Wild bunnies love to eat leafy green veggies, hay, and grass. Even pet bunnies love these kinds of foods. But here comes the main question, is it okay for the pet rabbit to eat plenty of lettuce?
When a bunny eats a lot of lettuce, it will become sick. If they eat the wrong kinds of lettuce, the situation will be dangerous. You can feed lamb and romaine lettuce to your bunny as they are the best type of lettuce for pet rabbits. It is better to give them the darker lettuce leaves.
You will know about the types of lettuce you can feed to your bunny in this post. Lettuce is good and healthy food for bunnies but giving them excess amounts is not good.
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Healthy And Safe Kind Of Lettuce For Bunnies
If you want to feed lettuce to your bunny, it is better to choose romaine and lamb’s lettuce. These two types are the best foods to ensure the health and safety of the bunnies. You have to remember that the dark leaves are more healthy. Though feeding butterhead lettuce is better, but it has high acid levels. It is better not to give iceberg lettuce to your bunny as it has high amounts of lactucarium. A high dose of this substance is dangerous to the bunnies.
Also, the iceberg lettuce has excessive water levels, so avoid feeding it to the bunny. The rabbit will suffer from diarrhea due to the excessive lactucarium. You have to remember that the darker the lettuce is, the more healthy it is for the bunny. You should give lettuce to the bunny as a part of its diet. But, do not give lettuce leaves as the only diet for your rabbit.
Hay is the best food you can feed as it helps the rabbit throughout its life. If you want to give the lettuce to your bunny, you can begin by giving them a small strand of the leaf. It helps the rabbit’s digestive system to adapt to the new food. It is better to include fresh foods into the bunny’s routine and do not feed the lettuce all the time.
Is Hay A Good Food For The Bunny?
To be precise, hay is the best food to feed the bunny. You have to remember that your bunny can not eat plenty of hay. You should consider the hay as 80 to 90% of the bunny’s diet. Source
Hay also helps to keep the bunny’s teeth down. Rabbits’ have fast and never-ending growing teeth. It is why bunnies should often eat something which can prevent their teeth’ from growing. When the rabbits’ teeth are not going down with food, you have to take them to the veterinarian at a regular pace. The vet will file their teeth into comfortable length, and this process is expensive. You can avoid it by giving hay to the bunny. Source
If the rabbit has straw bedding, you can fill it with hay so the bunny will eat it. Though eating straw is not harmful to the bunny, hay has rich and crucial nutrients. It is better to put clean, safe, and dry fodder. When the straw or the grass is moist, they are likely to get molds. The moldy hay makes the bunny ill.
It is best to feed different kinds of grass hay to your bunnies, such as orchards, meadow, and timothy hay. When the rabbit is six months old, do not feed it alfalfa hay.
Is It Okay To Let The Bunny Graze?
Bunnies are natural grazers, and it is safe and healthy for them if you allow them to graze. Wild rabbits often do this. Bunnies should graze on grass or hay, and it is a healthy habit. When you give them straw bedding, they may eat it. Eating hay will offer crucial nutrients and proteins to the bunny. It also makes them feel happy and be healthy.
Bunnies will overeat if you allow them to graze on everything. You should only give rich nutrient foods for the bunny to graze on. It is better to avoid giving them foods like pellets and pieces of fruits for grazing. They will make the bunny obese.
Which Foods Should I Give The Bunny?
Like hay and grass, you can feed many foods to your bunnies, such as lettuce, pellets, and carrots. Even though foods like cauliflower and broccoli are good, but they have excessive sugar and starch. You should only give them a small amount to avoid health risks. Source
Bunnies can also eat fruits. When you are training the bunnies, you can feed fruits as treats to them. But do not feed fruits too often as they have high sugar levels. It may affect the bunny’s health when you give them daily.
Some foods that you have to avoid feeding rabbits are leeks, chives, and the foods that are from the onion group. Consuming these foods will result in blood irregularities which makes the bunny weak and ill. Source
Is It Possible For Bunnies To Act Territorial Over Food?
Bunnies living in the wild would not act territorial over food as they have sufficient area and enough food sources. But the pet bunnies are territorial over food. Many rabbits will be territorial over food if you often feed them in a bowl or a plate.
You can end the arrogant behavior by keeping the bowl in different areas in their pen. After doing this, if the rabbit is still aggressive, call the veterinarian to know more about the situation.
Can The Bunny Become Obese?
Every animal can become overweight, and the same applies to bunnies. Wild bunnies are natural and active, and they enjoy eating. But, the rabbit will become weak and inactive when it gains more weight. When your bunny is obese, do not give them pellets and fruits. Give them plenty of time to play and exercise every day.
Bunnies should eat two times a day, excluding their grazing. Depending on the size of the bunny, “give a little number of fresh nuggets or pellets every day. Give 25g of pellets for every one kg of the rabbit’s body weight. If you have a medium-sized 2kg bunny, give it 50g of pellets.” Source
Health Risks That Arise By Over-eating
As you know, overeating leads to obesity. But rabbits will also suffer from digestive problems, and some can be dangerous. When your rabbit is obese, it is likely to suffer from tooth decay, heart pains, urinary tract problems, and Gastrointestinal stasis (GI). All the above cases will become deadly when you do not take the bunny for treatment. When you notice any of the above problems in your bunny, take the rabbit to the veterinarian.