Maintain Healthy Diet

Question
I have been purchasing Oxbow pdts (hay and pellets) for my pet rabbit.  In addition to that I also feed greens, apples and carrots.  I realized that in the morning, there will be curshed sift stools and I believe it is due to the carrot which I start feeding recently.

I like to find you from you, hope you can give me advise whether it is good to feed pet rabbit greens and veg and fruits.  I have friends telling me just give them hay and pellets is good as greens tend to have a potential risk of worms and bacteria.  What is your opintion.

I also have friends who told me feeding herbs such as basil and dabdelion is good.  Is it true?  How much and how often to give?

Now that I know carrot is no good, can I don't give carrot now?  I also give celery, maybe the whole stalk is too much?  What is the best amt to give.

Also I read from some health website, we have to be consistent with what we feed and feed the same.  Say if I feed Oxbow tim hay all this while and due to shortage of supply I bought another brand of Timothy hay for my rabbit to eat.  Will this cause indigestion problem?

Pls advise me asap as I wish to fix the soft stools problem soonest possible.  many thanks.


Answer
As long as you wash greens well, they are actually generally a very good part of the diet. Herbs are also an excellent addition. For all greens, start out very slow. Just give very small portions at first, and slowly increase them. As long as you are giving a good mix of different greens and herbs, they can make up a pretty large amount of the diet. However, a rabbit knowledgeable vet should be involved in helping to decide what mix is best. Like people, different rabbits have different dietary needs. If you are having a hard time figuring out what amounts to feed, the best bet is to just feed a good mix of different greens and herbs as 1/4 of the total diet. The rest should be pellets and all the hay the rabbit wants.

You can also add some rolled oats to help with the soft stools. A heaping spoonful a day is fine.

It may not even be soft stools, though. Rabbits do have soft pellets called cecotropes. These are normally eaten by the rabbit to finish the digestive process, but sometimes a rabbit misses one.

Celery is not the best as it is not very nutritious, and the stringy parts can cause problems. Leafy greens and herbs like romain lettuce, bib lettuce, butter lettuce, carrot greens, spinach greens, beet greens, dandelion, parlsey, etc. are the better.

Fruits should be feed in limited amounts only, as the sugars in them are fattening.

All new types of food should be fed in small portions first. Watch the rabbit closely for signs of changes in stools or how it acts. Some rabbits have reactions to certain foods. A few cannot even handle any fresh foods in their diet. Since the only new addition to the diet that you told me about was  the carrots, if it is a reaction to one of the foods, it would most likely be the carrots.

Switching brands of hay is generally not a problem, though suddenly switching types of hay can be.