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chaz
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Location: South Oxfordshire, England
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23-05-2011, 10:07 AM

His teeth haven't got any worse.

Got to say I'm a happy bunny.

In September it must of been (will check later) I took Drew to dental week or month I can't remember which it was, and the vet noticed that he had spurs start to appear on his teeth, not enough to be causing any problems, or even enough that they could take any off, but I was told to keep an eye out on them incase of any problems, well I took him into RAW today, and I asked them to check his teeth, and I was told the same thing, and checking on the notes on Drew it seems that they haven't got worse over the months, so something is being done right! But we've still got to keep an eye on them incase in the future they do start to cause problems. But right now I'm pleased with it all, fingers crossed were able to keep them how they are now without the need of him going under for a dental.
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aliwin
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25-05-2011, 09:29 AM
Is he a good hay eater Chaz? Glad they're not getting any worse.
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krlyr
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25-05-2011, 09:46 AM
That's good news I had four bunnies with dental problems so a good diet was a high priority. One was very bad and needed dentals every 4-6 weeks initially, but with diet change we got that down to every 6 months eventually The others ended up not needing any dental work despite their teeth looking a bit iffy originally - well, 2 had their incisors out but never needed work on the molars.
Firstly I really upped the hay in their diet. To encourage them to eat more, they got various types - meadow hay from a farm (a lot fresher than petshop hay), timothy hay, grass hay, oat hay etc., not just different types but different cuts too. At the time there was a good store that sold short cut hays like timothy, which was fab for the ones with no incisors. Rather than putting a big pile in, I'd put smaller amounts and top up throughout the day - the curiousity of this "new" food often encouraged them to eat more than they would with a flattened pile they'd already had a nibble at in the morning.
They also did hay cubes - they actually sold bags of the broken cubes which were perfect for the incisorless ones as they were small enough pieces to eat with just their molars. I cut down on the rabbit pellets they had to build up a bigger hunger for hay, plus mixed the pellets in with the timothy hay pellets that this shop sold too, so again, encouraging more hay in the diet. They got small amounts of dried grass, like Readigrass, but not too much as this is higher in protein than hay. I switched to Science Selective pellets as they apparently encouraged better toothwear than smaller pellets due to their shape - not sure how much of a difference it made but they liked the taste anyway.
I also provided fresh grass daily too. They were indoor rabbits so I grew grass in litter trays which I then gave them access to (didn't leave it permanently as they'd just dig up the dirt), plus I would pick fresh grass - just small amounts frequently so it was eating quickly, rather than a big pile sitting there all day to ferment.
Their vegetables consisted mostly of dark green leafy veg to encourage grinding of the teeth. Carrot tops, rather than carrot, curly kale, cauliflower greens, romaine lettuce, etc. - cut into strips for the incisorless bunnies. I also gave leafy herbs, e.g. curly parsley, and would dry out nettles for nettle hay.
The one who did have his incisors would also get apple tree branches to rip up as apparently they chew the bark with their molars too.
Not only did all this roughage really help their teeth but it made for healthy digestive systems too
The shop I used isn't around but there's a few who've done similar, e.g. The Hay Experts is one I know of.
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chaz
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26-05-2011, 09:07 AM
Originally Posted by aliwin View Post
Is he a good hay eater Chaz? Glad they're not getting any worse.
Yeah he is, Drew lives to eat lol, its what the vet always asks, and I have to laugh, as there is no stopping him eating I'm surprised that he's not overweight, suppose its a good thing that I restrict his pellets eh, he has some veg, and I always make sure that he has hay in his rack (he also has some in his litter tray), I kinda use the guide on the burgess pack (but not with their hay) of feeding the rabbits rougly equal amount of pellets as the size of their head (sounds wierd eh), and giving them the amount of hay in a day thats roughly equal to their body, but I make sure that they have at least that amount but they more then often eat more, I go through at least two decent sized bags of hay a week with them.

Originally Posted by krlyr View Post
That's good news I had four bunnies with dental problems so a good diet was a high priority. One was very bad and needed dentals every 4-6 weeks initially, but with diet change we got that down to every 6 months eventually The others ended up not needing any dental work despite their teeth looking a bit iffy originally - well, 2 had their incisors out but never needed work on the molars.
Firstly I really upped the hay in their diet. To encourage them to eat more, they got various types - meadow hay from a farm (a lot fresher than petshop hay), timothy hay, grass hay, oat hay etc., not just different types but different cuts too. At the time there was a good store that sold short cut hays like timothy, which was fab for the ones with no incisors. Rather than putting a big pile in, I'd put smaller amounts and top up throughout the day - the curiousity of this "new" food often encouraged them to eat more than they would with a flattened pile they'd already had a nibble at in the morning.
They also did hay cubes - they actually sold bags of the broken cubes which were perfect for the incisorless ones as they were small enough pieces to eat with just their molars. I cut down on the rabbit pellets they had to build up a bigger hunger for hay, plus mixed the pellets in with the timothy hay pellets that this shop sold too, so again, encouraging more hay in the diet. They got small amounts of dried grass, like Readigrass, but not too much as this is higher in protein than hay. I switched to Science Selective pellets as they apparently encouraged better toothwear than smaller pellets due to their shape - not sure how much of a difference it made but they liked the taste anyway.
I also provided fresh grass daily too. They were indoor rabbits so I grew grass in litter trays which I then gave them access to (didn't leave it permanently as they'd just dig up the dirt), plus I would pick fresh grass - just small amounts frequently so it was eating quickly, rather than a big pile sitting there all day to ferment.
Their vegetables consisted mostly of dark green leafy veg to encourage grinding of the teeth. Carrot tops, rather than carrot, curly kale, cauliflower greens, romaine lettuce, etc. - cut into strips for the incisorless bunnies. I also gave leafy herbs, e.g. curly parsley, and would dry out nettles for nettle hay.
The one who did have his incisors would also get apple tree branches to rip up as apparently they chew the bark with their molars too.
Not only did all this roughage really help their teeth but it made for healthy digestive systems too
The shop I used isn't around but there's a few who've done similar, e.g. The Hay Experts is one I know of.
Well its good news for Drew, not so for Harmony who I have now been told her whose teeth were great last time seem not to be now, sometimes I don't know why I bother having rabbits .

I've heard of hay experts and have looked on their website, but I haven't actually got around to ordering from them yet ops: and I use to grow grass until one day I had the dogs knock it over in the morning, and then Drew get loose in the evening, but when I find somewhere safe for it I'll be growing some more I think, Drew loves it, funny thing is though when I first got him I had to teach him to actually eat grass which is something that I never thought I'd have to do!
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krlyr
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26-05-2011, 09:31 AM
I certainly wouldn't feed a rabbit the same amount of pellets as their head size - with mine it was much more like a small egg cup's worth really. I know several people don't even bother with pellets, but as my buns were indoor rabbits I wanted to make sure they weren't missing out on vitamins from fresh grass, and also vitamin D from sunlight.
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chaz
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26-05-2011, 09:52 AM
I do with mine, its about a muller rice pot of food a day, which I feed once a day, as I know with mine that its gone within minutes, so it encourages them to eat more hay throughout the day, which I know that some people don't think is right, but it works for mine, and they always score ideal on the pet-size-ometer thing when going to the vets with this.
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