Is Organic rabbit pellets (oxbow) better than basic T rabbit pellets (oxbow)?

[blackfang]

I bought two bags of organic rabbit pellets for my rabbit’s birthday

I decide to switch to organic pellets  and feed Roemo for rest of his life. I know that it is VERY expensive to pay 13 dollars for only 3 lbs of pellets!!! I think it is worth it to make my rabbit’s life longer and healthier.

I checked the ingredients. I noticed it contain sunflower meal. It made me think “Oxbow Organic Rabbit” have sunflower seeds in pellets. Can rabbits eat something with “sunflower meal?”

 

Do you really think oxbow organic rabbit pellets better than oxbow basic T pellets?

 

Thank you.

[Sarita]

Honestly I do not. I think the basics T are just as good. There are ingredients in both pellets that I don’t know what they are.

[Beka27]

I’ve never used the Organic. The regular Oxbow is more than enough for my budget. Also, I might be in the minority here, but I do not purchase organic produce (not for the buns, not for our family). We’re all quite happy and healthy. I’ve never been convinced of the benefit of organic stuff.

[Monkeybun]

I buy organic veggies for the buns just because they usually look better in my grocery store than the non organic. If the regular stuff looks nice, on the rare occasions it does, then I buy that.

[foxtailskies]

Organic is good for the earth But probably doesn’t make a direct difference to your health or your animals’. I feed regular Bunny Basics/T but my summer CSA happens to be organic, so they’re getting organic veggies at least ’til the end of harvest. In winter, I have no qualms feeding myself or my animals conventionally raised vegetables- I live in a place that has hard winters, so local agriculture can only stock my fridge for so much of the year (and I can’t exactly feed the rabbits root veggies all winter… they’d be some very pudgy buns…)

[Free2Dream]

I think the organic thing is just a gimmick, to be honest. Not all organic foods are as healthy as they say they are; they just have to meet minimal FDA or USDA guidelines. I am an athlete and try to eat as healthy as I possibly can, but as a student with only a part-time job I can’t always afford the organic stuff because 99% of the time it is much more expensive than the “regular” produce. I plan on switching Oliver to the Basics T once he’s old enough, and even that’s very expensive.

[Deleted User]

I for one would always choose organic over regular if I have the cash… I have that ‘bug’ bad! I always eye the Oxbow BeneTerra pellets. I think they look terrific, and I can’t wait to try them, I mean have my rabbits try them. I noticed the sunflower meal ingredient too but I trust that Oxbow knows why they included this. You could ask Oxbow directly about it, they are very good in the customer care department as well.They don’t put anything into their feed without proper research first.

[Beka27]

FoxTails… there’s no danger to bunny digestion in switching between organic and non-organic? I really don’t know much about this entire topic.

[blackfang]

Thanks everyone for responds.

I went to vet today for check up. My rabbit is very healthy and doctor suggests me to keep it up good work Yay, no health problems at all since I adopted him!

I asked her question about organic pellets and basic T pellets and she mentioned that they are the same anyway.

So… I’ll continue to use basic T pellets.

[Elrohwen]

In my opinion, and this is based on my knowledge of food for people, but I apply it to my bunnies as well, organics matter far more when buying fresh meats and produce than when buying processed foods. By the time it’s processed, I think any benefits from buying organic are slim. If you’re going to spend money on organic, I would save it for the fresh stuff.

Then, when it comes to the fresh stuff, there are lists out there for what things are really worth buying organic. Somethings, like potatoes, that are grown in the ground, really soak up the pesticides and I think it can really be beneficial to buy organic. Others don’t hold on to the pesticides and they’re easily washed off, so it’s not worth the extra money. I don’t have a link to one of these lists saved, but they’re pretty easy to find. For the most part, the veggies that the bunnies eat aren’t high up on the risk list, so I don’t worry about it.

That’s just how I see it! Personally, I would be most interested in buying organically and ethically raised meat (obviously for me, not the bunnies) but that seems to be harder to find than organic produce around here. I’m also much more interested in buying local than buying organic, when I can find it, but Oxbow obviously doesn’t fulfill that requirement either.

 

[MissKris&Koji]

Agree with Elrohwen on this one – by the time you add in preservatives and everything else, I don’t think it’s going to make a huge difference.

But it would be interesting to see what customer service has to say – I have read a number of times about conversations people have had with them, and it seems like they are helpful and know their stuff. I’m sure they probably have some arguments for why the organic is “better” and what the differences are, but I think between the price difference and the tried and trusted reputation of the basic T, why bother? My rabbit only eats about 2 teaspoons of pellets a day, so I *could* afford the organic no problem, I just don’t see the point. I’d rather save money on stuff like that so I can provide more toys, save more for vet bills, buy nicer produce, etc.

First rabbit I had, as a girl, lived to 8 years. On free fed store pellets (just plain generic Kaytee or whatever pellets, no seeds and stuff). Never got fat, never had any need to see the vet until he passed. Only fresh produce was as a treat. Zero hay – he wouldn’t touch the stuff (not surprising, I now know, with the all you can eat pellets!). Now that I know better, I do better, and would obviously not feed that way now – but I also know organic pellets or not, the rabbit still has a much better quality of care than many rabbits out there because many people don’t know better or don’t care. And I know that even that poor diet didn’t have disastrous consequences. Sure, I may have just gotten lucky. But I think that if you’re feeding pellets with the appropriate nutritional analysis and hay and veggies, that *should* be well enough to make for a happy and healthy bun.

But who knows, maybe someday someone will do a study on this and we won’t have to speculate. And hey, if money is no issue, why not go organic? If not for the bun, for the earth. But I think for most of us, we have to watch what we spend.

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