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Farm Girl

Farm Girl

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My experiment has failed :oops:
Potter the "green" rabbit has been growing. He has always had pellets in front of him and has been fed lots of greens, & oatmeal he has had salt almost all of the time.

Peter the pellet rabbit has always had pellets and salt.

Now Peter is still small and skinny, and he doesn't eat very much.

Sooo what do I do ? I am going to take them off the dumb experiment and get them on good food.

I gave them each about 1/2 a cc of mineral oil today, ( in case of wool block)

And I will be getting Timothy hay for all my rabbits.


This experiment has been a total failure, but I WILL try again sometime and do it a ton better :)

Thanks in advance Farm Girl
 
Peter, the pellet-fed rabbit, is skinny??? That is unexpected... usually pellets give faster growth.

I agree... time to end the experiment if he is not doing well. Maybe if you slowly introduce him to the other foods that Potter has been getting, he will pick up.

You do have to consider whether this is a dietary issue or whether there is some other reason such as a health problem, that is causing Peter's poor growth.
 
How much water is he drinking?

To much salt in the diet (and pellets already have enough salt and other minerals in them) It causes excess thirst, and when rabbits drink more they tend to flush their systems and not process the nutrients from the pellets fully which can lead to weight loss, and slowed growth rates. As well as excess salt can cause high blood pressure, which can lead to a whole boat load of other complications.

It's not just people too much sodium affects poorly.
 
I am sure it is health issues not the pellets because when I run my hand down hsi spine it is to sharp.

The salt thing seems to fit, I bought a salt spool for both of them, and I would switch it between there cages every 2 days.
I figured that they would just eat it if they needed it, thats what cows do, oh well lots to learn :roll: :D

So I will not give him any salt, and I'll start giving him other things too.

Thanks a lot DW & MJ
 
I don't know why I didn't think of this back when this was posted originally. I bought a rabbit that need some weight (though he wasn't super thin). I added a tablespoon of milk plus pellets to his diet, daily. It didn't take long to put the weight on him. Just a thought. :)
 
I would stop the mineral oil too. That probably helps food run through without good digestion first.
Wool block is easily prevented by just giving hay.
I have been raising Angoras for many years and never had wool block and always give buns free choice hay.
 
Thanks everybunny, sorry I didn't update it ( I think I have another thread I need to update)
The bunny is better, either it was the salt problem or he was lonely.
I put his brother back in with him and he is growing good, I can't even tell him apart from the other one accept that his brother lost a toenail. :D Keep growing Peter your going to taste good.

R. Pines, sorry I should have said it but he isn't an angora he is just a meat cross rabbit.

* Farm Girl *
 
Farm Girl":g6h3md88 said:
Thanks everybunny, sorry I didn't update it ( I think I have another thread I need to update)
The bunny is better, either it was the salt problem or he was lonely.
I put his brother back in with him and he is growing good, I can't even tell him apart from the other one accept that his brother lost a toenail. :D Keep growing Peter your going to taste good.

R. Pines, sorry I should have said it but he isn't an angora he is just a meat cross rabbit.

* Farm Girl *
Click to expand...
I assumed you didnt have angoras. I was pointing out that hay alone prevents wool block in angoras and it will work also with other buns that have a lot less risk than angoras.
No need for mineral oil that can mess up digestion. Mineral oil isn't a oil from minerals. Its liquid petroleum, not a good thing really to be ingesting for a bun.
 
R. Pines, I know this may be a bit off topic, but somewhat related. Why do people give angoras papaya? I always thought that was for wool block too. Condition, maybe? I don't have angoras either, but learning this stuff sure never hurts.
 
pfaubush":tqhvc3og said:
R. Pines, I know this may be a bit off topic, but somewhat related. Why do people give angoras papaya? I always thought that was for wool block too. Condition, maybe? I don't have angoras either, but learning this stuff sure never hurts.
Click to expand...

Not RP but...
Papaya has Papain an enzyme that helps break down ingested hair. We used to see pet rabbits all the time at the ER clinic. More than once I had to run out to the grocery store at midnight to buy a fresh papaya so we could force feed a bunny with a trichobezoar (hairball/woolblock). I actually got pretty good getting IV's in those little bunny legs :D

Unfortunately most pet buns aren't owned by knowledgeable people. They don't feed enough fiber (think hay is too messy, etc...)& that's how the hairballs develop. Use to be that the only hay at Petsmart & such was alfalfa- too rich & not enough fiber for your average pet bun on pellets. Now they have wised up - probably because of the HRS- and they have both available. So if you feed plenty of high fiber (timothy/grass) hay you should be okay with your average bun. Angoras? They are a different ball game. They may need some papaya or something with all that hair....sounds like RP is doing great with out it tho'.
 
So the hay more or less prevents it and the papaya helps cure it? Man, hats off to all of you that raise angoras! I have a hard time with all the work the meat rabbits give me!
 

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