How to introduce new food to my bunnies?

[Merlinthegreat]

I have two 8 weeks bunnies. One is a netherland dwarf/lionhead mix and the other is a holland lop. The breeder we got them from (the closest adoptable bunnies are four hours away from us) gave us some of the food he was feeding them. I mixed that with their new food. I mixed in more old food than new food and every day I used less of the old food. I’ve been doing this for three days but a little while ago I noticed one of them had a bit of sticky poop. Nothing stuck to his bottom but it is mushed onto the bottom of the cage. I took the pellets away and kept them on Timothy hay and water and now they have hard poop again. What should I do?

[Merlinthegreat]

They also go nuts for the pellets! They love them and start neglecting their hay. And what is the right amount of pellets to give them?

[hannaroo]

Congratulations on the new bunnies!
The problem may be your changing it over a little too quickly. The stools are usually softer during changeover. As long as they’re not sticking to your bunny or too runny it’s pretty normal. Changeover should be over 2weeks ideally.
You should follow the instructions on the food packet. What brand are you using atm.

[Merlinthegreat]

We are using kaytee supreme daily blend. The main ingredient is alfalfa. I’m not sure what the previous food was. But we have a bag of it.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

If it’s the one that I just looked up it says this…

Ingredients:

Fortified to ensure a well balance blend, Supreme utilizes natural seeds, grains and pellets to provide your small animal with a simple yet healthy diet. Small animals have special nutritional needs. Kaytee Supreme Small Animal Foods offer quality, nutritious ingredients in a mix that small animals love. Best of all, the clean, wholesome ingredients offer proteins, fiber, and other nutrients to help small animals stay strong and healthy.
Guaranteed Analysis:

Crude protein (min.) 16%, crude fat (min.) 2.0%, crude fiber (min.) 13%, crude fiber (max.) 18%, moisture (max.) 12%, calcium (min.) 0.1%, calcium (max.) 1%, phosphorus (min.) 0.4%, salt (min.) 0.25%, salt (max.) 0.75%, vitamin A (min.) 1000 iu/lb.

 

Seeds aren’t good for bunnies. Is this the one you are feeding? A lot of member, me included, live by Oxbow brand pellets

[Merlinthegreat]

Is te oxbow brand the one with a drawing of a rabbit it says oxbow essentials? We feed them the one you just posted I am terrified of switching them and having something serious happen to them. I will switch them if oxbow is what’s best for them. But how much should I feed them? They are both 8 weeks I don’t want them to eat only pellets either.

[MoveDiagonally]

Agree 100% with NBO. Any pellet mixes with seeds and other bits in them are not good for our bunnies.

You want to them to get a plain hay based pellet. Oxbow Young Rabbit is a good one. Kaytee is an okay brand but they make a lot of unhealthy rabbit food so you have to be careful about which line you choose (that goes for all the products they sell actually).

Baby rabbits get unlimited pellets and hay. 

Please read this:

http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/

It outlines the recommended diet for rabbits of all ages. 

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Oxbow essentials. Yes that’s the one I’m thinking of.

They should be getting unlimited hay and pellets at that age. If you are concerned about their hay intake try different kinds of grass hay

[Merlinthegreat]

Thank you!!! I will go later on to buy that brand. What about mixing the new and old food? The packages only say to mix it for a week. I don’t think I have enough of the old food to last that long though. I have a ziplog bag of the old food.

[NewBunnyOwner123]

How long have they been on the Kaytee brand?

[Merlinthegreat]

2 days. And the old brand was given to me by the breeder gave me a ziplock bag with it.

[MoveDiagonally]

How close is the breeder? Maybe you could ask them if you could purchase a small amount of their food to mix?

[NewBunnyOwner123]

Yeah the breeder I got Harley from provided me with a sandwich size bag stuffed with pellets to transition in from hers to mine. It got me through the process. It was roughly a pound of food. But she charged me $1 but it was worth the safe transitioning in my opinion.

[Beka27]

Pellets are supposed to be switched over 3 weeks.

Week 1: 75% old pellets, 25% new

Week 2: 50% old, 50% new

Week 3: 25% old, 75% new

The 4th week on, they are on only the new pellets.

If they haven’t been to the vet for new bunny exams, please get them scheduled within the next couple weeks. The vet will do a fecal exam to test for coccidia (a common, treatable parasite in young bunnies), and the vet will confirm their sexes.

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