Pellets, weight, when, why, how?

[BabyRue]

Okay so Rue now gets his veggies. He gets lettuce, parsley and I am about to add cilantro or some other green now that hes good on the others.

However, he is 5 months old. I am feeling awful because I had no idea I should have been feeding him alphalpha hay and pellets as a baby. He has had unlimited timothy pellets and timothy hay, until yesterday when I started weaning him off the pellets and he will only get 1/4 a cup of pellets a day and his greens and unlimited hay.

I am worried though that I have deprived him by not giving him alphalpha? He has never seemed lethargic or anything like that. He poops and pees normal, drinks lots etc...

Is there something better I should have been feeding? Should I add something more now? Or should I stop stressing and stop researching every little tiny thing before I drive myself mad?

And how do you know if your bun is underweight or deprived? And what age are they considered an adult bunny?

I obviously still let him have unlimited access to hay.

Am I being paranoid? lol I really wish I found this out before I feel awful for not giving him the right hay.

 

[LakeCondo]

Well, you can't change the past, but for another month or 2 I'd give more sources of calcium, if not alfalfa, then some carrot greens.

I assume by lettuce you do NOT mean iceberg lettuce.

You can kind of tell about the weight when you hold or pet them. You should feel the bones, but they shouldn't be sticking out.

 

[BabyRue]

I will pick him up alphalpha tomorrow. I can't believe I missed this. I thought I researched the heck out of everything and was doing it right. I wasn't giving him lettuce or anything until the last couple weeks and then it was a slow introduction to greens.

And no I don't buy iceberg lettuce. I feed him romaine lettuce and only organic that I wash well before feeding.

As for weight, thats what I figured it was. There are no bones sticking out. And he has a healthy looking coat. He doesn't look deprived. Thankfully.

 

[windryder201]

Hey there BabyRue,

First of all, you can take a deep breath and calm down a little Yes, he PROBABLY should have been getting some extra calcium, but he's probably not much worse for the wear. LakeCondo's advice to give him some alfalfa for the next couple months is sound. Once he's not getting any larger (i.e. is fully grown), transition him back on to normal timothy.

Given that he's in good weight and you haven't mentioned him seeming weak, undersized, or anything like that, he's probably fine While the extra calcium in alfalfa is optimal, he's probably received "enough" for what his body needs from his timothy and greens, particularly since many leafy greens have reasonable levels of calcium in them as well.

Also, to be "that person", it's "alfalfa" not "alphalpha". If you'd like, you can also call it lucerne, as they do in the UK and Australia

 

[qtipthebun]

Q-tip wouldn't touch alfalfa...she hates the stuff, so she was never given it. The only hay she'll eat is timothy, so she was fed that as a baby as well. She's a healthy, happy adult, so I'd say it's not the end of the world. I tried everything I could to get her to eat it, but she wouldn't, but she grew up just fine.

 

[BabyRue]

Lmao!! I cant believe I was spelling it alphalpha! h wow... i uh... yea... 22 years working with horses and I botched that multiple times in one thread haha. I uh think I need to go to bed now.

And thank you for easing my mind. I get so paranoid some times...

 

[woahlookitsme]

All of our litters get timothy hay and pellets. Never had a problem with deficiencies because of the feed. Pellets are a complete feed and if given in the right amount for the rabbit would not lead to any deficiencies. Alfalfa is recommended but not required.

In the show world rabbits are considered Senior or sexually mature at 6mos of age but most rabbits wont reach a stable weight until 8mos to a year old. Smaller rabbits are usually 6mos-8mos.

 

[Imbrium]

btw, if you get him alfalfa, be sure to transition him to that from timothy gradually - I made the mistake of switching quickly (the breeder had been feeding timothy) and one of mine had some very mild diarrhea as a result. (and ofc transition gradually in the other direction as well)

I actually offer my babies both alfalfa and timothy... they eat mostly the alfalfa but much on the timothy sometimes as well.

 

[windryder201]

BabyRue, when in doubt, you can think of your bunny as a small horse in regards to nutrition. Their GI tracts are nearly identical. It's not a hard and fast guideline, but it's a good way to gauge a decision. If you wouldn't feed your horse that way, it's probably not optimal to feed your bunny that way!

 

[ldoerr]

I have raised many litters of rabbits. None of them ever got alfalfa. I have never had a problem with defeciencies with feeding timothy hay. All my babies and parents ever got was purena pellits, timothy hay a couple of times a week, crimped oats, crimped barely and that is about it. If I felt like spoiling them, or they were off feed they would get a raisen or two.

 

[cwolfec]

Sometimes with alfalfa hay, you can get bladder sludge in their pee, which can sometimes lead to kidney stones if they are prone to that. My big bunny got limited alfalfa hay when he was young because he gets chalky urine pretty easily, but my baby (well he's 4 months at least now) did fine with it. I wouldn't switch him to alfalfa alone. Give him access to both. And spinach is high in calcium so you could try to give him a piece of that a day perhaps.

It sounds like you're a great bunny mom so don't stress yourself out