Supplements for stress?

[RedEftFarm]

I am getting some rabbits next week that have been shipped across the country. They have been passed from one person to another over the last month. They are about three months old now so I think they will handle the stress of traveling and being exposed to other rabbits better than adults but I expect they will still be very stressed. In my animal science class that I took about ten years ago so I may not remember right but we learned that any time you move an animal it causes stress and uses minerals and vitamins from the animals reserves. So can anyone recommend supplements for rabbits that have been stressed? I got a mineral block for them but I would prefer a loose mix. I think I will continue to use pellets for them since I am used to pellets and so are they but obviously since the pellets are for a maintenance diet they won't have enough minerals to build up the reserves that they need. I plan on just giving them grass hay for the first day or two and then adding in the pellets. I was interested to see the earlier thread on seaweed but I had read that it has too much salt or maybe it was iodine. It will be really interesting to see how they do. I would really appreciate any advise. Thanks, Tracy

 

[Anntann]

I would put them on an electrolyte in the water. fairly weak..I use Vital at 1/8tsp per gallon. I've been using that on chickens for years and have never lost a chick to shipping stress. I started using it on the rabbits when we started with them, and it does seem to help. Balances out the system. or helps, anyway.

otherwise...oatmeal really seems to be helpful for some reason. bland, nothing harmful, easy to digest. Also hay. a nice bed of grassy hay would give them a "oo. food. lots of food" without overloading the system. Knowing they have food seems to comfort every animal when shipped.