Prices?

[DazyDaizee]

Baby Juliet wrote:
Any rabbit will eat anything if hungry.  The reason some countries tried to reduce their wild rabbit population IS rabbits will live and multiply as long as there is vegetation.[/quote]

I have to disagree with this to a point. I don't believe a rabbit will starve itself to death, but I do believe a rabbit will turn down bad food and go into GI stasis. I also believe that when my rabbit eats every variety of hay under the sun but won't touch a certain brand that there's something wrong. There's a reason she doesn't want to eat it. Not all rabbits handle change well, and it might be hard to switch even to a higher quality diet, but there are serious health risks with switching drastically if your rabbit won't eat the new food.

 

[Baby Juliet]

undergunfire wrote:

ANYONE can give you details on the differences....between any animal, not just rabbits.

When my rabbits were fed Starr brand (which is what all the breeders around here use for some reason) my rabbits coats became brittle, they shed a TON, Morgan's eating pattern went wonky, their appearances and their personalities went "bland". Their poop was smaller and drier. On Oxbow their persoanlities shine, their coats are lovely, their poop is moist/the right color, and they gobble up thier pellets like they should. I will never feed anything other than Oxbow, unless it was Sweet Meadow's.
I also think Oxbow is such quality because they actually have the rabbit's health in mind. They make a Timothy pellet available to adult rabbits...which most feed companies only have alfalfa based pellets available. People will say that it doesn't matter what age you're rabbits are...they can have alfalfa.....but I beg to differ, the difference of an adult rabbit on timothy based pellets compaired to alfalfa based is amazing.


But....unfortunely in the rabbit world...higher quality pellets cost more for some reason. Timothy pellets also cost more in general. If more companies would start making Timothy based pellets, then more options would be available and we might not have to pay so much for timothy based pellets.

Well I have no experience with Star but have used different cheap pellets including the stuff from Walmart. My rabbits always go crazy for pellets that I think there must be something addictive in them. Anyway I don't have the problems you have probably because they get tons of veges as well as grazing on grass. At least 2 bushels of veges and 25 poundsof pellets a week plus horse hay. They can eat 2 or 3 times more veges if I let them. Only a dozen adults. I swear the volume of poop is more than the volume of food they eat.

My guess is if they don't have access to other foods than you would want timothy pellets. Much problem with rabbits is the result of being made house pets. People traded problems with parasites for stomach problems when they stuck rabbits indoors.

 

[undergunfire]

Baby Juliet wrote:

Much problem with rabbits is the result of being made house pets. People traded problems with parasites for stomach problems when they stuck rabbits indoors.

Rabbits always have had stomach issues...much like horses do. Regardless if a rabbit is left outside or inside...they can still have the same health issues.

Most rabbits are safer indoors, as well. Mine would have been dead ages ago if they were left outside.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Baby Juliet wrote:

Bo B Bunny wrote:

I wouldn't use Purina rabbit food for anything! I don't consider Oxbow a designer feed but a quality one. There's a huge difference in their products compared to others. My rabbits won't even eat some brands of hay!

That's because they know they've got you trained. It's kind a like saying my children will only eat steak and lobster. Any rabbit will eat anything if hungry. The reason some countries tried to reduce their wild rabbit population IS rabbits will live and multiply as long as there is vegetation.

NO ONE HAS ME TRAINED.... you don't even know me. I feed better feed for my horses and other animals as well. I have talked to vets, and nutritionalist. All from PURDUE which is one of the top (if not the top) Vet schools in the nation.

I happen to know SEVERAL people who have fed Purina bunny feed and had them die..... sorry.... you won't convince me they are any good at all.

Would you feed your child a second rate, unknown date, feed with things in it they don't need like fats or something.....

You have drawn the concern of several people with this attitude. Try to curb it and not offend people by calling us "trained" and such.

 

[Baby Juliet]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

Baby Juliet wrote:

Bo B Bunny wrote:

I wouldn't use Purina rabbit food for anything! I don't consider Oxbow a designer feed but a quality one. There's a huge difference in their products compared to others. My rabbits won't even eat some brands of hay!

That's because they know they've got you trained. It's kind a like saying my children will only eat steak and lobster. Any rabbit will eat anything if hungry. The reason some countries tried to reduce their wild rabbit population IS rabbits will live and multiply as long as there is vegetation.

NO ONE HAS ME TRAINED.... you don't even know me. I feed better feed for my horses and other animals as well. I have talked to vets, and nutritionalist. All from PURDUE which is one of the top (if not the top) Vet schools in the nation.

I happen to know SEVERAL people who have fed Purina bunny feed and had them die..... sorry.... you won't convince me they are any good at all.

Would you feed your child a second rate, unknown date, feed with things in it they don't need like fats or something.....

You have drawn the concern of several people with this attitude. Try to curb it and not offend people by calling us "trained" and such.

Boy you guys are really sensitive. Many pet parents admit to being trained slaves to their pets.

BTW it's not a personal attack. I just have opinions opposit yours. You just think I'm targeting you. I don't think adults here should support children to go against their parents right or wrong. Anything said negative about some one parent is not a good idea. So when people tell the child to go against her parent it's bad even if it's about spaying.



PS I might be answering the wrong thread.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

LOL! yes, you were on another thread also.

Ok, when you say "trained" do you mean by media/other people or by our pets? I totally misread that if you meant the animals. LOL! Actually if you mean the pets, Bo nearly DIED when I switched him to Oxbow LOL! He hated it and made sure I knew by thumping regularly in defiance.

The horses, they don't care. If it's food, they eat it! I just want the best benefit from the feed..... and it's only a couple of dollars higher a week, but yes, we would go back to sweet feed if we were strapped too much.

 

[DazyDaizee]

This is totally off topic, but I believe that thinking for yourself is part of being an individual. As humans we can actually have a say in how our lives go. I don't suggest people challenge their parents, but to be informed and have your own ideas is not encouraging disobedience.
As a teenager I did many things my parents did not agree with at the time. Not typical teen rebellion, but taking responsibility for my pets, spending my money on my animals, getting a job.. many things my mother, in particular, didn't think were good ideas. She would always come around and see my side of things. And I am glad I never did exactly as she instructed throughout my life, or I would not be happy. Because I am not her. I have different goals, different motivations, different outlooks. We are not the same person and I feel that challenging and educating yourself leads to growth. Whether you're challenge authority/parents' ideals or not. As a maturing person you are going to have these power struggles with your parents. Encouraging someone to do something positive that supports their own beliefs is far from wrong in my opinion.

This is not indicated by the situation here, but I think it should be pointed out that children can be mistreated by their parents and shouldn't be told that their parents are ALWAYS right about EVERYTHING and NOTHING is to be questioned.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

This is how I tell the difference of good feed.

Storm taken a few days ago. May 13, 2009

Storm the day he came home. Jan 7, 2009

Its not the price of the feed its the ingredients. Be that any animal. Or human. You can buy a 5 buck food and it be the best if it has good quality ingredients.

By the way storm was on wal mart feed and wal mart hay. When I bought him home.

He is now on zupreem timothy based pellets and ox bow hay and a varied diet of vegy daily.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

WOW! that's awesome! He looks so different!

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

WOW! that's awesome! He looks so different!

I know his fur was so naughsty and bridal then now its like touching a cloud. And boy did he molt I am hoping its not that bad next year.


Yes Ox bow hay did go up for me but not that much but I get everything at cost from kieth

 

[Evey]

Bo, this just happened to me last week! I really thought the young cashier did something wrong by almost charging me double the price! I feel better now knowing that it's not just me (I don't feel better about the price though ). I think I will contact Oxbow to politely ask why there was an increase.

Kathy

 

[Bo B Bunny]

WOW Thanks for posting. Now, I feel a bit better myself. During the horrible gas prices last year we didn't even get that kind of jump on pricing!

 

[Evey]

Yeah, I really want to continue buying Oxbow, but this is going to be rough. I just emailed their customer service so I'm sure I will receive a quick response sometime tomorrow!

 

[Boz]

I noticed that too!
I went to get a 10 lbs bag and it was 13.99!
I swear last time it was 11.99.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I wish I could get 10 pound of Oxbow for $14. It more like $21 for that bag, and that is the cheaper price, I have seen it at $30 for 10 pounds. I think a 50 pound bag is about $80-90.
If the price goes up much (I am not paying more than $25 for 10 pounds), I will have to consider switching to a different food.

I will pay more for a higher quality food. I believe that there is a difference between something a cheap food and a high quality food. I save money at the vet and have a healthier pet by feeding high quality foods. I can basically consider anything that is about $1.50-$2 per pound to be a decent price if it is a high quality food. Finding the best food at the best price is better than finding a poor food and a cheap price. Money isn't everything.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Yeah, I guess I'm going to go back over there and talk to them. Thing is, this bag is dated for August that they have. I don't know that I would use it in that amount of time for sure. I really want a fresh bag. I'm sure they won't like that tho.

 

[Luv-bunniz]

Thats crazy!
We buy just under 45lbs for $13, and thats just as good, if not better, then Oxbow!

IMO Oxbox is SO over priced and over rated .

 

[SnowyShiloh]

We pay $15 for a 5 pound bag of Zupreem Nature's Promise timothy pellets My three go through 2-3 bags a month. You can't get Oxbow up here. For a while I was ordering it through Busy Bunny, but shipping prices went wayyyy up so I had to stop. I'm envious of a 50 pound bag for $60! I'm not trying to minimize how annoying the price increase is for anyone, it's just interesting how prices differ depending on where you are.

I could see how it would be hard to feed $3 per pound pellets if I had 50 rabbits. Because I only have the three bunnies, I couldn't in good conscience feed them a low quality food. They also get unlimited timothy hay ($42 for a 50 pound bale) and big daily salads.

 

[hartleybun]

out of interest- ok im waiting for hubby to go out so i can dust his workstation -i googled oxbow for the UK. it gave me a price of £77.76 for a 50lbbag of oxbow western timothy hay. oxbow have only one distributor in the UK according to their website. the distributor carries other oxbow products which seem to be a tad expensive. are we talking high end gourmet bunny food here?

i feed my little gastronauts science selective pellets - £6.99 for 3kg bag plus a selection of hay and veggies.

 

[BethM]

I also feed Oxbow, and would never go back to a "cheap" feed. (I would use a low-priced feed, if it was also of good quality.)

I used to feed Kaytee Timothy Complete. I know some people use this, and find it acceptable. It's even sometimes recommended to people by my HRS chapter. It's not expensive, and easily available. I believe it is better than some other Kaytee feeds.

However, when I was feeding the Kaytee, I was only feeding two times a week, because Nick and Amelia would get TONS of squishy stinky cecals all over the place. Like clockwork, the morning after a pellet feeding, I had to clean that up. I didn't realize it at the time, but their coats were also quite coarse, and the bunnies were very sluggish.

After I switched to Oxbow, the cecal problem just went away. I feed pellets daily now, with no dropped cecals. Both bunnies are more active, and they both grew in beautiful soft coats.
They also get large salads of mixed veggies, and unlimited hay daily. They are not on an all-pellet diet.

Also. My little apartment doesn't allow me to buy the large bags of feed, as there's nowhere to store it, so I have been paying even higher prices for the small bags. But to me, the health of my rabbits speaks for itself. They are much healthier now.

I try not to eat food made with low-quality ingredients, and I don't want to feed my rabbits low-quality pellets.