Carrot and lettuce

Question
Hi there. Our new mini lop ear boy, Carrot, is eating carrots, broccoli, pellets, apple and some lettuce, but I understand that he should not eat lettuce. Why is this? And he is apparently only 10 weeks old, so I also understand that he shouldnt be eating veg yet either. Can you please advise? Many thanks.

Answer
Hello Tracy,

It seems like he has a pretty good diet.

Iceburg lettuce is not recommended for rabbits because it it mostly water and has no real nutritional value. The extra water can cause the rabbits to have diarrhea and die from dehydration. Also, iceburg lettuce will fill the rabbit's stomach, but won't give it real nutrients, so it is almost a waste, and won't do the rabbit any good. Rabbits need to constantly have their GI tract moving, to have energy, and they can become very low on energy with lettuce in their diet. Many rabbit owners have not had problems feeding iceburg lettuce to their rabbits, and romaine lettuce should be okay for most rabbits.

Veggies are also fine for young rabbits as long as you watch them for diarrhea and soft stools. It is recommended to wait, but as with lettuce, many rabbit owners have reported not having problems with veggies at a young age, after all, in the wild, a rabbit goes straight to veggies. I would only advice to use the carrots and apple sparingly, as treats. Using dark green, leafy vegetables is best. The recommended way to feed vegetables to your rabbit each day is to give three separate types of vegetables a day, and to vary the types of them. You can even take pellets out of their diet if they get a good supply of veggies, because pellets were created to supplement the nutrients in the veggies, but a mix is just as good.

I know this isn't a part of your question, but as for treats, including carrots and apples, fruits are favorites, but I don't suggest using dried fruit, because the concentration of sugar becomes very high, and the rabbit could get addicted. I also don't suggest using store bought treats for rabbits that include seeds or cereals, because these are really not good for the rabbits.

I hope I helped! Let me know anything else you need.
Krystal