From: "Amy Young Leith" <alyoung@cherry.ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: bunny questions
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 11:37:38 -0500

In article <22985@drutx.ATT.COM> njl@drutx.ATT.COM (LaRocheNJ) writes:
[...]
>giving them to him.  (Get the chewable type from a health food store and
>crumble it over his food.  After a few days, he'll probably beg for them.)

It's great to HAVE to give him something and have him beg for them
because he LIKES them.  =)

>Depends on your definition of moderation.  I'd give no more than something
>about a 1/4-inch cubed of sweets.  It isn't so much the sweets hurt the
>rabbit as that they replace nutritious food.  An older bun, especially,
>needs very good nutrition.

Dink takes off a 1/4 inch cube of my FINGER when I feed him something
he likes.  =) 

>However, if he never frisks when let out of his cage, something is wrong.
>I would suspect some malnutrition--vegetables and fruits are not good
>nutrition.  I don't give a rabbit more than about 1/2-inch of carrot a day
>or the equivalent in other vegetables and fruit.  And sweets easily create
>some malnutrition in older rabbits.

1/2 inch of carrot???  Whew, I'm doing something wrong.  Dink will eat
a WHOLE carrot in a flash if given to him.  

I noticed that since he has unlimited pellets, that he was gaining a
bit.  Probably 1/4 pound, putting him close to the 6 lb limit the vet
said I should heed for his size.  So, I started rationing his pellets.
I know him well, and found out that it's quite easy to wait until he's
hungry to feed him, he lets me know clearly when he's hungry, and I
give him a few tablespoons of pellets.  The first few times I gave him
more and carefully noted how much he ate, and now I give him small
servings twice a day instead of a lot at once.  

I know this sounds funny, but Dink eats EVERYTHING.  He eats paper, he
eats fabric, yarn, carpet, cardboard, cords, books, you name it.  As
for food he'll eat anything, too.  He loves Rice Chex cereal.  He
loves junk food (which we try to not do because of the weight thing,
but already we feed him too much by these standards).  He loves
veggies: carrots, brocolli, radishes, lettuce.  Basically, if he can
chew it up and swallow it, he'll do it. 

Funny bun story:  I buy books and out of laziness use the receipt for
a bookmark.  I was laying on my stomach reading once, and he came up
in front of me, and saw the little edge sticking out of the book,
reached forward and grasped it and jerked this long receipt out of the
book, and just like a billy goat in, in, in his mouth it went and
*poof* it was gone.  I just sat there stunned at the time, and then
burst out laughing, because he was looking at me as if he were saying,
"Well THERE.  That's what you get if you don't pay attention to me!!"

I should have named him billy, as in goat, instead of Dinkum.

amy
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