Brown's Tropical Carnival Rabbit Food

[katherine at sacred stories]

I buy my timothy hay and Oxbow timothy hay based pellets online from the Drs. Foster and Smith site. They sent me a coupon for "Brown's Tropical Carnival Rabbit Food." They are advertising it as an ultra healthy, gourmet food especially designed for pet rabbits. They say rabbits love it.

They say the pellets are a blend of timothy hay and alphalfa and that it includes bits of vegetables and fruits that are healthy for rabbits. Does anyone know if this is really healthy or another one of those foods sold that are really very bad for rabbits.

It's unbelievable to me how many treats and foods that are sold for rabbits are really toxic for them. :?

Thanks.

 

[Wooly Hopper]

I'm not a nutritional expert and might be a little 'jaded' here but I don't trust anything that says it has "blended vegs and fruits'.
I don't know the process they use to dehydrate. I don't know what minerals and vits that process can deplete and what is 'added' to make up that depletion.

I trust fresh veggies, fresh fruits, fresh greens and herbs.

 

[mdith4him]

I've never heard of this, but I looked it up online. The name doesn't sound very "gourmet," and it looks like there are seeds in it from the picture on Amazon. As far as I know, rabbits shouldn't have seeds of any kind. Here's the ingredient list. I bolded the some items that I would be wary of. Most of them, I don't even know what it is! There's a lot of fruit, which is okay in small portions, but this looks like too much.

Alfalfa Meal, Timothy Hay Meal, Wheat Middlings, Ground Oats, Soybean Meal, Ground Barley, Oat Groats, Corn, Papaya, Kibbled Corn, Wheat, Green Peas, Raisins, Banana, Potatoes, Peanuts, Pumpkin Seed, Carrots, Lentils, Pineapple, Apples, Corn Gluten Meal, Soy Oil, Di-Calcium Phosphate, Dried Brewers Yeast Fermentation Product, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Salt, Vitamin A Palmitate, Cholecalciferol (Source of Vitamin D3), Alpha Tocopherol (Source of Vitamin E), Ascorbic Acid (Source of Vitamin C), Thiamine Mononitrate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate (Source of Vitamin K), Choline Chloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Niacin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Copper Proteinate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Chloride, Manganese Proteinate, Iron Methionine, Zinc Proteinate, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Oryzae Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Product, Dried Lactobacillus Bulgaricus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Lactis Fermentation Product, Sulphur Dioxide (a preservative), FD&C Color and Artificial Flavors.

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

Meredith--thank you very much for taking the time to look that up. Oh my goodness...those ingrediants don't look good. I think the advertisement also used the term "all natural" and that doesn't seem to be the case!

It really doesn't seem right that there are so many products out there for rabbits that are advertised as "healthy" and are, in fact, toxic.

Wooly Hopper--Yes! I think you're right. Trust fresh veggies and fruit and timothy hay

 

[Thumperina]

katherine at sacred stories wrote:

It really doesn't seem right that there are so many products out there for rabbits that are advertised as "healthy" and are, in fact, toxic.

Would you please share a little more about toxic rabbit food? Where can I read about it? Thank you!

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

I'm not an expert but I'm learning that many of the foods that are marketed for rabbits are not really good for them. I used the term "toxic" to mean products that are not healthy for rabbits in the long term and do not promote maximum life span. I mean they may cause disease or injury over the long term and don't necessarily mean that they cause immediate injury.

That said, I'm learning that many rabbit foods and treats contain corn and seeds and nuts and sugar that rabbits' digestive systems can't process and will in the long or short term lead to life threatening problems like GI Stasis.

In addition, some foods do not have the balance of protein and nutrients that rabbits need. Some foods, developed for the meat industry, cause rabbits to gain weight rapidly--not healthy for a pet rabbit where the goal is a long and happy life.

Again, I'm not an expert yet. There's good information on rabbit diet in the Library Section here.