Rabbit Feed Opinion

[Boricua_bunny]

I was reading the thread about making sure yourrabbits have enough fiber because of GI stasis, and somebody said thatrabbit pellets should have at least min. of 18% fiber inthem.I just went to check the pellets that I am currently giving my rabbit,and I found out it only had min. 15% of fiber. So I need your opinion:What type of rabbit pellets do you guys suggest?

 

[JimD]

6of my 7 buns get Purina Complete Rabbit Chow (Green bag). It has 17%min/20% max fiber.

1 bun gets Kaytee Timothy complete which has 18% min/ 23% max. However the reason she get it is due to the lower protien.

~Jim

 

[FrenchLopGirl1280]

OKay before u think of switching your rabbits food. You must consider this,

1. Your rabbit might not like the new food you picked for him or her.

2. They might get sick from the new food.

3. Some rabbits die from the change in diet.

and last 4. never change his food without a rabbit person who told you how to do it.



Will now. I feed my rabbits Blue Seal, Bunny 16. You will need to do this while changing rabbit over to new food.

First day give rabbit about a handful of the new food, mixed in withthe old food and then increase the amount of new food with the old foodand when you are done with the old food, you can give the rabbit hisnew food for the rest of his life, only if nothing happens during theprocess of changing his diet.

Cleo

 

[JimD]

FreddysMom posted a standard routine for switching foods....

FreddysMom wrote:

....if you do it slowly she'll get the hint......get a huge ziplock bag and do this each week:

1st week: 3parts of old pellets, 1 part new pellets

2nd/3rd week: 2 parts old pellets, 2 partsnew pellets

4th week: 1 part old pellets, 3 parts new pellets

5th week: should be all new pellets

and if you need to..you can continue to add a pinch ofthe old for awhile as a treat....shell be hungry and has to eventualyeat!

I used this with great success when we switched S'more over.

 

[JimD]

Boricua_bunny wrote:

I was reading the thread about making sure your rabbits haveenough fiber because of GI stasis, and somebody said that rabbitpellets should have at least min. of 18% fiber inthem. I justwent to check the pellets that I am currently giving my rabbit, and Ifound out it only had min. 15% of fiber. So I need your opinion: Whattype of rabbit pellets do you guys suggest?

I wanted to ask, is this concerning Oreo? He's about 4 months old now, right?

Keep in mind that young bunnies require a different diet than maturebunnies. I would give unlimited alfalfa-based pellets (Purina green bagor similar) until they were 6 months old before considering any gradualchanges.

Timothy hay is more the staple of all of my buns now. They all get verylimited pellets (1/2 oz pellet per bunnie pound) and no treats. Theyall get 1 teaspoon of rolled oats daily. They also get 1 leaf ofromaine daily.

My youngest bunnie is 8 months old and the oldest is about3 years old.

~Jim

 

[FrenchLopGirl1280]

Jim, I would just watch out for feeding yourrabbits Romaine daily for as it can give some rabbits diarrhea. Alsorolled oats will put weight on your rabbits. I just want to make sureyou new this because some people who are very good rabbit people don'tknow this. I would also suggest giving your rabbits a pieceof carrot or 1 baby carrot it will give them some Vitamins and someother nutrients they will need. Usually some rabbits get very addictedto the same type of treats and/or will only eat the treats. I alwayslook out for this. IT happened to my Doe French lop.

Cleo

 

[Shuu]

Romaine is fine. It's iceburg you want to lookout for for water content. Romaine leaves are dark enough so itshouldn't give diarrhea. I give both mine romaine every night and Ihave never had a problem with runny feces.

 

[bunnydude]

I am in the process of switching my bunnies fromagway commercial blend to oxbow bunny basics. It is a bit expensive,but the box says that it has between 22% and 25% fiber.

 

[juicyjuicee]

I use Purina Rabbit Chow with Extra Fiber, It has a min of 21% fiber and a max of 24% fiber.

 

[naturestee]

If I had young bunnies, I'd probably be feedingthem either Purina Rabbit Chow with Extra Fiber or Oxbow 15/23, whichis their alfalfa formula. Since my rabbits are both adults,they eat Oxbow Bunny Basics/T, which is the timothy formula.It has 25-29% fiber.

As a note, and I don't know if you've had this problem, when Mocha waseating a pellet that had 15-18% fiber, she would have bouts of slightlysoft poops. This would mainly happen when she didn't feellike eating as much hay. I have not had this problem since Iswitched her pellets.

 

[Scooby123]

My Scooby had soft poops and excess cecalpellets. I swiched his feed to the Oxbow and I have not had thatproblem either. He loves their stuff he loves the Oxboy timothy hay andthe papaya tablets too. He loves it all so much next time I order I amgoing to order him some different kinds of grasses and hays.

 

[bunnydude]

Devon gets 15/23 and Amber gets T. As an aside, at what age should I switch Devon to bunny basics T? He is 5 mos. old.

 

[naturestee]

I switched Mocha over to the timothy pelletswhen she was six months old. I was sure she had stoppedgrowing more than a month before that. Six months is oftenabout right for small breeds, but if you think he is still growing thendon't switch his feed yet. I know Oxbow recommends that youfeed the alfalfa pellets for the first year, but I don't think you needto.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

I feed my girls supa rabbit excel, it's vetinaryrecommended! My buns have been on it for 4 years and have never hadproblems with it and i'm sure it has a good fiber content but i'm notsure exactly what it is.

http://www.burgesssupafeeds.co.uk/Pages/rabbit.html

Thats the website.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Sorry one more thing, this is what the website says about it:

[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Supa Rabbit Excel® is aveterinary recommended fully extruded food for nutritional balance. Allof the nutritious ingredients are blended together and then extrusioncooked into easily manageable pieces, so that rabbits eat all the food.[/font][font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]It is highin fibre and digestible fibre and is very low in starch content - andas the small amount of starch is cooked, it is easier to digest.[/font][font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Supplementedwith minerals and vitamins, it also includes the correct calcium tophosphorous ratio.[/font]

[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Supa Rabbit Excel®contains Profeed®, a blend of natural carbohydrates - a source ofspecific Fructo-oligosaccharides, which behave as soluble dietry fibre.[/font][font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Theseprovide an energy source for only the beneficial bacteria in theintestinal tract of the rabbit, which helps improve motility, aidinggut fermentation and nutrient digestion.[/font]

[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Profeed® therefore helpsregulate the sensitive intestinal tract and protects it againstfermentative disorders[/font]

 

[Scooby123]

The reason I know nothing about it is because itisnt here in the US(I dont think)......maybe that is part of thereason.....wow i feel stupid I just noticed that.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Scooby123 wrote:

The reason I know nothing about it is because it isnt herein the US(I dont think)......maybe that is part of the reason.....wow ifeel stupid I just noticed that.

Are you talking about suparabbit exel?

 

[Scooby123]

yes, I have never heard of it.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Maybe your right about it not being in the US,you could always try asking a pet food supplier? If not i'm sure thereare lots of other good pellets.

 

[Scooby123]

Scooby gets Oxbow now and thats the best I have heard about here so, Ill probably just stick with that.