# Feeding baby rabbits grass



## CanucksStar17 (Apr 28, 2013)

I have read in every book that I have ever had that you should never feed rabbits green grass or vegetables even if they aren't sprayed if they are under 1 year old. I have never listened to the books and have fed my rabbits grass and vegetables as soon as they can eat, they never have had any problems with it, do you feed your rabbits grass and vegetables before a year old? If not why?


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## Ilovemyrabbit (Apr 28, 2013)

Its my understanding that baby bunnies can eat certain vegetables before being a year old. Here: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_age_can_baby_rabbits_start_to_eat_fruits_and_vegetables I fed my Ash vegetables before he was a year old.


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## PaGal (Apr 28, 2013)

Spaying has nothing to do with it.

Some say seven months is old enough to start on veggies, some four months. The reason not to feed items when they are very young is that their stomachs have not built up yet the right bacteria to deal with the food. This could lead to GI issues. Young buns are more prone to diarrhea which can be deadly to rabbits. Some buns are more sensitive than others.


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## Ilovemyrabbit (Apr 28, 2013)

^ I agree! I started feeding my Ash veggies when he was 7 months old.


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## CanucksStar17 (Apr 28, 2013)

PaGal said:


> Spaying has nothing to do with it.
> 
> Some say seven months is old enough to start on veggies, some four months. The reason not to feed items when they are very young is that their stomachs have not built up yet the right bacteria to deal with the food. This could lead to GI issues. Young buns are more prone to diarrhea which can be deadly to rabbits. Some buns are more sensitive than others.



I don't know if you wrote the word spraying wrong or you read what I wrote wrong, I said I feed my rabbit's un-sprayed grass. I know spaying has nothing to do with it


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## JBun (Apr 28, 2013)

I think she just read it wrong. I thought you meant spayed too, haha. So you mean if it's not treated with chemicals. Yeah, you shouldn't ever let them nibble on it if it's been treated with anything anytime recently, no matter what age they are. As to the age that is best to wait til before letting a rabbit start veggies or fresh grass, it really just depends. There are young babies that have had grass and veggies since they were hopping out of the nest, and haven't ever had problems, but then with others it will cause them to get soft poop and poopy bums. It can really go that way for any rabbit at any age. Basically it depends on how sensitive a digestive system a rabbit has and how quickly a new food is introduced. No matter what age you introduce veggies/grass at, it's best to start with small amounts and increase it gradually, so that you are giving the rabbits digestive flora time to adapt to the new food. And starting slowly also gives you a chance to see if the new food causes any digestive problems for your rabbit. .Generally speaking, it's usually recommended to wait til they are at least 3 mo. old, to just give their digestive systems a little more time to develop. It's a good guideline for new rabbit owners to go by, as they are just starting out and aren't as familiar with the kind of digestive problems to keep an eye out for with their new rabbit. But really in the end, you need to decide for each rabbit when and what is best, on an individual basis.


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## majorv (Apr 28, 2013)

Young kits in the process of being weaned from mom's milk to pellets is already an adjustment to a still developing digestive system and I would not be willing to throw veggies into the mix at the same time. Our rabbits don't get veggies/greens but even if we did, I wouldn't add them until they were at least 3 months old. A year old, though, seems pretty old to wait to start.


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## CanucksStar17 (Apr 28, 2013)

JBun said:


> I think she just read it wrong. I thought you meant spayed too, haha. So you mean if it's not treated with chemicals. Yeah, you shouldn't ever let them nibble on it if it's been treated with anything anytime recently, no matter what age they are. As to the age that is best to wait til before letting a rabbit start veggies or fresh grass, it really just depends. There are young babies that have had grass and veggies since they were hopping out of the nest, and haven't ever had problems, but then with others it will cause them to get soft poop and poopy bums. It can really go that way for any rabbit at any age. Basically it depends on how sensitive a digestive system a rabbit has and how quickly a new food is introduced. No matter what age you introduce veggies/grass at, it's best to start with small amounts and increase it gradually, so that you are giving the rabbits digestive flora time to adapt to the new food. And starting slowly also gives you a chance to see if the new food causes any digestive problems for your rabbit. .Generally speaking, it's usually recommended to wait til they are at least 3 mo. old, to just give their digestive systems a little more time to develop. It's a good guideline for new rabbit owners to go by, as they are just starting out and aren't as familiar with the kind of digestive problems to keep an eye out for with their new rabbit. But really in the end, you need to decide for each rabbit when and what is best, on an individual basis.



Yeah you are so right! I guess every rabbit is different! My rabbits must have pretty good stomachs because I was feeding them grass and 3 weeks. I have learned though that it isn't a good idea to feed a 3 week old runt grass My runt had problems for days after I fed her some grass


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## PaGal (Apr 28, 2013)

Sorry I did read that wrong, comes with reading fast because I didn't have much time.  I think I was pretty paranoid about starting my bun but I did it at seven months, a year does seem longer than necessary.


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## CanucksStar17 (Apr 28, 2013)

PaGal said:


> Sorry I did read that wrong, comes with reading fast because I didn't have much time.  I think I was pretty paranoid about starting my bun but I did it at seven months, a year does seem longer than necessary.



Yeah I have a tendency to read really fast and read stuff wrong too so I know what you mean


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## Azerane (Apr 29, 2013)

I had been wondering if kits take to greens better if their mother is fed greens in large amounts on a regular basis. Just because I think they get some of their gut flora from their mum right? Is that a crazy theory?


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## CanucksStar17 (Apr 29, 2013)

Azerane said:


> I had been wondering if kits take to greens better if their mother is fed greens in large amounts on a regular basis. Just because I think they get some of their gut flora from their mum right? Is that a crazy theory?



You know I think you are right about that! My older brother had rabbits before me but got to busy and gave them to me but before that he bred them and their babies always had problems after eating greens, the mothers never ate greens. When those rabbits died I bought some 8 week old rabbits from a friend and I fed them hay and greens right away they never had any problems and their babies don't either. So yeah I think that if the Mum eats greens the babies shouldn't have any problems


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