Pellet Advice!

[J.Bosley]

Hello!
I am VERY new to this forum, but have a Male Holland (we think) Lop who is about 7years old now. Recently I found a baby Lionhead (we think) rabbit outside in a field. She is, at best guess, about 8 weeks old. She doesn't even weight in at 1lb!!

I have a question about pellets, they are NOT the main source of food for my 2 bunnies as they get fresh veggies and unlimited timothy hay, I was wondering is Cuni Nature was a good brand... I picked a bag up cheap from someone at a Pet Expo, but want to make sure it's okay to feed my Holland Lop it. The baby is on a different brand, Hagen.

Also, if anyone could let me know of an amazing pellet food that Petsmart carries that would be great! I would love for them to both eat the same pellets. And I would like a good quality one.

 

[sarah92lynn]

I'm not sure what Petsmart carries but Oxbow is a known good quality brand. They have pellets for both adult and baby buns. There is also a really good quality pellet that's all natural but I'm pretty sure you can only get it online...
http://store.naturalrabbitfood.com/
They are a bit pricey but I would say it's worth it, they have good reviews and all natural is always better in my opinion

 

[molly]

I would either feed Oxbow or Cuni Complete as they are both grass hay based. For the baby, he/she should get alfalfa pellets until they are 5-7 months old - Hagen is fine or the Oxbow baby rabbit formula would be better. The Sherwood Forest pellets are good quality but they contain alfalfa, not suitable for an adult rabbit in my opinion. If you live in Canada (I'm assuming you do because you Hagen and Versele Laga are not easy to find in the US, VL is uncommon outside of Quebec) there is also Martin's Little Friends that makes a decent adult pellet. Their alfalfa pellets are much richer than other brands so I wouldn't suggest them.

Make sure you get a new bag of pellets before you run out of your current bag. You want to transition them from one food to another gradually so they don't develop GI issues.

Good luck and congrats on the new bun!

EDIT: I corrected my original text. Cuni Complete is a decent pellet, Cuni Nature is a mix and should not be fed to rabbits at all.

 

[J.Bosley]

Thanks guys! I will keep the baby on the Hagen food, as I can't find baby Oxbow food at Petsmart... I will look online to see if Petsmart carries it.

Going to switch Murphy, my Lop, to Oxbow food! Going to keep the Cuni food as treats I guess, since Im stuck with it now haha.

 

[JBun]

Make sure to slowly transition your rabbits onto their new food. You start with adding a small amount of the new food, for a few days, and make sure their poops stay normal. Gradually increase the amount of new food each day and decrease the same amount of old food. Keep doing this(as long as the poops stay normal) til at the end of 2-3 weeks, your rabbits are transitioned completely onto the new food and off of the old food.

 

[molly]

Are you in Canada? Montreal Critters and Flowertown Chinchillas both sell Oxbow online. Global Pet Foods and Croq et Bol (Quebec) sell it as well.

 

[J.Bosley]

Thanks! I know to transition animals onto new food, so that should go smoothly

I'm in Ontario. I will definitely check out the Global Pets, and Pet Valu since they are near me. See if they have the Baby Oxbow foods

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Definitely check local pet stores, some have better prices and selection. I find Petsmart to be expensive for Oxbow products and they don't carry everything.
Global Pets and Pet valu seem to be about the same price around here. You might be able to find an independent store that is cheaper as well. I know a few stores around here that see the 10 pound bag of adult pellets for about $15, that is about $5 less than other stores. The hay, treats and supplements are also cheaper.

If you can find the young rabbit food, I would recommend switching to that from Hagen. I don't find Hagen to be a great food and the company also sell some crappy foods. The price tends to not be that great either.

 

[J.Bosley]

Thanks for the advice! I will probably venture out today, just to see whats around the area. The Hagen is actually left over pellets from when I switched my rabbit, haha, so it will have to do for now! Hoping I can find some young rabbit food somewhere...even if it isn't Oxbow.

She seems to be loving the hay and veggies! Which is great, and she is also eating the pellets.

 

[sarah92lynn]

Awwe what a cute bun!!
Normally baby rabbits aren't supposed to have vegetables or fruits until they are about six months old, but if you found her out in a field (assuming she was wild) then her tummy might already be use to that kind of stuff. But like pellet food, you have to introduce new veggies and fruit slowly. Only give them a bite or two of any new fruit or veggie and wait a few days, maybe even a week, to make sure it doesn't upset their stomach or cause them to have mushy poo.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that too much of new foods could also cause diarrhea, which is very dangerous for bun buns! You might already know all of this but just in case. = P

 

[J.Bosley]

Awwe what a cute bun!!
Normally baby rabbits aren't supposed to have vegetables or fruits until they are about six months old, but if you found her out in a field (assuming she was wild) then her tummy might already be use to that kind of stuff. But like pellet food, you have to introduce new veggies and fruit slowly. Only give them a bite or two of any new fruit or veggie and wait a few days, maybe even a week, to make sure it doesn't upset their stomach or cause them to have mushy poo.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that too much of new foods could also cause diarrhea, which is very dangerous for bun buns! You might already know all of this but just in case. = P

Thanks! I actually read that online, but she LOVES the Romain lettuce and her little tummy seems to be great with it We are only giving dried bunny fruit as a treat to get her used to us, along with yogurt rabbit drops. Just a few a day! So far her tummy seems a-okay with all the new food, but I definitely don't plan on introducing anything else until she is older. I will for sure keep an eye on her droppings to make sure they aren't at all soft! So far so good. She is warming up to us very quickly! Will even come up for some cheek strokes now :hearts I'm in love!

 

[JBun]

It's usually recommended to wait til a baby is at least 12 weeks old to introduce veggies, just cause some bunnies will have problems with them cause their digestive systems aren't fully developed. However, I got a really young rabbit that had only been fed green leaf lettuce when she was weaned, and had never had pellets and wouldn't eat them at first when I brought her home. She was ok with the lettuce and didn't have soft poops. So it's just going to depend. If you've been feeding your bunny veggies for a while and she doesn't have soft poops and seems ok, then you are probably fine sticking with the veggies, but if she gets soft poop, you may need to cut them back a bit, or stop them for a little while before you try them again. But it sounds like she's doing ok with it so far.

With the pelleted food, any alfalfa based pellet is fine for young bunnies. Just try to avoid ones with corn in the ingredients, and ones with the treat pieces. Otherwise, any alfalfa based pellet with around 16% protein will work.

She's really a cutie

 

[J.Bosley]

I actually have NO idea how old she is! As I found her outside not even a week ago... I'm assuming she is 8 weeks or so, just based on her size and googling "8 week old Lionhead Bunny" haha.

I definitely need to get her some proper pellets soon!