Fibafirst forage food
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I´ve heard of Fibafirst but never tried it but have read good reviews.
I´ve been buying the Excel Food Cubes which mine are really starting to love. I really like them because they can play with them while they are eating them and it´s great for their teeth. You can use them to replace food but I use it to supplement as it takes them ages to get through one.
I´ve been buying the Excel Food Cubes which mine are really starting to love. I really like them because they can play with them while they are eating them and it´s great for their teeth. You can use them to replace food but I use it to supplement as it takes them ages to get through one.
Yes the fibafirst things are not attractive looking! They look like spiky sticks but thus is because of the long fibre strands or something. It's not expensive either and it says vet recommended. I might bring more into their diet until I totally swap them. It's good on their teeth too
Just been having a look online and looks similsr to the hay cubes I bought. Mine have taken a while to get used to this but suddenly, they are taking more notice and chewing them. I laughed the other night cos I looked at the rug infront of the TV where the spend a lot of time and it was covered in haybits. Houdini had brought what was left of one of the cubes to eat on the rug...little rascal. Great for those little teeth though.
Imbrium
Jennifer
Are you talking about Supreme brand Fibrafirst food? If so, that's one of the top brands of rabbit pellets out there (for pet rabbits) - it's extremely healthy and an excellent choice!
This is it http://www.fibafirst.com/for-rabbits/
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http://www.fibafirst.com/for-rabbits/
Would be nice to see a nutritional break down.
I don't like how alfalfa is second, that to me says high protein high calcium/oxalate content which I wouldn't offer to an adult rabbit. Plus they go the extra mile to add alfalfa protein further down the list.
Would also be nice to see more added vitamins and minerals... which is sort of the point of a lot of people feeling pellets, to round out and "complete" the diet.
Personally, I wouldn't use it.... Way better foods out there.
Would be nice to see a nutritional break down.
I don't like how alfalfa is second, that to me says high protein high calcium/oxalate content which I wouldn't offer to an adult rabbit. Plus they go the extra mile to add alfalfa protein further down the list.
Would also be nice to see more added vitamins and minerals... which is sort of the point of a lot of people feeling pellets, to round out and "complete" the diet.
Personally, I wouldn't use it.... Way better foods out there.
Imbrium
Jennifer
According to http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp the GA for Supreme Fibrafirst:
30% fiber, 14% protein, 3.5% fat, 0.8% calcium, 0.4% phosphorus, 2:1 Ca
ratio (phosphorus basically cancels out calcium)
The fact that something contains alfalfa shouldn't matter if the overall protein and calcium content of the pellets is on par with what you'd find in a food that's only got timothy. Also, when you see timothy first and alfalfa second, that doesn't necessarily mean much - the hay breakdown could be 55% timothy/45% alfalfa or it could be 95% timothy/5% alfalfa.
Think of it this way - bunnies aren't supposed to eat a lot of sugar, yet we're allowed to give them fruit (which is almost all sugar) as long as their fruit intake is within the appropriate limit for their weight. In the same way, alfalfa can be ok in pellets as long as the formula is balanced to where the pellets aren't providing more protein and calcium than they should be. Alfalfa pellets get a bad rap because the vast majority of alfalfa-based pellets are NOT appropriately balanced... but from what I've seen, the "no alfalfa pellets for adults" rule is outdated.
People say "no alfalfa-based pellets" because there was a time - not long ago at all - when alfalfa-based pellets that fit the nutritional needs of house rabbits simply didn't exist. Times have been changing, though - alfalfa-based pellets are starting to evolve; a small handful of alfalfa-based foods are now balanced to have a GA appropriate for adults.
UK vets pretty much set the curve - the science of house rabbit care is more advanced there than it is here; I'm very fortunate that my vet in San Antonio keeps up with what the UK vets are doing instead of waiting for new trends in rabbit care to slowly become widely-practiced in the US.
When I got my rabbits and we discussed diet, he actually recommended an adult diet of unlimited grass hay, 1/8-1/4c alfalfa-based pellets per day (for 3-4 lb rabbits) and lots of leafy green veggies. He said conventional wisdom in the US is that adults should get timothy-based pellets and grass hay but that in the UK, most vets had switched to recommending an alfalfa-based pellet w/grass hay because emerging research points towards an alfalfa-based pellet actually being better (so long as pellets are appropriately limited and grass hay is the majority of the rabbit's diet.
I showed him the GA and ingredients for Sherwood Forest M/S (which is alfalfa based but has a GA that fits what we look for in a timothy pellet - it's actually one of the eight foods highlighted on the chart in the first link I gave as being "ideal" based on the GA fitting *all* guidelines) and he agreed that it was in line with his recommendations. In fact, of the top eight pellet brands, four of them have alfalfa as the first or second ingredient (three of those also have a significant amount of timothy).
30% fiber, 14% protein, 3.5% fat, 0.8% calcium, 0.4% phosphorus, 2:1 Ca
ratio (phosphorus basically cancels out calcium)The fact that something contains alfalfa shouldn't matter if the overall protein and calcium content of the pellets is on par with what you'd find in a food that's only got timothy. Also, when you see timothy first and alfalfa second, that doesn't necessarily mean much - the hay breakdown could be 55% timothy/45% alfalfa or it could be 95% timothy/5% alfalfa.
Think of it this way - bunnies aren't supposed to eat a lot of sugar, yet we're allowed to give them fruit (which is almost all sugar) as long as their fruit intake is within the appropriate limit for their weight. In the same way, alfalfa can be ok in pellets as long as the formula is balanced to where the pellets aren't providing more protein and calcium than they should be. Alfalfa pellets get a bad rap because the vast majority of alfalfa-based pellets are NOT appropriately balanced... but from what I've seen, the "no alfalfa pellets for adults" rule is outdated.
People say "no alfalfa-based pellets" because there was a time - not long ago at all - when alfalfa-based pellets that fit the nutritional needs of house rabbits simply didn't exist. Times have been changing, though - alfalfa-based pellets are starting to evolve; a small handful of alfalfa-based foods are now balanced to have a GA appropriate for adults.
UK vets pretty much set the curve - the science of house rabbit care is more advanced there than it is here; I'm very fortunate that my vet in San Antonio keeps up with what the UK vets are doing instead of waiting for new trends in rabbit care to slowly become widely-practiced in the US.
When I got my rabbits and we discussed diet, he actually recommended an adult diet of unlimited grass hay, 1/8-1/4c alfalfa-based pellets per day (for 3-4 lb rabbits) and lots of leafy green veggies. He said conventional wisdom in the US is that adults should get timothy-based pellets and grass hay but that in the UK, most vets had switched to recommending an alfalfa-based pellet w/grass hay because emerging research points towards an alfalfa-based pellet actually being better (so long as pellets are appropriately limited and grass hay is the majority of the rabbit's diet.
I showed him the GA and ingredients for Sherwood Forest M/S (which is alfalfa based but has a GA that fits what we look for in a timothy pellet - it's actually one of the eight foods highlighted on the chart in the first link I gave as being "ideal" based on the GA fitting *all* guidelines) and he agreed that it was in line with his recommendations. In fact, of the top eight pellet brands, four of them have alfalfa as the first or second ingredient (three of those also have a significant amount of timothy).
Imbrium
Jennifer
Me? Absolutely. I'm extremely picky about pellets and that's one that I would feel 100% comfortable feeding my bunny (at most, there are a handful of foods I know of that I'd say that about, most of which aren't even available in my country). GAs rarely steer you wrong (the exception being when huge "no nos" like corn are amongst the ingredients) .
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Magick_mogwai
Well-Known Member
I tried Gandalf on a food cube the other day, it actually lasted him 48 hours like it said it would. He went nuts over it, heard him thumping it around his cage half the night and he didn't touch his other hay while he had it.
Fibrafirst look good, I may have to try him with those too as treats. He usually just gets food pellets as treats but it would be nice to have something else healthy to give him - I feel mean giving him ordinary food for being a good bunny but other treats tend to be far too sugary and have too much protein.
Mine go mad now for the food cubes but they are quite small so one of them lasts them a couple of weeks so I just feed it as a supplement and it´s great fibre wise and keeps them occupied for ages. Mine throw them around the cage, move them from there to the rug in front of the TV and generally make a mess but I don´t mind if it´s doing them good lol.
If I can get some of the Fibafast when I go back to the UK at the end of the month, I´ll definitely bring a couple of boxes back as treats.
If I can get some of the Fibafast when I go back to the UK at the end of the month, I´ll definitely bring a couple of boxes back as treats.
I haven't been back there since I insisted we go when I was back in October and we came out in a rush to get the bus and my mam fell over the central reservation crossing the road and fractured her arm and we spent the rest of the evening and night till nearly midnight in A& E. I'll just have to take the risk
Imbrium
Jennifer
Yeah, it sucks that commercial treats are so unhealthy
. The nice thing is that pellets are supposed to be limited and are super tasty, so bunnies are quick to believe that pellets are, in fact, treats. I hand-feed my bunnies some of their pellets fairly often and they love it!Fruit's a great, healthy treat in small amounts, assuming he's not extra-sensitive to sugars - up to 1 tsp per 2 lbs body weight per day (less if it's dehydrated like craisins because the sugar is more concentrated)
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