# Holland Lop diet



## ravishing (Feb 2, 2011)

Penny my 5-6 month holland lop gets to have the following daily:


1/4 cup of timothy complete by kaytee pellets
Unlimted timothy hay
Lots of fresh water
2 romaine lettuce leafs and some parsley 


is that okay?

I'm most concerned about the veggies.

How much is a perfect amount?

Which veggies are the best for bunnies?

Are they to be fed daily?



I don't want my bunny to be unhealthy and over weight =(

How can you tell when a holland lop is over weight? In terms of appearance?

thank you =)


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## Tweetiepy (Feb 2, 2011)

My vet checked Popcorn's ribs and he felt a bit of meat on the bones (I thought he was too skinny) if Penny can still eat her cecals you should be okay if she gets some exercise.

The diet seems okay. There is a link that tells you which veggies are okay - the two you mentioned seem okay - anything sweet (which included carrots) should be given in moderation. I've seen some mighty high piles of veggies for some smaller rabbits - I give veggies when I can - romaine & parsely being the main staple and they get a small mini carrot too with their veggies - sometimes a slice of apple - & my older bun Peaches gets a few tiny dried mango pieces when I need him to get back into his house. Hay is very important if they eat it, some bunnies don't like hay and their slaves will push other fibrous foods.

BTW she's just the cutest bunny - I wanted a lop and ended up with two lionheads...


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## jcottonl02 (Feb 2, 2011)

Well that sounds great so far.

Make sure you introduce any veggie slowly and one at a time, to see if it affects your bun badly. Start by introducing different veggies, until your bun has tried many and is fine with them. Make sure you check a safe fruit and veggies list too. Do this over a few weeks, I would recommend, monitoring poops and tummy and behaviour etc.

If she is absolutely fine with them (no runny poops, gas etc.) then I'd start by giving her a cup of a variety of chopped veggies every day. Try and alternate them each day. So day 1 give her a few chunks of carrot, a handfull of spinach, romaine lettuce and a few chunks of cucumber, and then day 2 give her a handful of kale, a few stalks of broccoli, 3 or 4 big chunks of celery and some parsley.

If she is fine with these and wolfs them down, then maybe try another cup or so.

Make sure to monitor her weight and how much hay she is eating (she still needs to eat looootss of hay).

If she is staying a healthy weight, eating lots of hay and eating all her veggies and pellets, why not add a few fruit treats every few days? Mine get a few chunks of apple, then a few days later maybe a chunk of strawberry and a chunk of banana etc.

You just need to (by trial and error) see how much (and which veggies) your rabbit can have. All rabbits are different in regard to this. Some buns can eat all veggies all the live long day (mine do lol) and be absolutely fine. Some buns can only handle a few chunks. Some can't eat any at all without getting runny poops and gas.

Mine get 1/4 cup pellets each, unlimited timothy hay, and a big salad of lots of veggies and some fruit each day. I try and give 4 or 5 different veggies each day.

Also there are some veggies you might need to be careful of, as they have been known to cause gas in high quantities, or contain a lot of oxylates (what these do I am not sure); kale, mustard greens, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts etc. Also buns cannot have ANY tomato GREENS (the stalk etc.) or apple pips, stones etc. or anything from the onion family at all OR potato- I believe this is actually a part of nightshade family. I am not sure why the flesh of the potato can't be eaten, because I believe it is only the greens of those vegetables in the nightshade family that cannot be given (eg. tomato greens). Apparently peppers are part of the nightshade family, so I would steer clear of the pepper stalk! Not that I have given that to my buns anyway. In fact I am going to make a thread on this. Also carrot is quite high in sugar so you might want to be slightly sparing with that; mine get perhaps 1.5- 2 carrots a week and maybe some people might think this is too much.

hope this helps! 

Jen


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## funnybunnymummy (Feb 2, 2011)

Jen: Actually, carrots aren't that high in sugar. Compared to lettuce, yes. Compared to apple, no. So you can feed a bit more carrots than apples. 

I believe the flesh of the potato is safe for rabbits to eat (in moderation, given the amount of starch in potatoes), not that Gus will touch them!

The peels and leaves and stems, of course, are quite toxic.

Ravishing: I think the diet you've got her on is just fine.

You can tell a rabbit is getting overweight if ithas a lot of extra skin. If it looks like it's wearing a skirt when it sits down or (on a male) gets a large dewlap, you might look into puttingit on a diet. Even at a healthy weight, you should still be able to feel a rabbit's ribs and spine under its fur.

Hope that helps!

Rue


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## jcottonl02 (Feb 2, 2011)

*funnybunnymummy wrote: *


> Jen: Actually, carrots aren't that high in sugar. Compared to lettuce, yes. Compared to apple, no. So you can feed a bit more carrots than apples.
> 
> I believe the flesh of the potato is safe for rabbits to eat (in moderation, given the amount of starch in potatoes), not that Gus will touch them!
> 
> ...



Lol thanks Rue- I know that though. I probably didn't put myself across well lol- I am quite a hurried typer. All I meant was compared to other veggies, carrots are higher in sugars, so like fruit eg. apples!!  they should be fed more in moderation than other veggies, and maybe not as an every day staple veggy.

Ah that's interesting. I don't fancy Ben or Pip's face if I give them some potato to munch on though, tbh!!!!! 

Jen


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## funnybunnymummy (Feb 2, 2011)

Ah, I figured you knew (you mad researcher you!), but I thought I'd put that out there anyway. 

I posted in the nightshade thread you posted too.

Potato is the one thing Gus wouldn't even eat when I left a piece in his cage overnight. I don't even bother offering it to him anymore. 

Rue


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## jcottonl02 (Feb 2, 2011)

It never hurts to clarify!!!!!! You never know!! I am a pretty hasty typer and it does seem to get me in a bit of trouble when confusion arises. I just type as I think it so sometimes things just don't come out right lol.

I love how we are having a multiple convo on two threads lol. It's like de javu

Jen


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## ravishing (Feb 2, 2011)

thanks everyone =)

I think Spinich gives Penny serious gas! My room was starting to smell super fowl since switching to Romaine Lettuce I've been able to remove my gas mask (kidding =P)

Yesterday evening I was lying on my back with a romaine leaf on my tummy and when penny hopped on and started gobbling it down I could hear gurgling tummy sounds... is that a problem? Her poops have all been normal.


Is it important to feed bunnies at the same time everyday? If so what time would you recommend? Or how many hours apart should feedings be?


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## funnybunnymummy (Feb 2, 2011)

Yes, I'd say it'simportant to feed your rabbit at (or around) the same time every day. I feed Gus half his pellet ration in the morning and half it at bedtime (about 12 hours apart). Rabbitsare crepuscular, meaning they are most active in the early morning and evening. Since those are the times they'd be naturallyfeeding, I think they're the best times to feed your rabbit.

Hope that helps!

Rue


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## haven711 (Feb 2, 2011)

My bunnies love kale and Italian parsley. Vet said they are good.


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## elrohwen (Feb 3, 2011)

You've gotten some great responses! I think you're doing really well with her diet, but you could increase the veggies slowly until you're at 2cups a day.

The gurgling is normal - a healthy tummy will have some gurgling going on. Too much can be a bad sign, of course, but a little is fine.

Bunnies like routine, so feeding at the same time is good for them. Of course you don't need to feed at the exact time down the minute or anything, but approximately the same times of day is a good idea. Mine get fed around 7am and then when we got to bed at 10pm. I like to feed them right before bed because then they're happy to go back to their pen for the night. You can feed at whatever times work best for your schedule.


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## Flick (Feb 4, 2011)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/user/FastUpOnRabbitCare#p/u/10/-W62vZIKW4g[/ame]

Video discussing what veggies are good for rabbits.


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