Hay/Cane molasses

[Thumphrey]

I actually have 2 questions, 1. Anybody know where I can find hay with little to no mold. I have a severe allergy to mold, 2. If no hay without mold….it’s my understanding that bunnies are not suppose to have sugars including molasses. Is this true? Anyone know where I can find nutritional Timothy hay pellets without sugars or molasses? HELP! may need to place rabbits in new home if I cannot solve this issue, it will break my heart.

[tobyluv]

Most of the rabbit pellets do contain molasses. Even though a lot of sugar isn’t recommended for rabbits, it would be very difficult to find pellets without it and most of us have been using the pellets with molasses for years. The amount of molasses is probably very small, and adult rabbits should only have a limited amount of pellets anyway.  Molasses is used as a binder, as well as to give the pellets a little bit of a more appetizing taste. Oxbow is one very good brand of pellets. Many Binky Bunny members use it.

Unless you are buying hay that has been stored improperly, it shouldn’t have any mold on it. If you are buying it in bales from a farm, you should inspect it and note how it is stored. Many of us use bagged hay. Again, Oxbow is a good brand. So is American Pet Diner and Small Pet Select. There are other good brands too. Hay is sold here in the BB store. Some can be bought in pet stores, others may only be available online. I get most of my hay from drsfostersmith.com. Once you get the bags home, you should open them so that the hay can breath. That’s also good to do with baled hay. Do not keep it tightly sealed in containers or bags.

[kmurphy]

I know that Sherwood Forest pellets have no molasses in them however they do have alfalfa to replace the protein that most pellets get from using soybeans if I remember correctly.
I have used Small pet select and Oxbow for hay with good results.

[Gina.Jenny]

I use Harrington’s Optimum rabbit pellets, which use apple and grape to sweeten and bind, instead of molasses, but its not a timothy hay pellet. Most buns, unless under six months, should only get a very limited amount of pellets each day, so the amount of molasses eaten should be very small.

Hay should never be mouldy. In all my years of buying it for pets, I only ever had one mouldy bag, which went straight in the dustbin. I store mine out of the bag, in one of the annoying kitchen cupboards that reaches out under the worktop corner, and is difficult to get into anyway. Works fine except all the buns know where it is and are adamant that it would be better if they were left to help themselves, instead of me doling it out.

[Thumphrey]

Thank you for your input, vet informed that even though the hay is not moldy it carries mold spores. I will try the removing from the bag and pull it apart. I will also give the Sherwood forest pellets a try. Thanks again.

Buns x 2

[tobyluv]

You can keep the hay in its original bag, just don’t keep it sealed closed. Or maybe you could get some large paper bags from the grocery store and place the hay in one or some of those. They would be more breathable than a plastic bag. Besides letting the hay breath, store it in a cool, dry place.

[flemishwhite]

My situation is probably not applicable as regards to hay.  Even though we live in a very metropolitan area of Los Angeles, we live only a few miles from a feed and grain store because of an upscale neighborhood where people have horses.  So fresh hay is not a problem. 

We feed our house rabbits hay, green leafy vegetables, pellets, and treats.  I try to buy pellets without molasses or sugars in them because I don’t want the rabbits to get fat eating pellets.  They eat mostly hay and vegetables.  The pellets are intended for them only if they get the munchies if they’ve eaten up all the veggies and they’ve tired of the hay.  There’s nothing wrong with feeding rabbits sugars in the form of treats but everyone  says moderation is the theme.  They enjoy sugar and easily metabolize it, but it’s too high in calories for them to eat as anything other than a treat.  Our bunnies now enjoy fuji apples from the farmer’s market.  They don’t like fuji apples from the grocery store! They get small slices in the morning and evening.  They also enjoy a slice of banana.  They like their banana with green skins with traces of yellow…they like a tart taste along with the sweet.  Their like for sweets is a strong  motivator for them to socialize with us.  If we sleep in on weekends, both of them will be scratching on the bedroom door at dawn expecting their morning treat! 

Interesting to me is that after I’ve seen a rabbit wolf down banana/apple until she was satisfied and then leaving some of the treat behind, the rabbit would immediately start eating green veggies.    The sweet treat is metabolized in the stomach between the esophagus and the small intestine, but the sweet treat does not feed the cecum stomach at the juncture of the small intestine and large intestine.  This is where their symbiotic bacteria live.  It seems bunnies have an instinctive urge to eat to feed their symbiotic bacteria. This bacteria cannot live on sweets, it needs the cellulose in hay and veggies.   Rabbits must keep the symbiotic bacteria alive if the rabbit is going to live. Their symbiotic bacteria in the cecum stomach transform cellulose into glucose.  The glucose feeds the symbiotic bacteria and the excess glucose they make feeds the bunny. 

 

PS: Can’t claim to be an expert, but this is what I’ve read and certainly observed.

[Author]

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