.

Ours also used to have little treats from the pet shop that came in a packet and look a bit like a shredded wheat with fruity stuff inside. They loved those.

As @Cat tails said they don't really need treats but it makes us feel better about looking after them.

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Rabbits can produce their own vitamin C, guinea pigs can’t. Those are even fed vitamin C tablets each day at the rescue.

How guinea pigs ever became actual ‘guinea pigs’ is beyond me! They are allergic to penicillin (so if Pasteur tested it on them, we probably wouldn’t have antibiotics at all!) and can’t convert other vitamins and such to vitamin C. 
They actually get a very bad case of scurvy if they aren’t fed vitamin C.

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