Switching pellets

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Dashinthezoo

Dashinthezoo

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May 29, 2012
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Location
Bremen, Ohio, USA
Okay, so our first set of pellets was kind of an emergency thing and my husband searched the pet store's shelf for a bag of pellets that was JUST pellets. He had picked up Oxbow Young Rabbit. After doing some reading, I realized he was right. The little bag ran out fairly quickly and we ran over to the feed mill down the street and ended up with a 10lbs bag of Purina Rabbit Chow.

To set things straight, I HATE feeding my animals anything from Purina and the word "chow" does not inspire any feelings of trust either.

SO - I've been doing research and I have found a couple brands of food that I'm curious if they are any good. One is Oxbow Natural Science Rabbit food. Another is Peter's Premium Rabbit Diet.

Also...does anyone have any suggestions for balls? Dash has torn apart two at this point...I wouldn't mind one that would last more than 10 minutes.
 
When I first got Dobby and Kreacher, I went with Zupreem Timothy Pellets. They have never had a problem with them. So when Willard came along he got the same.

I had no idea that with babies, they needed alfalfa. So when Neville and Luna came along, I found out from a suggestion from this forum about Oxbow. Neville and Luna are on Oxbow Essentials for Young Rabbits. they have had no issues with it.

I steered away from Purina too. Oxbow and Zupreem have done my bunnies well, helping me give them a balance diet.

K:)
 
I use Oxbow. It can be rather expensive from the store, but I get it for $1/pound from a rescue that uses it. I buy 50 pounds at a time and it lasts.

As far as balls, I use cat toys with bells in them or small dog toys. They LOVE baby rattles and keys (the hard plastic that they can't chew). Whiffle balls from the dollar store are great too. They can nose bonk and throw them. My kids tend to like to throw things. For chewing joy I just use apple tree sticks (Gary runs around with the sticks in his mouth like a dog). I only buy the bunny balls for chewing when they are on clearance because they get chewed up so quickly.
 
FYI, not to bad at my store who works very closely with Rescues. Glad I did my research.

It's good to shop around.

K:)
 
Also Oxbow has many promotions that you can get. The Pet Store I go to is very involved and tries to help their customers get the best bang for the buck!

K:)
 
I use Oxbow, the BB/T since I have adult rabbits (it's the timothy based one). I have been using it for almost 5 years now and have not had an issue with it. I can get it for about $15 for a 10 pound bag, so it's a good price especially compared to other brands. I am not sure about the natural science line since it is really new, it does seem to only come in 4 pound bags, so not really economical for me (with 6 rabbits eating it).
 
I feed Manna Pro (the 18% protein, whatever name they're calling it now. LOL). I love it, and my rabbits are in great shape. I also mix in a bag of oats. I used to top dress their feed with oatmeal, but that was becoming expensive and labor intensive. The nursing does, and the 6/8 groups, also get Calf Manna every day.

Anyway, it's a really good feed, and their coats are shiny and everyone looks good.
 
I'm confused; is your rabbit a young rabbit needing alfalfa, as Oxbow Young Rabbit pellets are, or a full-grown rabbit needing less calcium [timothy or other grass], as I assume Purina Rabbit Chow is?
 
Honestly, LakeCondo, we have no idea how old he is. We picked up the Purina as a WE NEED FOOD NOW kind of thing rather than actually using the pellets for a long period of time. We just grabbed another bag of Oxbow Young Rabbit until we decide for certain. For the time being we're going to stick with Oxbow...although, the consensus seems to be in their favor. :)
 
Does anyone use the martins pellets? I hear good things about oxbow but my bunnies really seem to like the martins. It comes in for for babies (alpha based) and one for adults (timothy based).
 
Oxbow all the way.

Purina doesn't make anything of true value for any animal, though It's easy to be tricked since they look healthy. Kaytee tries to fool you like that, too. Don't give in! It's awful!
 
I feed Blue Seal or my local feed mills blend.
 
I feed Oxbow young rabbit for the little ones and Mannapro Pro. So far so good. I also bought a 50lb bag of raw oats because I saw it mentioned a lot on here but I don't know how to feed it..so I have to research first.lol
 
I feed Martins.. My fiances father bought a random bag of crap pellets for him one day, I mixed them in with his Martins as a treat basically and he left all the crapfood bits every time he was fed.
Definitely his favourite pellet.
 
There are 2 levels of quality.
Pet quality rabbit food. And breeder quality rabbit food.
You have your zupreem, oxbow, martins vs Purina, mana pro, etc.

Dont feed anything with corn in it. Stick to a food that is Timothy based for rabbits over 6mts, alfalfa based for rabbits under 6mts. Protein under 14%.

Mariah & Misery. Martins seems to only be around up here in Canada.

Personally - I use martins, Lower protein then the oxbow. Even though I can get the oxbow at wholesale, id rather go out and buy the martins. Until I can get my hands on the Oxbow Natural Science adult bunny food, since its lower protein and NO WHEAT OR SOY either!
 
Sorry, but I don't think I'd give raw oat berries to a rabbit. Oat flakes/dry rolled oats, yes; oat grass, yes; oat hay, yes. I don't know if small grains like that are a choking hazard or what.
 
Actually you see "raw" oats like that done quite frequently in small animal foods. Usually you will see them like that in the mixed bags that are pellet/seed/grain/everything. The mixtures we tell people to stay away from.

IMO youd better off planting those and growing some oat grass, but their still safe. But when people talk about feeding oats, the oats aren't still "raw" like that. They've usually been "rolled" or "cut", but not "quick".
 
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