What am I doing wrong? Mystery illness killing baby rabbits.

Rabbit Talk  Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Can you grow some leafy bamboo? The long fibers in hay help keep the rabbit's digestive system working well. I don't know about the nutritional value but the leaves of bamboo are tough and rabbits love them so feeding some regularly would be beneficial since you don't have hay.
I can grow bamboo I just need a starting plant
Hi! This is what the app said:
First picture:
View attachment 31425

Second picture:
View attachment 31426
There are several plant ID apps available. The one I use isn't free (PictureThis app), but I use it all the time to make sure what I'm giving my rabbits is safe. It usually gives a few different options of what the plant could be, so it's helpful to take several different pictures to try to confirm the result. Maybe you could try one of these apps?
The first plant is wrong but the second is right. thanks.
Just a reminder, folks, that Cosima is a young teenager living with her family on a small island in Indonesia. She does not have access to the feed sources, supplies, and services that most of us can take for granted. Her choice of wild forage is limited and information about it is sketchy.

Cosima, which of the following items do you have already? Are there others you could get the next time your family gets supplies?

- old-fashioned oatmeal or rolled oats (not instant or flavoured)
- whole grains such as wheat, oats, rye, or barley
- seeds to grow a rabbit garden (you might be able to order these online and we can talk more about what to choose when we know if a garden is an option for you.)
- sunflower seeds (the small black ones often used as wild bird feed)
- bamboo (this was a good thought from Arachyd)

That's all that come to mind immediately, but there are probably many more potentially useful items. It will require work on your part if you want to raise rabbits successfully in such a difficult location. Will your parents be able to help you get started?

~ MaggieJ
I don’t have oats or oatmeal.
I don’t have wheat oats rye or barley. I do have rice.
I do have seeds that I can grow.
sunflower seeds are a very rare and I don’t think theres any but I could ask.
I do have bamboo.
my parents will be able to help me.
I give my bunnies a maple tree switch and they love the leaves and they like chewing on the twig but they also have a steady source of hay and pellets. I'm sure there is grass where you live and with grass comes hay.
I could try to dry grass.
not necessarily. if they eat a poison they will die quickly. bloat tends to, in my experience, come from enteritis and possibly coccidia... not from poison.
the rabbits that died weren’t bloated.
okay, so you feed leaves and plants to your rabbits. Correct?

So no pellets (which is fine) AS LONG AS you are feeding a balanced diet.

So are you feeding any sort of a mineral supplement?
How about salt?
Have you researched what plants you have around you and whether or not they are good for your rabbits?

If you are just feeding them random plants and don't know if they are good or not... then you might be feeding something that is toxic to them. OR you might be providing TOO much of something, or even not enough of something else they need to remain healthy. Young rabbits tend to grow quickly, so having a diet that can accommodate their growth needs is important lest they starve to death.
I have sea salt. Where I give my rabbits new leaves I give a little bit to one for my bucks and see if theres a reaction the next day and if there isn’t then I give it to other rabbits.
Legume or Bean family: These are all kinds of plants, vines, shrubs, and trees that produce a pod that splits on a single seam. The leaves of these plants are some of the best feeds for rabbits because they are high in protein. Examples are leaves of pigeon pea, peanut, beans, cowpea, velvet bean, Stylosanthes, soybean, Leucaena, tropical kudzu, Centrosema, jack bean, forage peanut, lablab bean, Gliricidia, Sesbania, Calliandra, and Albizia.

Grass family: Rabbits eat all kinds of grasses such as guinea grass, elephant or napier grass, signal grass, maize and millet leaves.
Trees: There are many non-leguminous tree leaves rabbits will eat such as banana, mango, moringa and nacedero.

Fruit: Rabbits love fruit. Feed them all the fruit that cannot be sold or eaten by humans such as overripe bananas (with the peel), mangoes, papaya, kenép (Spanish lime), avocados, pineapple and guava.

Weeds: Lots of weeds are good feed for rabbits such as crab grass, pig weed, goose grass and Spanish needle.
Leaves of cultivated plants: Sweet potato, maize, green beans, carrot tops, cabbage, and so on. Kitchen scraps: Feed your rabbits kitchen and table scraps such as potato peels, carrots, papaya rinds, water melon rinds, avocado skins and celery leaves.

Market waste: Rabbits thrive on market waste such as waste lettuce, cabbage, carrots, apples, and other fruits and vegetables.

Garden waste: Rabbits should be fed all waste left over after the harvest from home gardens of peanut hay, green bean leaves, corn husks, cowpea and bean hulls, and unusable fruits and vegetables.

Rabbits will also eat concentrated commercial (pelleted) feeds such as those made from corn, beans, wheat and millet

Here is a list of different things you could feed your bunnies when supplies of feed are limited...maybe you haven't considered some things on here. I'm not sure what area of indonesia you are in but there are plants that can be cultivated there and some wonderful edible foliage..it would definitely be helpful for you to get the free Picture This plant app if possible as others have mentioned...you may be surprised at the wealth of what is available for forage there.
https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/13bb576d-1aa6-4c4b-b25f-f14195d89e16
https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/ae6e3e5c-fe85-4232-b8fc-6585894cc879
Just a quick look through Google led me to this. There's more links at the end of the page in the bottom one, and recommended books in the bibliography in the top one
Brilliant minds think alike...my list came from same article...lol
I will take a look.
It's true that the sweet potato tuber -- the part humans eat -- are too rich for rabbits as more than an occasional small treat, but they can be grown easily to provide ongoing nutritious greens for the rabbits. The vines and leaves are nutritious and they can be harvested as a "cut and come again" rabbit food. They should do extremely well in Cosima's climate.
if I would grow sweet potatoes to feed my rabbits I would give them the leaves.
You're not wrong, but the long fibre in hay or bamboo or woody twigs from safe trees all help to keep their teeth at the right length.
the teeth don’t look to long.
If you can get pellets that would be best. I understand that is different countries it’s hard to find good pellets, but try and find one with 18%<fiber and 12%< protein.
ok, I will try to get the best pellets.
 
Cosima, you must be feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the suggestions. Take your time thinking about them. If you can get pellets, please do so. You can grow safe greens to supplement and add variety. I hope we can turn your problems with the rabbits into a success story you can be proud of.
 
When I attempt to get this free app, it will only offer a free 7 day trial. Am I missing something?
I have never had to pay for it...the premium version you pay for but I'm not sure what the difference is but think it includes bug identification and few other things but not exactly sure as I only use free.
 
Cosima, you must be feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the suggestions. Take your time thinking about them. If you can get pellets, please do so. You can grow safe greens to supplement and add variety. I hope we can turn your problems with the rabbits into a success story you can be proud of.
I am a little overwhelmed. I think I will feed the safe wild leaves and some garden greens and a little bit of pellets. In terms of drying grass I don’t think it will work because my rabbits won’t eat it.
 
I have never had to pay for it...the premium version you pay for but I'm not sure what the difference is but think it includes bug identification and few other things but not exactly sure as I only use free.
Okay, thanks. I brought up the site and it did not give me a free option. I will keep looking.
 
I am a little overwhelmed. I think I will feed the safe wild leaves and some garden greens and a little bit of pellets. In terms of drying grass I don’t think it will work because my rabbits won’t eat it.
leaves, greens and pellets. can't go wrong there. i will be planting rabbit food tomorrow in my garden. it's fall here and hopefully can get some lettuce going again.
 
There is hope. Many people in similar situations, with nothing but locally available feeds, successfully raise rabbits, as apparently the breeder you purchased your stock from is doing. Please forgive us from temperate climates who have our own list of 'known' good foods, and assume that is standard for the rest of the world. There is a fabulous free resource, called Feedipedia. Once you find someone who can help you identify the plants available to you, you can use the search box on Feedipedia to see if that is a food source. They include many tropical feeds. Each page has three tabs near the top, the first is a general description of the plant, the second tab tells about how the plant has been researched and used by species, so scroll down past all the ruminants (cows, goats, sheep), the pigs and poultry to get down to 'Rabbits'. There, you will find any research that has been done specifically for rabbits, and any guidelines developed from that work, such as 'Can be fed up to 40% of the diet' or 'Suitable for maintenance of adult stock but not for growth.' The last tab will have all the actual feed values of that plant, protein, carbs, fats, minerals. https://www.feedipedia.org/

If you can grow sweet potatoes, the leaves are excellent fodder. I am growing some now just for that purpose. According to Feedipedia, fresh sweet potato leaves are actually 16% crude protein, Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) forage | Feedipedia Mulberry leaves grow quickly, and are also very nutritious. White mulberry (Morus alba) | Feedipedia I don't know enough about what plants you have available to you to be of further assistance, but you can spend a little time typing in the search box for foods that you have access to, to see what you can find that will work.

Perhaps someone locally can help identify the plants you have around you, or there may be an online reference for your area about local plants that will help you start to identify what is around you. It is a process, learn one plant at a time, when you find a good one, add it to your feed list. There are so many toxic plants, here as well as there, that it is best to stick to known safe plants, and then add new greens when you are confident they are safe. We once had a black cherry tree fall in our pasture. The animals adored the wilted leaves and ate them greedily, but shortly thereafter they began staggering and foaming at the mouth. Cyanide poisoning from the wilted leaves. It can happen quickly, depending on the type of poison. My neighbor was 'helping' me feed the goats, and fed them all his laurel trimmings when he pruned his shrubbery. Laurel is poisonous, and again, soon we had lethargic and staggering animals. With poisoning, bloating is often not the first symptom, although it may occur further down the process, depending on the type of poison. Some poisons are very fast acting, others attack internal organs and take their time. Any remedy is dependent on the type of poison, so if you find something is poisonous in your area that the bunnies might have gotten into, it might be worth researching any possible treatment, just to be prepared.

It is wonderful that you have found rabbits adapted to your area, and appreciate your efforts to do the best you can for them with the resources available to you. I hope with the help of Feedipedia, and perhaps conversations (online, via phone, or in person) with the original breeder, you will be able to find suitable local resources for your rabbits. I wish you all the best.
 
Should have included general guidelines to look for:
Protein: 12-14% for maintenance of adult stock, non-breeding, 15-18% for growth, breeding bucks and lactating does.
Fiber: At least 10-25% fiber, adults need more, at least 20-25%. Too little fiber may lead to digestive issues, too much fiber may fill the gut with low-nutrition food, and slow digestion time, providing less total nutrition. at optimum rates, the gut can empty and refill in only 18 hours or so, allowing maximum nutrition.
Fats: Need is generally low, 1-5% at most
Scroll down through the article at https://www.researchgate.net/profil...nload/nutritional-requirements-of-rabbits.pdf and you'll find a chart listing what amounts of each nutrient you are looking for. You can compare these to the tables at Feedipedia to use as feeding guidelines.
 
There is hope. Many people in similar situations, with nothing but locally available feeds, successfully raise rabbits, as apparently the breeder you purchased your stock from is doing. Please forgive us from temperate climates who have our own list of 'known' good foods, and assume that is standard for the rest of the world. There is a fabulous free resource, called Feedipedia. Once you find someone who can help you identify the plants available to you, you can use the search box on Feedipedia to see if that is a food source. They include many tropical feeds. Each page has three tabs near the top, the first is a general description of the plant, the second tab tells about how the plant has been researched and used by species, so scroll down past all the ruminants (cows, goats, sheep), the pigs and poultry to get down to 'Rabbits'. There, you will find any research that has been done specifically for rabbits, and any guidelines developed from that work, such as 'Can be fed up to 40% of the diet' or 'Suitable for maintenance of adult stock but not for growth.' The last tab will have all the actual feed values of that plant, protein, carbs, fats, minerals. https://www.feedipedia.org/

If you can grow sweet potatoes, the leaves are excellent fodder. I am growing some now just for that purpose. According to Feedipedia, fresh sweet potato leaves are actually 16% crude protein, Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) forage | Feedipedia Mulberry leaves grow quickly, and are also very nutritious. White mulberry (Morus alba) | Feedipedia I don't know enough about what plants you have available to you to be of further assistance, but you can spend a little time typing in the search box for foods that you have access to, to see what you can find that will work.

Perhaps someone locally can help identify the plants you have around you, or there may be an online reference for your area about local plants that will help you start to identify what is around you. It is a process, learn one plant at a time, when you find a good one, add it to your feed list. There are so many toxic plants, here as well as there, that it is best to stick to known safe plants, and then add new greens when you are confident they are safe. We once had a black cherry tree fall in our pasture. The animals adored the wilted leaves and ate them greedily, but shortly thereafter they began staggering and foaming at the mouth. Cyanide poisoning from the wilted leaves. It can happen quickly, depending on the type of poison. My neighbor was 'helping' me feed the goats, and fed them all his laurel trimmings when he pruned his shrubbery. Laurel is poisonous, and again, soon we had lethargic and staggering animals. With poisoning, bloating is often not the first symptom, although it may occur further down the process, depending on the type of poison. Some poisons are very fast acting, others attack internal organs and take their time. Any remedy is dependent on the type of poison, so if you find something is poisonous in your area that the bunnies might have gotten into, it might be worth researching any possible treatment, just to be prepared.

It is wonderful that you have found rabbits adapted to your area, and appreciate your efforts to do the best you can for them with the resources available to you. I hope with the help of Feedipedia, and perhaps conversations (online, via phone, or in person) with the original breeder, you will be able to find suitable local resources for your rabbits. I wish you all the best.
Ok.
 
I found an article describing tooth discoloring in rabbits: How to Fix Rabbit Teeth Discoloration (Yellow, Brown, and Black Teeth) This article says black tooth discoloring is because the rabbit has lost the enamel from their teeth, causing the rabbit to be susceptible to infection. I think you should ask your breeder why they feed bread, and what kind. I have been told that if you let a whole grain bread dry out, it can be fed successfully, but I have never tried it myself. Good Luck!
 
You said you had rice. Rice is a type of grass I think/// Someone correct me if wrong.
Can you grow rice seeds so that you can make rice grass for the bunnies to eat? I don't know enough about rice to really say, but that niggles at the back of my mind. Just trying to help. :)
 
You said you had rice. Rice is a type of grass I think/// Someone correct me if wrong.
Can you grow rice seeds so that you can make rice grass for the bunnies to eat? I don't know enough about rice to really say, but that niggles at the back of my mind. Just trying to help. :)
Rabbits can not have rice, but they can have the rice hay, but not as a base feed
 
Does Kangkung (Ipomoea aquatica) grow on your island? The high protein levels are good for fast growing young rabbits and nursing does. (Don't think you want to give tons of it to fully grown buns.) Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) as replacement for guinea grass for growing and lactating rabbits
I don’t grow water spinach but I can get some.
that's what I was wondering about was the rice grass/hay as part of a well-rounded diet. :)
for rice you need a lot of water and flat ground. I don’t have ether (I do have a well but I don’t think thats enough).
I found an article describing tooth discoloring in rabbits: How to Fix Rabbit Teeth Discoloration (Yellow, Brown, and Black Teeth) This article says black tooth discoloring is because the rabbit has lost the enamel from their teeth, causing the rabbit to be susceptible to infection. I think you should ask your breeder why they feed bread, and what kind. I have been told that if you let a whole grain bread dry out, it can be fed successfully, but I have never tried it myself. Good Luck!
I will try to ask the breeder.
 
I found an article describing tooth discoloring in rabbits: How to Fix Rabbit Teeth Discoloration (Yellow, Brown, and Black Teeth) This article says black tooth discoloring is because the rabbit has lost the enamel from their teeth, causing the rabbit to be susceptible to infection. I think you should ask your breeder why they feed bread, and what kind. I have been told that if you let a whole grain bread dry out, it can be fed successfully, but I have never tried it myself. Good Luck!
I sometimes feed part of a slice of whole wheat bread as a supplement/treat. It doesn't need to be dried out; most of the rabbits can't wait to get it.
One of my friends who had Satins that consistently placed at the National ARBA Convention, and was one of the top Satin breeders in the U.S., used to insist on giving her rabbits bread nearly every day (half a slice each, I think it was).
 

Latest posts

Back
Top