Pellets for Young Bun

[bunbunbinkie]

I have herd many bun owners debate wheither or not you should "free feed" pellets to young bunnies. Here's a little info about Merlin and his diet:

Merlin is about 14/15 weeks old, and as of right now I'm giving him a little more than 1/4 cup of Oxbowalfalfa pellets per day with unlimited timothy hay, oxbow papaya tablets as a treat (1-2 a day as directed on the container) and romaine lettuce daily, with kale and a bite of baby carrot a couple times a week.

He is about 1lb (guessing) and I believe he is a holland lop (or a holland mix...anyways, he's small in stature)

My question is this: should he been given as much pellets as he wants? I'll give him a full 1/4 cup in the morning, but by 8:00 at night, the bowl is empty...so I'll give him a little more. His poops are perfect ( I was having some issues with over production of the cecotroph stools when I first aquired him). In the morning his bowl is always either empty or a few pellets shy of being empty.

I was concerned that I should not be giving him all he wants, because I've herd that this may deter him from eating his hay, and that it is bad for their teeth because of this. He seems to consume a good amount of hay each day. I've also heardadditionalpros and consabout free feeding pellets to young buns and have heard alot about how it is important to offer unlimited supply while they are young....

So.... basded on his breed, age, diet...what do you think I should/should not be doing???

 

[juliew19673]

As no one more knowledable than I have answered you yet, I'll give you the feedback I've been given on my (what I believe to be) mini-rex Baxter! who is I'm guessing about 7 months old (was a rescue from a friends yard and he was very anorexic when I found him)..He is getting about 3/4 -to acup daily w/2 cups of fresh greens and all the hay you can shove downhis throats daily (helps to put hay into a toilet paper tube then they can play and eat at the same time)..

Baxter! probably gets about 3/4 to a cup a day of timothy hay pellets, along w/timothy hay compressed cubes that I leave around his pen, cage, or play area - he's not gaining too much weight (maxed out to date at about 5 lbs and still feels a little skinny - but Vet visits suggest all his blood work is fine)..

So it sounds like your doing just fine and being so young I would think you could continue on more pellets daily as Merlin is so young -but would suggest reading up on nutriotin in the Bunny 101 area of this site..

Good luck and post back to let me know how its going w/Merlin!

 

[MsBinky]

Not everyone will agree on this but I personally don't free feed beyond 3-4 months. I make sure that they have enough, and that their weight is exactly where it should be, but even at a young age i want them eating more hay than pellets. I especially want them eating lots of hay because I introduce veggies to them and all so I want them to have the least stomach upsets possible. I find it difficult to change their eating habits afterwards.

Obviously, this is all very personal and like I said, most won't agree.

I have never had any bun have much GI issues nor weight issues. Only recently my whole gang dropped in weight but I was told it might have had to do with the hay quality. I think that was right on because I switched brand and they are all maintaining their weight now. in any case, I am certainly not saying that this is what you should be doing. I am merely saying it so you can get people's reasonings

 

[juliew19673]

:helpI'm bumping your thread in hopes someone with a Holland Lop will respond..

To me personally (and mind you I carry NO weight whatsoever in the nutrition for buns dept) sounds like you could feed them more - but at the sametime give them more exercise to run off the new caloric intake..

 

[bunbunbinkie]

Thanks for your help!!! I'm really starting tothink it's really a "case by case" thing with pellets, just depends on the bun and their human.

Merlin seems to be doing just fine so Im going to keep things pretty much the same but maybe I'llspread out his pellets into two seperate feeding times as he doesn'tever eat alot in one sitting... which is basicly what I'm doing now.

Thanks again for your thoughts!!!!

 

[MsBinky]

I do believe in the case by case... Foods, exercise, etc varies. I also know that this is probably the subject with the most different opinions

 

[Marietta]

I'm sorry I didn't spot this thread earlier. Ithink that the solution would be in the middle: don't free-feed but give him a bit morethan 1/4 cup ofpellets. Why not try 1/3 cup divided (as you very correctly said) in 2 doses, 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening? In this way, he'll also eat his hay in the mid-time between the 2 meals.

Marietta

 

[tamsin]

Limited. I don't think bunnies ever need to be free fed pellets. I've always limited my bunnies pellets from when I've had them. Scamp (who I hand reared) has has his pellets limited from the day he first started eating them. He's never had a food bowl let alone a full one. He is the most fit, sleek healthy rabbit you could get

Pellets are concentrated food, orginally designed to make rabbits grow quickly. They grow just as well on a healthy diet of hay (or grass) and a range of fresh foods. It also teaches them much better eating habbits as grown ups, provides much better enrichment opportunities and, I personally think, decreases the chance of future issues with the gut, obesity and teeth problems.

The only reason I feed at all is they provide a backup to ensure they get a full range of vitamins/minerals.