Bunny Treats

I recently had folks come visit my rabbitry, with the intent of getting a bunny! Now, to begin with, they made it clear they wanted to come look around and pick my brain. I LOVE THIS! They didn't jump right in and get the first bunny they saw! HOORAY!

Now, unfortunately for them, I have no young juniors for sale as pets, but they are happily content to wait until I do get the perfect rabbit for them.

Anyway, what I'm leading up to is..... I standardly tell people "don't feed them treats before they are 6 months old, and absolutely NO iceberg lettuce!" This shocked the lady. Why did it shock her? Because we're conditioned by the media to think rabbits live on iceberg lettuce and carrots. The truth is, iceberg can give them diarrhea and kill pet bunnies! Carrots are good sometimes treats, but too many will lead to a fat bunny, thanks to the sugar.

What are good treats? Romaine lettuce, spinach leaves, kale, and other really dark green veggies. Broccoli will be eaten as well. Carrots are ok, a small bit of apple occasionally (apples have lots of sugar!) and papaya is also good! In fact, papaya can help prevent woolblock, which they get from cleaning themselves and ingesting too much hair (or chewing on a neighbor, etc).

I want to caution you to stay away from treats you'd buy in a pet store. They are loaded with processed sugar and do nothing for the rabbit except make them fat! Fresh fruit and veggies are a much better treat- and usually cheaper too! A bag of baby carrots will run you $2 or so, while a box of sugary junk treats at Pet Smart will be $3+.