my new rabbit diet problem

[hyunkyong87]

Hi I got new rabbit on last Saturday,
because some kid didn't take care this rabbit.
he,s about 10-11 months dutch male rabbit,
owner gave me pellets what she feed him befor.
food name was small world rabbit conzos,
but I throw away pellets because it's very terrible pellets feed rabbits.
,I feeding
him only hay.
his droppings not too bad since I feed him only hay,
is possible I can feed him only hay without pellets?.
I had different diet rabbit food,
which is Kaytee Pro health forti diet.
is possible I can feed him pellets without change it?,
because I couldn't find same brand pellets anywhere
and what should I do? I only can come out with it
only feed hay..

 

[Azerane]

Hi there, judging by the short fur and the curly whiskers, the rabbit is actually a rex breed, not a dutch, though it's certainly possible he's a mix.

It's fine that you're only feeding hay at the moment, but many people feel that your rabbit may miss some important ingredients for it to stay healthy. So a pellet mix is good for that. So yes, start feeding him the brand of pellets that you have, but make sure you start with by giving very, very small amounts and slowly build up to a normal amount of pellets on a daily basis. If you see any unusual droppings, then the brand of pellets may not agree with him.

I hope that helps

 

[Nancy McClelland]

According to our vet, rabbits can do just fine on hay and veggies without any pellet. However, we do give ours a small amount of pellet, unlimited orchard grass, and veggies twice a day.

 

[BunnyWabbit]

If you don't feed pellets they need a lot more veggies, variety and quantity. You have to make up for the nutrients and calories they're not getting from pellets. It can be a hard thing to balance.

The people I know that feed pellet free feed 15+ types of veggies and about 60% more each day than the 2 cups per 6 lbs recommended by the HRS. When they fed less than that or less types their bunnies started losing weight and general health. This is completely pellet free, without a single pellet.

In my opinion, it's far easier and less costly to offer limited amounts of high quality pellets along with veggies.

EDITED TO ADD: Basically a bunny needs either pellets or veggies. Hay completely by itself is not enough to sustain them. Can you find Kaytee's Timothy Complete line? That's actually a decent food similar to Oxbow which is considered a good one.

 

[whitelop]

I don't think hay is enough to sustain them. You have to add a lot of different greens to their diets when you don't feed pellets.
I went to a no pellet diet for a while with my last rabbit and I fed about 12 different greens a day, around 6 cups of greens in a day on top of completely unlimited hay. I also fed 5 different types of hay each day all mixed together.

I feed Small World rabbit pellets and theres nothing wrong with them. I have had no issues with that brand of food. Small World rabbit feed is made by Manna Pro, which is a brand I really trust for my chickens, so I trust it for my rabbit to. Just because its sold at walmart, don't be put off.
I don't think that Kaytee is any better than Small World, you just have to look at the ingredients and look at whats in it and make sure that it doesn't have any extra pieces, no dried fruits, no dried nuts, no hay pieces, no cookie pieces. That stuff is rabbit junk food and it isn't good for rabbits, its just "appealing" to the owners.

I think that feeding pellets is a much easier thing to do that trying to get all the greens and hays and everything you need to get to give them the best possibly diet. My vet was really happy with the no pellet diet I was feeding, but if I were going to go back and do it again, I probably wouldn't because it was SO expensive and SO difficult. So I feed pellets, with hay, and greens.

 

[tamsin]

As you don't have any of the old food, then you just need to introduce the new food gradually. Start with a few pellets and build up gradually over a couple of weeks.

Feeding hay only is fine in the short term, but the nutrient content of hay varies so it's good to feed some pellets to ensure your rabbit gets all the of the vitamins and trace elements they need.

 

[hyunkyong87]

thank you for help ^^