Thursday, October 16, 2014

Rabbit Feeding Update

I hope this list helps other local rabbit keepers. So far on the list of edibles are--

...cucumbers & the leaves 
...bananas, plus leaves, and cut up trunk
...strawberries & the leaves
...papaya
...apples
...tomatoes, ripe or green
...carrot tops & roots
...anything in cabbage family (cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)
...any of the bok choy types
...celery, stalks & leaves
...oranges & tangerines (I remove the rind) 
...sugar cane, cut up and split, and the young leaves
...radish & daikon, leaves & roots
...turnips, leaves & roots 
...mango fruit
...lettuces
...seeds and pulp from pumpkins and winter squash
...flesh of pumpkins and winter squash, will eat a little but they are not crazy about it
...zucchini squash
...fresh corn on the cob, they will eat the cob too
...beets & the leaves
...chard
...sweet potatoes & the leaves
...pipinola leaves and fruits
...thimbleberry leaves and fruits
...young leaves of pumpkin and squashes, but not crazy about them 
...false staghorn fern, young leaves- not crazy about it but they will eat a bit
...ginger flowers, plus a little of the leaves occasionally 
...dill
...parsley
...various basils
...mint
...cilantro
...green bean leaves
.. honohono grass 
...greenleaf desmodium 
...mamaki leaves
...plantain (the weed)
...ti leaves
...guava fruit
...oregano
...yacon leaves
...rose bush trimmings
...lemon rinds
...loquat leaves and they eat the bark off the twigs
...blue snakeweed
...pennywort
...assorted grasses including molasses and kikuyu, but not a lot 

Recently I've introduced some new items for their review. Accepted are: 
...young bamboo leaves
...starfruit
...cooked taro corm. Some like it, others don't.
...lilokoi, they prefer it cooked and eat the entire fruit. 
...green beans. Most just take nibbles off and on. Others reject them. I will try cooking them next to see if that makes a difference. 
...noni fruit only if ripe a soft. They won't eat the leaves. 

I'm still trying new foods as they become available. 

Just because I have these items on their "will eat" doesn't mean that they wolf them down equally. Some items are definitely preferred, like sweet potato leaves, mango, cooked lilokoi, kale, flowers. Others are just nibbled on -- green beans, bamboo leaves, pumpkin. And plenty of items are in between. I've learned that rabbits like a mix and eat a bit of this, then a bit of that, and so on. There are only a few items that they will gorge on, like mangos and cucumbers. 


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