Suggestions on bunny pellets please

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Mariah

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Hi guys,

So currently my doe is eating about 1/3 of a cup AM and PM of Martins little friends original rabbit food. She LOVES it! They are the round pellets as she wouldn't eat the long pellets anymore so I had to gradually switch her to that. Anyone else feed this? She also gets a sprinkle of Quaker oats in her PM feed, unlimited Timothy hay and water. I also give her a a bit of alpha hay AM and PM as a treat.

My little 8 week old is eating the long pellets that he came with from the breeder. About 1/3 cup AM and PM. He usually does not finish his pellets though. Not sure on the brand. I need to start transferring him to another food but I'm not sure which one. Can he be on the Martins original little friends food? Or does he need to be on a "baby food" until hes older? He also has unlimited Timothy hay with alpha hay, water and a sprinkle of the large flake Quaker oats AM and PM. He seems to eat the oats first and then snack on the pellets.

Please let me know!

Thanks :)
 
I don't know that brand, so can't help with that, but bunnies need alfalfa pellets until about 6 months old. He really should have pellets not oats, so at the least I'd reduce the amount of oats. Many people here report their bunnies like Oxbow pellets, which come in young & adult formulas.
 
Like I said, I don't know what kind of pellets hes on. The martins pellets that my doe eats are alpha as she wouldn't touch the other ones which were Timothy based. As well, he gets a sprinkle of oats, not a lot, just a taste. The breeder fed all her bunnies this way.

Suggestions please?
 
I switched my Neville and Luna to Oxbow Pellets for Young Rabbits. It is a alfalfa based pellet which my little ones will get until 6-7 months and then gradually be switched to Timothy based pellets. Right now I feed my adults Zupreem. Have had no problems with either Oxbow or Zupreem.

K:)
 
my bun doesn't like pellets of any kind so I blend them in a coffee grinder and make homemade treat with them.

I use dried craisins, raisins, dried papaya, pineapple etc

they love them this way
 
Martins is a really good food as well. Dont think its available in the states.
I feed it to my guys right now, and have fed the martins for years.

However, the "Martins little friends ORIGINAL" should only be fed to rabbits 6 months and younger, so its great for you 8wk old. This is an alfalfa based pellet with a higher protein, how old is your other bunny? If its older then 6 months should be switched onto the "Martin little friends timothy adult rabbit food".

Continually feeding an adult rabbit high protein items like alfalfa hay and alfalfa based pellets can actually seriously harm their kidneys.
 
Watermelons, thank you! That is what I needed to hear! I will stop on the way home from work today and get the "adult" brand for my doe and I'll gradually mix in the "original" for my baby.

Thank you!

Also, watermelons and everyone else---> is there any difference to the round pellet vs the long pellets????
 
Mariah wrote:
Watermelons, thank you! That is what I needed to hear! I will stop on the way home from work today and get the "adult" brand for my doe and I'll gradually mix in the "original" for my baby.

Thank you!

Also, watermelons and everyone else---> is there any difference to the round pellet vs the long pellets????
Glad to hear you got the info you needed.

Regarding shape, I don't think there is any difference. I'm from the States and only have seen pellets that are long. But truly don't think there is a bit of difference other than the shape of the pellet.

K:)
 
Zrabbits! Ok that's good to know. I was reluctant to go to the round type of pellets but when Kiwi decided she no longer liked them I had to make that decision.

Also---> how much harm could I have done feeding her the alpha based pellets. She's just over a year now. She's been on them for a couple of months :O She also gets a small spoonful of critical care everynight... She also is not fond of her Timothy hay... What should I do? I'm worried she will stop eating.
 
It's only been a couple months. I wouldn't sweat the fact that she was still on alfalfa pellets at one year. Now it's time to change it slowly to timothy pellets. Regarding the hay, can you get orchard hay. My bunnies like it and it's good to coax bunnies to eat hay because it's softer. Coax her with something like that. I understand your worry regarding bunnies who stop eating.

Can you get some wheat grass. That help me get my bunnies to eat. It really activates their digestive system and then I could really get them to eat what I gave them. It helped my babies really get into hay.

It's sometimes a struggle to get a finicky bunny to eat, but I know there has to be someone out there that have ways to get a picky bunny to eat. I have piggies so there is no problem eating here.

Wishing you luck.

K:)
 
Cookie wasn't a fan of hay when we brought him home... I honestly don't think he'd ever had it before... He would burrow and dig in it but wouldn't eat it... And then! We started giving him oats every night and sprinkling them in his hay... He goes nuts for oats and the act of foraging and digging through the hay for the oats, he just started eating hay too! After about 6 weeks of that (guadually adding less and les oats so he had to really digs more to find them) he started eating tons of hay... He also increased his hay eating when we switched to the crazy tasty hay... Oh man he loves that stuff! Lol
 
Hi zrabbits, I was just at the pet store looking at the wheat grass hay and orchard hay. I didn't know if I should get it, but now I know that it's ok to do so. I will pick some up tomorrow :) Currently, both bunnies are eating western Timothy hay mixed with alpha that I've added in to get them to eat.

The orchard and wheat hay- can bunnies eat that all the time or is it only up to a certain age? Can my little 8 week old have that stuff too?
 
The orchard grass will be fine for your bunnies to eat all the time. Wheat hay as well. Wheat grass, that I mentioned before and I grow year round, is given as a treat, especially at night when I want them to focus on the hay. I give about 6-8 individual wheat grass blades to my 1 year olds, and that usually gets them eating their hay. My babies always started out with a blade a day at 7 weeks.

And the oats Liz talks about also does. Forgot the cheerios I feed my bunnies. And foraging in the hat for the oats will also get her eating the hay. I always read Liz's blog about Mr. Cookie.

There are ways to get a bunny to eat. You just have to know the tricks. Wishing you luck.

K:)
 
Oh ok! There is a difference- wheat hay they can eat all the time. Wheat grass as a treat slowly introduced. I'll have to see where I can get the wheat grass from.

I guess I'll start with the orchard hay and see if they both like that.

Thanks for everyones help! :)
 
According to Dr Moore in Rabbit Nutrition ..., some brands of grass-based [ie not alfalfa] pellets actually have more calcium [& sometimes more fat] than do some alfalfa pellets. So it's important to read the labels. For a healthy adult, the calcium should be in the 0.6-1.1% range.

Why is she getting critical care every night?
 
The martins adult bunny food is 0.6 calcium. The original bunny food is 0.9. Would they both then be safe to feed for my 1 year old? I have started switching her over to the adult formula though.

I give her critical care because she had stopped eating and when I took her to the vet, we couldn't find anything wrong with her. She wasent gassy and her teeth were fine. The vet suggested giving her a tiny bit once a day to ensure she was getting all the vital nutrition she needed. She's eating her pellets fine now- even the new kind but I can tell she's depressed. She just lost her friend who she was bonded with for a year. She's not as active as she was and she pouts in a corner. That's why I went and got her a new friend... But she dosent seem to like him too much... Their cages are side by side but sometimes she will try and scratch him through the bars. I know he needs to be neutered before I can really try to bond them- he's only 8 weeks now.

She also gets cisapride once a day to help woth GI motility (was giving it twice) but I'm weaning her down. I'm scared to stop giving it...

What should I do with the critical care and cisapride? Help?
 
I was just wondering about the critical care, not suggesting it should be stopped.

As for the pellets, I'd go ahead & switch. The bunny food would be ok for her, but the new is better.
 
Lakecondo-->is there any negative effects to keep giving it to her? She gobbles it up everynight. I'm also wondering because she dosent eat her Timothy hay well, if the critical care would help supplement that?

I did buy her and the little one some orchard hay today. I'm waiting to see if they eat it overnight.
 

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