New diet plan

[Ponyta]

We're trying to find something that works for my budget, their tummies and my vacuum, and it's not proving easy. Although, I'm not sure why I'm worried, it's rumored that Lily ate half a rug once and some how is still alive.

At the moment they're on just Timothy pellets. I was going to switch them to grass/alfalfa/timothy hay and pellets, with no veggies, but now I'm thinking that pellets (which they prefer), a lot of veggies and some hay cubes might be a better alternative. I'm not concerned about their teeth, as they're both chewers and have plenty of apple sticks and cardboard to munch. Although I am concerned about their gut moving everything the way it should. This leads me to two questions:

1. How can I make my own hay cubes?
a. Can I make pellet cookies that I can mold into daily servings that wont be unhealthy? I saw some recipes but those were more or less snacks.

2. If they're not getting a lot of loose hay in their diet, how much veggie matter should I use to compensate?

When I move I'm going to put them on linoleum, but until then we're going to have to figure something out that doesn't involve loose hay in the carpet. It's impossible to clean up. It's not that I LIKE the carpet, it's just a rental and my vacuum keeps dying.

I don't want to do anything that's going to compromise their health, though. Any advice from those who feed only pellets and veggies? Anyone who's made their own treats/pellet cakes/hay cubes?

So far they seem to be doing well. They haven't gained or lost any weight, they are pooping great. Lily had light, light, light poops when I first got her, but now they're both at a coca puff brown.

 

[tamsin]

I would never advise a diet that cut out hay. Your bunnies like pellets and hay cubes because they are the sweeties of the bunnies diet. The tastiest bits. But as the responsible adult sometimes you have to be mean and say, nope you can't just have sweeties, you have to eat your greens too (which in bunny diet means hay)!

I would never advise cutting out hay from a bunnies diet. It's not just about teeth, it provides the mass of high fibre, low calorie food they need for their gut to work efficiently. It also the cheapest part! If you want even cheaper and less messy then the best replacement would be fresh grass. Though you do need access to somewhere to pick this - which is more difficult if you don't have any outside space.

Green can't completely compensate for hay because they are higher in calories and also lack the wearing action. Sticks also don't work as well. Yes, they are nice and rough but your bun would need to eat a large volume to mimic the wear pattern of hay. Likewise cardboard, not rough enough and also unless they are actually ingesting it they aren't wearing their back teeth.

A large portion of hay should be the basis, whether you want to then top that up with a small quantity of pellets or a large quantity of veg is up to you. I prefer veg just because it's more natural and provides more enrichment. Feeding a combination of the two (a very small portion of pellets) and a medium amount of veg is another option.

 

[Ponyta]

How would you advise keeping the hay mess to a minimum then? I have access to hay, and plenty of it, that's not the problem.

 

[Myia09]

You can get a hay rack, keep it in the litter box? Hay I know gets everywhere! But hay should be the MAIN staple of EVERY bunnies diet and there is no real way around it.

Do you have a shop vac? Most rabbit owners need them to clean up the hay! I have a shop vac that is my life saver. Other than that, it may just require some hands-on cleaning duty!

 

[tamsin]

I can sympathise with the hay issue, it gets everywhere!

A box with a tunnel (or two) into it is probably the best way to minimise the spread. If possible raise the tunnel entrance an inch or two and that will really minimise how much gets out of the box.

You could try it out with cardboard but they'll probably munch it pretty quick, something simple with some plywood will be a bit harder wearing. Think square for tunnels - much simpler to make that rectangles. A lift off lid is handy for restocking the hay.

 

[tamsin]

I can sympathise with the hay issue, it gets everywhere!

A box with a tunnel (or two) into it is probably the best way to minimise the spread. If possible raise the tunnel entrance an inch or two and that will really minimise how much gets out of the box.

You could try it out with cardboard but they'll probably munch it pretty quick, something simple with some plywood will be a bit harder wearing. Think square for tunnels - much simpler to make that cicles. A lift off lid is handy for restocking the hay.

 

[itsazoo]

confining the hay to a wooden box worked best for me, it still finds its way out and make a bit of a mess when they dig it out of the box, but I keep the boxe over their litterboxes so the hay just ends up in the litterbox, and I can remove it from the litterbox daily, this has cut down my hay mess a LOT, I just get a light tracking now from getting the hay TO the box lol

 

[Ponyta]

Thank you for the suggestions! I'm going to try making them a bigger litter box (may help solve Lilys big butt problems) out of corrugulated plastic, and then putting a cardboard box (like a hay rack) on the end. Maybe that will kill two birds with one stone. Lily can dig all she wants, and nothing will go to far.

I would like to have a grate over it, but right now that doesn't seem possible. Everything is going to be thrown out before the big move, and re purchased after, since I can't afford to move their panels. So buying an extra large litter box with grate isn't in the cards, just like I'm holding off making a proper bottom to their cage. We'll just have to make due with what we've got.