How To Change Foods?? Help!

[SweetSassy]

I need to wean Daisy and Rascal over to timothy pellets. So how do I do it when their on unlimited alfalfa pellets?? I don't want to starve them. They will get a 1/8 of a cup each, which I believe a 1/4 cup for both. (That's what the bag says for their weight)Should I lower the amount so quick? Cause they eat alot of pellets. I don't know what to do. Should I start out giving them like 1/2 cup, then lower to 1/4??

I planned on taking like 3 weeks to switch them over to timothy pellets. Doing it slowly. Help please. I need some advise.

Thanks, April

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I would first give them a measured amount and see how much they eat in a day. Do maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time and only give more when the stuff in the bowl is gone. Once you know about how much they eat in a day cut it down to about 1/2 cup per day over a few days to a week. Give them lots of timothy hay to eat. They will act like they are starved no matter how much you give them.
Once they are used to eating a more limited amount, start to introduce the timothy pellets. Do 75% old and 25% new the first week, 50% old and 50% new the second week, 25% old and 75% new the third week. By the forth week, they should be on 100% new.
Then when they are used to the timothy pellet, you can further decrease the amount you give them. You should also monitor their weight during the process. If they are able to maintain a healthy weight with more timothy pellets, then you don't need to limit it too much.
It is a good idea to have 2 food bowls so you can monitor their eating habits a bit better and so one can't hog all the pellets.

 

[SweetSassy]

Thanks Kate!

I've never had to do this before. Go from unlimited pellets, to measuring. Lol. I didn't want to starve my buns. :biggrin2:

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Yeah, adult buns are to have 1/4 cup of pellets a day, yes I over do that by a hair.... The buns hungry!:biggrin2: But, yes, basically that's good if you give a good amount of hay that they love and some greens!

Here's also a thread from our Library in Bunny101-diet:

Nutrition Vid posted by Haley:

[ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=sfeGU9vetWk]http://youtube.com/watch?v=sfeGU9vetWk[/ame]

Here's the Link to the Library and to Bunnies 101 to learn more:


http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_forum.php?id=17