# Can you feed a rabbit any grass as a staple?



## Blappy (Aug 16, 2009)

Is it possible I can feed my rabbit grass from my back yard? Or would it pose problems? They don't have pesticides on them.


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## Becknutt (Aug 16, 2009)

Untreated grass is safe to feed as a treat, I don't know about as a staple. I believe some members dry their own grass hay so maybe someone else will be along who is more helpful in that department.


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## Korr_and_Sophie (Aug 16, 2009)

Just one type of grass is not good for a rabbit. Wild rabbits will eat a variety of grasses, leaves, flowers and other vegetation. Most people only have one type of grass as a lawn, so it would not provide the necessary nutrients a rabbit needs. 

You can give untreated grass. It would have tough to get enough to replace hay, but you could give as much as you rabbit can handle as long as it is eating other stuff like pellets and the regular hay.


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## Blappy (Aug 16, 2009)

I have a variety of grasses with me. I'm wondering if I absolutely HAVE to have timothy grass.

I'm wondering if it's alright if I don't have timothy grass. I'm not sure if I have timothy grass seeds with me. But I have like 3 or so kinds of grasses, and I also have dandelions.


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## Flashy (Aug 17, 2009)

Would the grass go along side anything else like pellets? Or a huge variety of vegetables?

Untreated grass is fine to feed, but it can often cause stomach upsets, especially when it is rich, so it may be down to your bun to decide whether or not it can be fed a lot of grass. If it is not used to grass it will need to be slowly introduced.

I don't know about Timothy Grass, but can't see why it would be essential in itself.

Is hay an issue for you in some way?


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## Hazel-Mom (Aug 18, 2009)

If any grass hay is good for a rabbit, then why shouldn't any grass be fine, too?
Hay is just dried grass, after all.

But of course you'd have to feed other things too. Just like you do with hay. Rabbits can't survive on grass, or on hay, alone.

And no, it's not essential to have Timothy grass, or hay. Any grass is ok.


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## LionsRawr (Aug 18, 2009)

I am lucky enough that my sister has apple tree's in her backyard. So I can get a different kind of grass and her place along with what I dry for the buns at my place. 

Its not a staple but they get some every week. I noticed what they don't eat they nest with. Which is nice too. 

But I also feed them pellets, hay, and salad for their daily food.


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## ra7751 (Aug 18, 2009)

Actually....rabbits can live quite healthy lives on hay only....we have some rabbits that eat hay only. Wild rabbits and domestic rabbits have an identical digestive systems. The one thing most indoor rabbits don't get is unfiltered sunlight....and that causes a Vitamin D deficiency which can lead to metabolic issues. Pellets are a convenience food originally designed for rabbits in other industries but most of them are supplemented with vitamins and minerals that most indoor rabbits would not get otherwise. The hind gut fermentation digestive system has evolved to a point it can extract all the nutrients a rabbit needs from low quality food such as grass, leaves and bark.....assuming all things are as nature intended.

Now having said that, the next question would be the nutritional quality of the grass in your yard. Commercially available hay is usually tested at the state level to assure nutritional content. I do have an all natural yard that is fed by very fertile soil. I have a variety of grasses as well as some of the best dandelions you have ever seen...and in the cooler spring and fall months...great clover. I have raised countless cottontails....very healthy cottontails.....on the greens that are in my yard (and my domestics enjoy them too). The only down points in doing that is knowing the exact nutritional value and it can bring in some parasites.

For most people with indoor rabbits....I wouldn't suggest doing an all hay/green diet due to the lack of sunlight. That is where supplemented pellets come into play. Rabbits in the wild do have the ability to find all sorts of different types of food and usually just by chance they get all the various nutrients they need....and they do get that all important natural sunlight.

Randy


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## Blappy (Aug 27, 2009)

Hay isn't really an issue. But I just wanted to have free grass around in case of financial issues that cause me to not be able to buy hay.

I read somewhere you can't feed your rabbit fresh grasses. I guess they meant that you have to introduce the fresh grass to them slowly because they ate mostly hay as a domesticated species, right?


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## Sabine (Aug 27, 2009)

My rabbits feed on grass most of the day when they are out in the run. Our lawn grows quite a lot of weeds and wild grasses so they get quite a variety. But at night they get their pellets and hay in their hutches. They have some hay available during the day too but never touch it as they prefer the fresh stuff.
I sometimes worry about parasites but then again the hay that's sold in shops also grows on open meadows and any sort of creature can wander across it and leave deposits. I don't think the hay is treated before it's sold, or is it?


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## Pipp (Aug 27, 2009)

Yes, grass is great for rabbits, it's their main staple, although unless the rabbit is allowed to graze, it's hard to keep them properly supplied with it. 

You can't cut it because it breaks down too fast, so you have to pick it and provide enough variety in terms of stages and types of growth, etc. They also like to munch on trigs and trees. 

And it's nice to include some other vegetation that grows in the grass, but personally in my yard I'm not sure what the rabbits like or can eat, so again its hard to bring it in to them. 

EDITED TO ADD: NEVER feed grass from an area where raccoons and other wildlife reside, parasites like raccoon roundworm are deadly to rabbits. The eggs survive in the soil for years and are very hard to wash off the leafs. 


sas :bunnydance:


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