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

[Cosima]

If you have wheat berries, start growing fodder for them since grass is not readily available. You could also grow a rabbit garden. Kale, Swiss Chard, parsley, carrots, alfalfa, etc... (Give them the carrot greens. Carrot pieces sparingly as a treat.)
It sounds like they are not getting near enough nutrition. Old fashioned oats and BOSS can also help supplement but don't give them too much.
I do feed my rabbits pellets, but they also get all of the above.

the problem is that all the plants you said don’t grow in the tropics. I will try to grow sweet potatoes.

Oh goodness! Yes. Stop feeding it to them immediately.
"White snakeroot. All parts are poisonous, especially to dogs, horses, rabbits. Wild and domestic cherry. Leaves and stems are highly toxic."

I’m so happy that we found the problem.

 

[Preitler]

What on earth. Rabbits don't eat leaves my friend

Hay. Hay, hay, hay. Maybe pellets. Switch up your feed NOW. That is why your rabbits are dying.

Actually, rabbits do eat leafs. A lot. They tend to eat more leafy stuff than anything else, if you count grass blades and weeds as leafs. tree leafs are fair game whenever they can get to it.
Hay is nothing natural, it's a substitute that is convinient for us, and luckily quite healthy for the rabbits.

There potentially might be an issue with some indonasian plants, rabbits evolved in europe so i would read up on local sources what could be a problem. Other than that, leafs are fine, i feed a lot of willow and other stuff.

EDIT: somehow missed the next two pages of the thread, anyway, I wonder how you would percieve central europe, the environment and climate here, the pictures you posted are pretty much what people here expect from a vaccation far, far away, must be different actually living there .

 

[arachyd]

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.

 

[ThunderHill]

If you want to put these two pictures through your pant id app it would be nice.

Hi! This is what the app said:
First picture:


Second picture:

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?

 

[MaggieJ]

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

 

[Scooter1A]

The breeder I got my rabbits from has around 50 healthy adult rabbits and doesn’t give them hay.

I find that hard to believe. Do what has been advised for you. Buy hay and if you can't afford it, don't get any more rabbits.

 

[Scooter1A]

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.

 

[ladysown]

but then they would be blotted.

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.

 

[ladysown]

I find that hard to believe. Do what has been advised for you. Buy hay and if you can't afford it, don't get any more rabbits.

if rabbits required hay to be healthy, my rabbits would all be dead. All you need is a good long-stem fibre. A good pellet will have that.

 

[ladysown]

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.

 

[Ducklove74]

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.

 

[Robochelle]

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

 

[Ducklove74]

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

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

the problem is that all the plants you said don’t grow in the tropics. I will try to grow sweet potatoes.

I’m so happy that we found the problem.

Don't make sweet potatoes their main diet
https://www.rabbitcaretips.com/can-..., sweet potatoes,need either of these things.

 

[MaggieJ]

Don't make sweet potatoes their main diet
https://www.rabbitcaretips.com/can-..., sweet potatoes,need either of these things.

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.

 

[Scooter1A]

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.

I can see that this person is trying their best and was probably given bad information. How frustrating.

 

[Scooter1A]

if rabbits required hay to be healthy, my rabbits would all be dead. All you need is a good long-stem fibre. A good pellet will have that.

My understanding is they have to chew to keep their teeth healthy since they are constantly growing. Am I wrong?

 

[MaggieJ]

My understanding is they have to chew to keep their teeth healthy since they are constantly growing. Am I wrong?

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.

 

[Buknee]

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.

When I attempt to get this free app, it will only offer a free 7 day trial. Am I missing something?

 

[jaxmarblebuns]

They are not bloated. I am considering getting pellets so they can get all the nutrition they need.

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.