Whats the right amount of pellets to feed / hay?

[Xxventanaxx]

So after reading all about how pellets are not the best for rabbits how much is too much?  I have like a hamster dish I fill half way with junior rabbit pellets and she has unlimtied hay.  She eats her pellets over night and I am just scared she is eating too much.  Can I just take the pellets away and have her eat hay only or should I put a quarter cup of pellets instead?

[kirstyol]

How old is your bun and what size is she?

[Xxventanaxx]

Posted By kirstyol on 8/13/2015 2:03 PM

How old is your bun and what size is she?

9 weeks about and a mini satin.  her belly is nice and soft and not passed her rib cage.  Feels ten more times normal my last bunny. and i dont know maybe 3/4 pound a pound

[Xxventanaxx]

id rather just feed her hay and very little pellets until I can give her greens.

[Bam]

She does need the extra protein for growth and development though. You can substitute some of the pellets with alfalfa hay, which is high in protein and often very well liked by rabbits. Young rabbits can have alfalfa hay until they’re about 6 montths old.

It is generally recommended that very young rabbits are fed unlimited pellets. Oxbow junior is a good brand.

[Xxventanaxx]

Posted By bam on 8/13/2015 3:13 PM

She does need the extra protein for growth and development though. You can substitute some of the pellets with alfalfa hay, which is high in protein and often very well liked by rabbits. Young rabbits can have alfalfa hay until they’re about 6 montths old.

It is generally recommended that very young rabbits are fed unlimited pellets. Oxbow junior is a good brand.

should i mix the timothay hay and alfalfa together?

[Bam]

It doesn’t matter if you mix the hay I think, if you mix it she’ll probably just pick out the alfalfa first because it’s yummier =) But enabling a bunny to forage for food count as enrichment (when you let animals perform natural behaviors, very important for their well-being!) so I’d think mixing it would be fine. I’m not entirely sure though, so please wait for more input from other members.

[HereComesTheBun]

I’m just switching my six-month-old Holland Lop onto his adult diet, and before that, I fed him Oxbow Young Rabbit essentials and grass hay. The recommendation is unlimited pellets at this age, but in my opinion, it’s also important to make sure that they’re developing healthy hay habits. If they ignore their hay entirely in favor of pellets, it’s probably best to cut the pellets back a little. I ended up giving him about 1/2-3/4 cup of pellets each day. He now gets 1/4 cup split into two feedings, and I may cut him back to 1/8 cup, depending on how much more he grows.  

With that being said, even though hay is definitely the most important part of rabbits’ diets, I would strongly recommend you keeping her on the pellets, even if you don’t feed her an unlimited quantity. Pellets have essential nutrients that hay doesn’t, and while some people do feed their rabbits a pellet free diet, they do so by giving them a large quantity of vegetables with the nutrients that they would otherwise get from the pellets. While this may be something you want to consider further down the road, now is probably not the right time. Check out this article from the House Rabbit Society: http://rabbit.org/pellet-free-diet/. I’m not sure how big her bowl is, but since it’s for hamsters, I’m guessing it’s small. I think you can probably get by giving her more pellets. Can you get a sense of how many cups of pellets she’s getting?

As far as the alfalfa/timothy goes, I mixed it initially, but stopped when I noticed that my rabbit’s poops were a little wetter. I attributed this to too much alfalfa in his diet from both the pellets and the hay. It immediately resolved itself when I took the alfalfa hay away. That might have just been my rabbit, though, so I’m not sure about yours. If you have the alfalfa already, I don’t think there will be any harm in mixing it and seeing what happens. I probably still wouldn’t mix the hay 100% of the time, just so that she still develops a good taste for timothy and isn’t resistant to eating it when you cut the alfalfa out entirely.

[Xxventanaxx]

thats about how much pellets i fill up once a day.  Unlimtied hay always

[Xxventanaxx]

Posted By bam on 8/13/2015 3:13 PM

She does need the extra protein for growth and development though. You can substitute some of the pellets with alfalfa hay, which is high in protein and often very well liked by rabbits. Young rabbits can have alfalfa hay until they’re about 6 montths old.

It is generally recommended that very young rabbits are fed unlimited pellets. Oxbow junior is a good brand.

I ordered a 10lb bag of Oxbow Animal Health Bunny Basics Young Rabbit Fortified Food.  is that ok?

[Bam]

Oh yes, it’s not called Oxbow junior like I wrote, it’s the one you have I mean. It’s the very best you can get for a young bun.

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