Are there different types of pellets?

[Momo]

So I think I finally figured out the problem. My rabbit had been having diarrhea on and off for 2 years. I tried medication, diet change, everything! My rabbit finally is better and doesn’t diarrhea anymore. He’s been well for months. I’ve been feeding him hay and veggies. However, he’s been getting more and more hungry. And I want to introduce a little bit of pellets back into his diet. However the diarrhea was caused by Timothy hay. And I think he was maybe allergic to it or something. Is there pellets that aren’t Timothy or alfalfa based? Thanks!

[Azerane]

Where are you based (country)? Some pellet brands are only available in certain countries.

Timothy seems to be the most common grass used for pellets, here in Australia we can get one based on fescue, and I’d have to imagine that overseas you should be able to get orchard grass based pellets. Unfortunately many brands will state “grass” as their first ingredient without listing which one it is. If you’re finding some brands like that, you could contact the supplier and ask them which they use due to your rabbit’s allergies.

What amount of pellets were you feeding when he had diarrhea?

[tobyluv]

I know that Oxbow Organic Rabbit Pellets list Organic Grass Hay as the first ingredient, as opposed to most pellets which either list timothy or alfalfa. But grass hay could mean just about any hay other than alfalfa. And it may be that they include a variety of grass hays. You could try contacting Oxbow and asking what they mean by grass hay and if the pellets ever contain timothy.

Here are the ingredients and nutritional info:

Organic Grass Hay, Organic Canola Meal, Organic Wheat Straw, Organic Sunflower Meal, Organic Barley, Organic Flax Seed, Sodium Bentonite, Limestone, Sea Salt, L-Ascorbyl-2-Monophosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Organic Dandelion Leaf, Organic Ground Rosemary, Inulin, Organic Cranberry, Organic Blueberry, Dried Yucca Schidigera, Yeast Culture Dehydrated, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Folic Acid, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Riboflavin Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Biotin, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Magnesium Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate
Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein (min) 12.00%
Crude Fat (min) 2.00%
Crude Fiber (min) 23.00%
Crude Fiber (max) 25.00%
Moisture (max) 12.00%
Ash (max) 9.00%
Calcium (min) 0.60%
Calcium (max) 0.90%
Phosphorus (min) 0.30%
Copper (min) 25 ppm
Vitamin A 19,000 IU/kg (min)
Vitamin D 900 IU/kg (min)
Vitamin E 190 IU/kg (min)
Omega 3 Fatty Acid (min) 0.30%
Omega 6 Fatty Acid (min) 0.41%

Here is their contact info:

https://www.oxbowvetconnect.com/contact

[Momo]

United states! And we have different grass types at my local pet stores. Not sure for pellets though. I’ve usually only seen Timothy based. And for the pellets I had given him what was required for his weight size (3-4lbs) on the bag. Then kept lowering it from there.

[tobyluv]

Did you try contacting Oxbow to see what kind of grass hay is in their Organic Pellets?

After searching online, I see that there are orchard grass pellets, but they are for horses and cattle. I would be afraid to feed them to rabbits. The brands were Haystack and Standlee. All the different brands of rabbit pellets that I saw were either made from timothy or alfalfa.

[Author]

Messages