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Old April 1st, 2008, 12:03 PM
Kellye B Kellye B is offline
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Depending on just where you live, I can't say that I'm all that suprised to hear that the vets in your area don't know a thing about rabbits. Rabbit medicine is only now becoming a fairly well-known branch here in the states (there are still some places here that have that same problem). There are a few things that you can try to see if you can fix the problem. First off, I would stop using the baby wipes to clean the cage. He could be having a reaction to something in the wipes solution. Second, when you're cleaning out his cage, make sure to not clean out the cecotrophes from his bedding (these are the stools that almost resemble a really small, wet bunch of grapes)...these stools are actually not stools at all. They are a by-product of the cecum (a part of the intestinal tract) that are packed with vitamins, minerals, and the good healthy bacteria that rabbits need to ingest in order to maintain a healthy intestinal tract. The Genesis pellets are a good quality pellet, so there's no worry there. Parsley is good, but you want to make sure to provide a good variety of greens. Different greens offer different vitamins and minerals. Some good choices are: romaine lettuce, bok choy, watercress, kale, escarole, celery (cut into small pieces so that bunny can't choke on any strings), basil, cilantro, thyme, dandylion greens and flowers, etc. You can also offer red and yellow bell peppers. Carrots are one thing that need to be offered more as a treat than anything else due to their sweetness. If he's having trouble passing stools, then he's definitely not getting enough fiber or roughage in his diet, which definitely means he needs more hay. What kind of hay are you feeding him? The number one recommended type of hay for a rabbit over the age of 6 months old, is timothy hay (always free-feed hay). If you're trying timothy, and he's just not taking it, you can try an orchard grass blend. A lot of rabbits prefer the orchard grass because it gives them the same fiber and protein of the timothy hay, and also provides them more seeds and grain than timothy. As a result of the extra seed, it's a little sweeter to them. If you absolutely cannot get him to eat either, then I'd try alfalfa (even though it's not recommended, hay is too critical to a healthy bunny...I'd much rather feed a bunny alfalfa hay around the clock than not have him eating any hay). Also, how much are you feeding him with the pellets? It could be that he's just getting too much of the pelleted feed during the day, and so he just isn't hungry for the hay. Before you do anything else, I would start by cutting back on the pellets to see if that gets him to eat more hay. I hope it helps.
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