Can adult rabbits eat young rabbit food?

[Naiya9]

I ordered a bag of Oxbow Young Rabbit Food by mistake and am wondering if it’s safe to feed to my adult rabbits. They get plenty of hay and a small amount of fresh greens each day in addition to their pellets, and it doesn’t seem like the Oxbow nutrition content for young rabbits is all that different from the content for adult rabbits.

Thanks!

[sarahthegemini]

Junior pellets are usually fattier and higher in protein and whatnot. I can’t imagine it’d be too much of a problem if you put them on adult pellets again when you run out but of course you’ll need to transition slowly onto the junior pellets first.

[Deleted User]

Are they alfalfa pellets? I don’t know if that is standard in all young rabbit pellets. The only thing is that they may find those pellets yummier than their regular pellets and then become a little picky. But it shouldn’t be that much of an issue, at least I don’t think. I would think you could just give them a little less of those pellets than normal, since they are probably more nutrient rich.

[Naiya9]

Thanks so much for the info and tips! I absolutely do not want to give them anything harmful, but I was also hoping not to have to pay for return shipping on heavy pellets. The tip about giving them less than normal is good to know; they’re already a bit on thr “fluffy” side, so maybe now would be a good time to start cutting down on their pellet intake anyway. Hopefully the yummier flavor diatracts them from the fact that there’s less in the bowl. Thanks again for your help!

[Naiya9]

BunNoob, the packaging doesn’t have an ingredients list, just a nutritional content one, so I’m not sure if they’re made with alfalfa.

[Deleted User]

hahaha XD I like the reference to them being “on the fluffy side” nice way to put it!

No problem though, it will be ok to give them for the time being, just give less as we discussed because junior pellets are typically higher in nutritional content and we don’t need to add to that “fluff” lol

Just be sure to get some of your regular pellets before you are out of these junior pellets so you can mix them together and gradually get them back on only the adult pellets. They might be stubborn and not want to eat the adult ones at first, so it will be best to just introduce them again slowly!

[jerseygirl]

Posted By BunNoob<3 on 7/25/2017 11:10 AM

hahaha XD I like the reference to them being “on the fluffy side” nice way to put it!

No problem though, it will be ok to give them for the time being, just give less as we discussed because junior pellets are typically higher in nutritional content and we don’t need to add to that “fluff” lol

Just be sure to get some of your regular pellets before you are out of these junior pellets so you can mix them together and gradually get them back on only the adult pellets. They might be stubborn and not want to eat the adult ones at first, so it will be best to just introduce them again slowly!

You could even do this now if you have the funds available to get another bag. 

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