Best pelleted food for Juv. rabbit?

[DallasDelight]

I found my next bun, a beautiful 4 month old broken chestnut Holland Lop buck. What’s the best type of pellets to feed him? I know it should be higher in protein, and preferably alfalfa-based, right? I’m going to Petsmart after I pick him up tomorrow and am going to stock up on food.

[Sarita]

I think you should get some of the food that he is currently eating. He would be just fine on a good quality timothy pellet too along with a handful of alfalfa hay.

[DallasDelight]

I already planned on taking home a bit of the food he’s used to eating. I’m trying to go the safe route and find a good quality food I can buy in case I can’t find what he’s eating anywhere, or I want to switch to a different food.

[Sarita]

I would feed him what your current rabbit is eating since that makes the most since in my opinion. No need to have both rabbits on different pellets.

[bunnytowne]

You got him already?  oh joy. It is easier with food if the buns are seperate.  Then you could keep new bun on the same food til you decide on a pellet food for him.   Of course alfalfa is good for the young ones under 8 mos.  However you can feed timmy pellets (I assume your other rabbit is already on timmy)  and alfalfa hay. 

That will work out fine and bun will still get the extra nutrients he needs from the hay.

[DallasDelight]

Nope I didn’t get him already! I am just preparing
Feeding the same thing for both buns doesn’t really work because they’re both in different stages of life, you know? Dallas doesn’t need as much protein as this newcomer does and such.  Also, I’m changing Dallas’ pellet food anyway! lol.
What have you guys fed your buns when they were young(if you had them then)?

[2lops]

I feed my buns Nutriphase pellets. I fed the Nutriphase pellets to Pudge ever since he was young. When we got Leila she came with a huge container of pellets the kind I have no clue, but it was half full and I was going to change her diet anyways. I fed her the pellets she came with and a few days later I mixed in a small amount of the Nutriphase pellets. I mixed in more and more with her pellets and now she is totally off her old pellets. It wasn’t a drastic change as her old pellets look as if they are similar to the Nutriphase ones, except they smell stronger. Alfalfa based maybe. At one point I fed living world extrusion pellets to Pudge. I think the vet recomended it, they worked pretty well and Pudge was young at the time. I think the living world extrusion pellets are best for youngsters, but I’m not sure.

[Bunny_LoveP]

How old is Dallas?

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

When do you get your new bunny? I’m so excited for you!

I’ve always just fed timothy based pellets, and given alfalfa when they were younger. I got Chuck and Rupert as adults so they just went strait to the regular food.

Best is to get some food he’s been on and then move him over to whatever you are going to be feeding Dallas.

[KatnipCrzy]

I got Cotton when she was 2 1/2 months old and she was eating “junk” pellets.  I bought a bag of what she was on- and then researched the foods that are commonly available in my area.  Even though I was feeding timothy hay so starting her on an Alfalfa pellet for a few months- I researched the adult timothy based foods- as to me that is a mark of a good rabbit food company- finding the adult timothy pellets.

I only found 3 brands that were common in my area and reasonable for me to get thru local pet store or online from a company that I order saltwater fish tank supplies from often.  I found Kaytee, Oxbow and Zupreem.  I emailed both Oxbow and Zupreem with a question and liked the answer and customer service from Oxbow.  I dismissed Kaytee due to a preservative use and the fact that they are so “commercial” and sell more “bad” bunny products than good ones really.  So that is how I chose Oxbow pellets- the alfalfa for young bunnies and now both my buns are adults and on the Timothy pellets.  It was important to me to have a pellet that is available- I usually get mine thru online, BUT there are pet stores and vet clinics that I could drive to buy pellets in case I needed them immediately.  So if my dogs ever get into the bag and eat all the pellets or I do something stupid and the bag gets wet- I can get more pellets that day or next without having to change my bunnies diet.

There are also other pellets out there- American Pet Diner, Sweet Meadow, etc….  but they are just not sold in my area (Michigan) and once I factored limited availability and mandatory shipping and what shipping charges are for a “small” order of pellets- it made more sense to choose Oxbow.  I am sure there are more companies that make good pellets- so research what is available in your area or thru online that you would have large enough orders to justify shipping expense.

[Beka27]

this is what i did and it’s worked well for me… i adopted Meadow at 4 months old. the rescue had her on timothy pellets and tim hay. i decided to keep her on the full timothy diet, rather than gradually switch her off, then in 3 months have to gradually switch her back on timothy. i did purchase one 40oz bag of alfalfa hay and i’d give her pinches here and there. the one 40oz bag lasted me the whole 3-4 months until she was beyond the “alfalfa cut-off point”.

i used to use some petstore brands, but i was not overly pleased with them.  between buying packages of the pellets, the size and shapes would change, they would smell a little bit different form time to time.  and this was purchasing the same brand, same exact type.  the inconsistencies unnerved me.  sometimes i’d go, and my brand would be missing all together.

i switched her to Oxbow when my vet started carrying it, and have continued using it.  an added bonus: now my local petstore carries it.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

You could give Bunny Basics 23/50 or something like that it is an alfalfa based pellet. It has some numbers on the title I can’t remember exactly what it is called I will look up the name and post again. I fed Fern that while she was young, Oxbow is good stuff. Get the alfalfa for a while and then get the timothy after he grows up.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

Ah no the Oxbow alfalfa pellets were called “Bunny Basics 15/23” I knew that there was a 23 in there somewhere and a 5 somewhere in there. The timothy pellets are called Bunny Basics T
The oxbow site is here
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/

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