Pellets not needed?

[BiterBunny]

Quick backstory.

I have Bunny, the biter who prompted my username. He still bites, but he lets me pet him now and I don't have to dive and duck and barrel roll to get him out, clean his cage, or take him to the vet. He does have terrible teeth that have to be trimmed every four weeks. He was an abused rescue, so I have no idea his early start in life other than he was used as target practice for pellet guns and escaped from his cage to live outside often.

He LOVES his pellets, and is not as big of a fan of hay. He eats it, but I think he'd never had it before coming here. He is so-so on veggie, same issue. He'll nibble leafy greens, but not other veggies. Sometimes he'll eat the insides of green peppers.

Here is an update pic of his royal softness. He's such a robust, fluffy bunny and he looks so innocent. Looks can be deceiving, but we love him anyway.



A week ago, we took in a bunny from a friend who was moving. This bunny is named Bug. He's supposed to be a lionhead, but he's pretty big. He does have a mane, though. He came in an incredibly bare cage, but he's so far loving all the toys and applewood sticks and such. Which is nice since Bunny ignores toys. He came with very overgrown nails, but we got them cut and he proved himself a binkyer!

He was also on a crappy pellet food with coloured bits and seeds and such. He really doesn't eat much of the pellets but LOVES hay. He's also resisting litter box training very hard, so we may switch him off fleece and back to bedding, but we'll see.

Obligatory Bug pic! He is super adorable.


My questions; Can I just do away with the pellets for Bug and give him hay? He's an older bunny and came with Timothy hay with flowers mixed in. I usually just buy plain Timothy hay and sometimes orchard grass or oat hay for treats. We're working on getting veggies into his diet, but I think he'll do well in the long run. He's a curious bunny who really seems to like to eat, lol.

And for Bunny, I'd really like to have him on the best pellet possible since he prefers pellets to hay. I think it may have to do with his teeth, I'm not sure. He does get Critical Care sometimes as well, and he enjoys that. He ignores hay cubes, also. Is there any sort of powdered hay that'd be okay to use or..?

And what is the current favourite brands of pelleted food in the US for bunnies?

Thanks for any help!

Editted to say that by "older" bunny, I mean Bug is an adult (2 yearsish), and not a baby bun.

 

[Katiedarling]

Those are good questions! I am curious about the hay thing, too. Lucille doesn't seem to like it as much as her pellets or greens, either. And she's crazy about baby carrots. I try not to give her too many of those, though. Right now, since she's only 5 months I have her on unlimited pellets (you should see her when I bring the bag out to fill her bowl) and she really likes them. I can't wait to see what happens in a month when it's time to reduce her pellets for the day. LOL She is very, very feisty.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Could the not wanting to eat hay be due to his teeth problems? Hay is harder to chew and takes more work. If his back teeth are causing a problem, it might hurt or be uncomfortable for him to eat hay. You could try a different type of hay to see if he likes it better. There are hay pellets that are just hay, they are made for horses. They aren't as good as loose hay, but can add some fibre for him. The main point of hay is to help wear down the teeth and to keep the gut moving, so longer strands are better.
I like Oxbow pellet and they do have a good amount of fibre.

Pellets do provide vitamins and minerals that are harder to get from foods. I would suggest giving him at least some pellets. Oxbow does make a multi vitamin, so you could try that to help get him the vitamins and minerals he needs. Hay really isn't enough and veggies do need to be well balanced.

 

[majorv]

Personally, I would hesitate removing Bug's pellets completely...unless you plan to do the research to make sure he's getting all his nutrients through the veggies, because hay won't provide everything he needs to stay healthy. Oxbow and Sherwood Forest seem to be popular pellet brands used by posters here. As for the hay, it's not really powdered but I've seen hay that's been sort of mulched. I didn't realize it was so fine until I opened the bag. My rabbits prefer the long fiber hay so I ended up giving it to a friend who has horses. I found it at Tractor Supply.

 

[fsshaer]

I'm a new owner to rabbits, so I don't have any advice--but I just wanted to say I'm so happy that they both found a better loving home with you! We need more people, who actually care about sweet bunnies, in the world! :rabbithop

 

[BiterBunny]

Could the not wanting to eat hay be due to his teeth problems? Hay is harder to chew and takes more work. If his back teeth are causing a problem, it might hurt or be uncomfortable for him to eat hay. You could try a different type of hay to see if he likes it better. There are hay pellets that are just hay, they are made for horses. They aren't as good as loose hay, but can add some fibre for him. The main point of hay is to help wear down the teeth and to keep the gut moving, so longer strands are better.
I like Oxbow pellet and they do have a good amount of fibre.

Pellets do provide vitamins and minerals that are harder to get from foods. I would suggest giving him at least some pellets. Oxbow does make a multi vitamin, so you could try that to help get him the vitamins and minerals he needs. Hay really isn't enough and veggies do need to be well balanced.

I think I can order Oxbow when I order bedding, so I may switch him to that. Hay pellets... I think I've seen those. If I can find some that come in the same way that his food pellets come, he may eat those. We tried cubes and he wouldn't touch them. His back teeth seem to be alright, but his front teeth grow INSANELY fast and need trimmed often. They're pretty crooked, and I think it could do with him not wanting the hay.

He does eat a small amount of hay, just not nearly as much as I feel like he should. We have a wide variety of veggies that we grow, and that we buy. He's just so darn picky. Sometimes he gets angry and just digs them away into corners.

 

[BiterBunny]

Personally, I would hesitate removing Bug's pellets completely...unless you plan to do the research to make sure he's getting all his nutrients through the veggies, because hay won't provide everything he needs to stay healthy. Oxbow and Sherwood Forest seem to be popular pellet brands used by posters here. As for the hay, it's not really powdered but I've seen hay that's been sort of mulched. I didn't realize it was so fine until I opened the bag. My rabbits prefer the long fiber hay so I ended up giving it to a friend who has horses. I found it at Tractor Supply.

Thank you for your input! I had read that commercially prepared diets weren't necessary as long as they had hay and veggies, so that's why I figured I'd ask. If there's a real reason to keep him on pellets, I definitely will. Just got to get him off the mess that he's on now. It's Sunseed something or other with a variety of... not good things.

Mulched hay sounds like something I could check out. Thank you! Even if I can find something that he'll eat in addition to the small amount of hay he eats now, I figured it'll do him some good.

 

[BiterBunny]

I'm a new owner to rabbits, so I don't have any advice--but I just wanted to say I'm so happy that they both found a better loving home with you! We need more people, who actually care about sweet bunnies, in the world! :rabbithop

Aw, thank you. I'm really glad that we got the opportunity to show them good things in life. I adore them like crazy and can't imagine that people would be physically abusive towards any animal, let alone something small and defenseless.

We're very very lucky to have our little furballs.