What should be in the pellets?

[Tweetiepy]

I'm almost out of pellets, and bought some from walmart. It has 18% fiber (max) and the ingedients seem to be corn and i don,t see timothy or alfalfa on it - could this still be okay to feed him?



Should there be timothy or alfalfa in there and is corn okay? I don,t have enough of the old pellets to gradually integrate them in his diet

 

[kirbyultra]

Is it the Small World brand? That does have alfalfa meal in it.

It's odd that a pellet formulated for buns would not have any timothy meal or alfalfa meal... :? I don't personally like for the pellets I feed my buns to have corn of any type in it but there are plenty of rabbit pellets out there that people feed without issue containing some corn product in it.

What is in the ingredient list? The first few items listed will tell you what is the bulk content of the pellet.

It's important to look at other things in a pellet too. Fat content, protein content, calcium, as well as fiber.

If the makeup of the new pellet is very different, feed with caution (since you can't slowly integrate) and monitor your bun very closely for any changes.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

For a pet rabbit, I'd sugest about 16% protein and 1.5-2% fat. Fiber content varies from pellet to pellet, but is not as big of a concern, as long as you are supplementing the pellets with plenty of roughage (hay or greens, whatever you're into).

 

[tamsin]

They call grass lots of different things fescue or forage are other names for grass.

 

[akane]

I refuse to feed anything with corn to any of my animals except chickens. Most animals cannot digest it well and it's at best useless calories. At worst it can cause several health problems in most species from herbivores to carnivores. The minimum I look for when buying food for my animals, except chickens, is corn and byproducts (grain, animal, or other all included in that). If it contains either I put it back on the shelf and find some way to keep my animal fed until I can get healthier food for them.

While I'd also prefer not to feed those things to chickens it's not feasible to find poultry food without corn and/or byproducts and chickens are garbage disposals. They've been used as garbage disposals since man started raising animals and evolved accordingly.

 

[ninetoes01]

another thing no one mentioned or asked you in here is whether there were seeds/dried fruit in there.
If there are, I would avoid it because seeds are fatty and give your bunny the option of avoiding their pellets. Plus dried fruit means concentrated sugars, which is never good!
Hope that helps!

 

[Flick]

Here's a link to some information specifically about rabbits and pellets:

Pellets Info