hay

[Ester Yeh]

my two lionheads are under  a year old.  I’ve been feeding them alfalfa pellets and timothy hay.  Should I switch to alfalfa hay until they get older?

[wendyzski]

How much under a year?

[Ester Yeh]

i think 5 months

[wendyzski]

According to the guidelines on Rabbit.org, growing buns should be on alfalfa hay and pellets (unlimited both) until they are about 7 months old.  They need the extra calcium and nutrients that alfalfa has.  After 3 months you can also introduce limited veggies, one at a time, to make sure they don’t get poopy-butt from them.

About 7 months or so they should start switching over to timothy hay and pellets.  You will want to gradually decrease the pellets until you get about  1/2 cup per 6 lbs. body weight.  A good pellet has at least 18-20% fiber and more is better. 

Alfalfa hay is too rich for adult bunnies – they can get bladder sludge from the extra calcium and can just get plain fat. 

So sounds like your baby has a couple more months on that  yummy alfalfa!

[Anita Stark]

Sable has always had timothy hay and his pellets contain alfalfa.  We also give him compressed timothy hay cubes that contain alfalfa for treats.  He seems to be doing fine, but he does love those pellets.  Now that he’s almost 7 months old I’m not looking forward to cutting him back on something he so obviously enjoys

One day I’ll have to get some video of his routine.  We put his pellets (after having a cat for over 18 yrs we call them kibbles) in a small corning dessert bowl.  He grabs the bowl be the edge and flips it over to spill the pellets across the floor then eats them from there.  I think he enjoys finding pellets wherever they landed throughout the day.  He also gets a kick out of spinning the bowl.  That’s the part I want to catch on video, he stands the bowl up on its edge and flips it so that it sometimes actually spins on its edge before falling flat again.

[Gina Won]

anitastark– can you just transition him over from alfalfa based pellets to timothy based pellets? he’ll probably enjoy them just as much– both have molasses in them i’m sure! =) (assuming that’s the part that makes them so scrumptious)

[Anita Stark]

Thanks for the suggestion Ligeia.  I will try to pick up a few small packages of timothy pellets for him to try, I think you might be right about the molasses, the ones he’s getting smell so good I’m tempted to taste them myself!

In the meantime, I’ve introduced him to banana and raisins as special treats in very small quantities besides his greens.  He seems to prefer the raisin to the banana so far, but he’s not very adventurous at trying new things when it comes to eating.

[ea hurse]

i hate to repeat myself, but you guys have so much choice in America. The only hay-based pellets i found are predominantly alfalfa which is fine for Chino who’s around 4 1/2 or 5 months, but is getting less alright for Lollo who is around 8 months now and prob is not good for Blue who is definately older than 1 and a few months (but thats about as specific as i can be!). i have to say though they are all better than ever after i swapped from the cereal-based pellets that are the norm over here in the U.K, they aren’t over or under weight and they seem very healthy. i give them all timothy hay and a high fibre dried forage mix alternately; none of them are keen on the timothy but will eat it if its all they get.

as for banana- i cant get any of them to even try it, talk about disapproval! theres a definate air of distain when i even put it close to them!

[Gravehearted]

Posted By new_obsession on 10/24/2006 11:08 AM
my two lionheads are under  a year old.  I’ve been feeding them alfalfa pellets and timothy hay.  Should I switch to alfalfa hay until they get older?

I’d likely buy a bag of alfalfa hay and give them a mixture of both hays.  Since baby buns are still growing we give them foods that are higher calorie – hence the alfalfa pellets and hay.  I really don’t think it will hurt them to just have timmy hay – but adding in a little alfalfa gives them a some variety too

[Gravehearted]

Posted By ligeia on 10/27/2006 8:45 PM
anitastark– can you just transition him over from alfalfa based pellets to timothy based pellets? he’ll probably enjoy them just as much– both have molasses in them i’m sure! =) (assuming that’s the part that makes them so scrumptious)

alfalfa pellets taste better than timothy-  it’s recommended to slowly transition to them over a  few weeks.  So at first you’d mix mostly alfalfa and a tiny bit of timmy pellets – you slowly start giving more timmy and less alfalfa until you’ve done away with the alfalfa pellets entirely.

[Anita Stark]

I have to admit his current pellets are tasty, I finally gave in and took a nibble of one.  Tasted kind of like Shreddies .. I guess that’s the molasses.  When I stop for bunny supplies this week I’ll pick up some timothy pellets and start the slow transition.

Thanks

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By anitastark on 10/30/2006 5:50 AM
I have to admit his current pellets are tasty, I finally gave in and took a nibble of one.  Tasted kind of like Shreddies .. I guess that’s the molasses.  When I stop for bunny supplies this week I’ll pick up some timothy pellets and start the slow transition.

Thanks

HAHAHHAHHAAA!!!!  That’s so funny.   Now I am curious and will have to try them…..just a minute…I’ll do it right now…BRB………(Now I know I need mental help)

okay, the verdict is………..YECK!!!    Well, timothy based pellets taste like I just licked the ground.  I don’t have alfalfa to do a flavor comparison.., but I’m not too hip on tasting any more bunny food.  

[Anita Stark]

Hmm, now the idea of taking a comparison taste isn’t appealing at all.  However, I suspect the grassy undernote of the alfalfa pellet was probably the timothy so I expect a timmy based pellet to taste mostly like that.  I’ll let you know

[wendyzski]

OK – I admit it – I was curious after your post, so I tasted one of the Bunny Nasics Timmy pellets.
Bleh – tastes like grass and sawdust!
I have no idea why she is so insane about them.

[Gina Won]

 Well, timothy based pellets taste like I just licked the ground. 

LOL!  You guys are so silly! However… I too have tasted a timmy pellet (prior to this conversation )… and it was indeed gross.  A friend of mine double-dared me too and, of course, i had to do it! I almost vomited, haha. Yeck.

[Ester Yeh]

hahaha!! this conversation is starting to remind me of my little daydream about what it would be like if i got stuck inside my house and wasn’t able to leave because it was too dangerous to go outside. I would daydream about what it would be like if I ran out of food and had to eat pellets to survive. haha

[BinkyBunny]

Yeah, then maybe if you came across some bread you could have a pellet sandwich, or you could soften the pellets up and fry them into a pelletburger, or add ice and mix in a mixer for a pellet shake or….OMG, I really am crazy.

[Author]

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