Removing pellets from diet?

[jess&peter]

I’ve searched for threads with advice for removing pellets from a bun’s diet, but I’ve come up short. Sorry if this question has come up a few times. 

Peter is a 2.5 mix (likely Netherland Dwarf) who currently gets about 1/4 cup of pellets a day — barely enough to cover the bottom of his food bowl 3 times a day (it’s a small bowl and I’ve measured a few times to make sure the daily amount isn’t more than 1/4 cup).  He eats 2 – 3 cups (total) of red leaf lettuce, parsley, and cilantro a day, and will usually go through one big handful of timothy hay in a day. There are rarely any veggies or pellets left in the dishes after he’s been fed — he tends to pig out all at one time, then let me know if I’ve missed a feeding time (sometimes by minutes!) by clinking his bowls together. He’s also started putting a toilet paper roll in one of his dishes if I’m especially late feeding him (like half an hour!). He’s clearly a bun who likes his routine! 

Peter’s had one bout of GI stasis and at the time, the vet mentioned that she’s had good luck with a low- or no-pellet diet for bunnies with a history of intestinal issues. Everything is going great with Peter now (knock on wood!), but I feel like anything I can do to maximize the amount of hay and high-fiber veggies he’s getting seems like the best long-term option for him, just in case he’s prone to stasis.

Any thoughts on removing pellets and the proper process to follow? Am I jumping the gun?

I would really appreciate your input! 

[Sarita]

Since Peter has had a bout of stasis and the vet mentioned this, I would recommend you discuss with her whether or not she recommends you do this. Two of my rabbits never get pellets and they are fine. My Dutch pair gets pellets but I probably only fill their bowl (1/3 cup) maybe once a week or every two weeks – they just don’t eat much of them.

It’s true that in the US many vets do recommend extremely reduced pellets or no pellets for stasis prone rabbits. I do think that 1/4 cup is way too much for such a small rabbit. Maybe one tablespoon a day would be closer what he should be given (with your vet’s approval of course).

[jennyrabbit]

I dont feed jenny pellets for this reason, my last girl Kari succomed to pastellosis because of GI problems caused by the pellets, after her inital surgeries I switched her to pure veggies and hay per the vet and she did soooo much better. so now with Jenny I am pellet shy, and feed exclusily veggies and hay. I just make sure she gets a good variety really, nothing special, but she is doing awsome.

[Sarita]

Jenny what is pastellosis? I have never heard of this.

[angelicvampyre]

Two of my guys get some pellets more as a treat but they liked them so much that I have looked around for other options. You can find pelleted hay, that is compressed hay in smallish bite size pieces. They smell great (well the ones I get do anyway) they love them and they feel they are getting their “pellets” but they are just getting more hay.

[jennyrabbit]

lol sorry typo, little keyboard, long nails lol Pasteurellosis http://www.lbah.com/rabbits/pasteurella.htm, the vet siad that her GI issues caused the bacteria to actually cause problems and show symptomes of the disease rather then just be a bacteria being carried and nothing more.

[bunnymum16]

my bunny is a pellet pig.he barely eats hay.he’s ok though.im still making him eat more hay though(i dont wanna be sorry).i havent introduced any veggies yet since he’s still 5 months old.

im honestly confused with bunny diets.some say pellets provide them with vitamins and minerals hay do not have.some also say that veggies mess with bunny’s digestive tract.i’m not sure what to follow.

[LoveChaCha]

Bunnymum, I would highly recommend romaine, red leaf, cilantro, parsley, carrots with the green stuff on it. But slowly. Gradually.

My bunny wouldn’t eat veggies until I decreased her pellets. She gets about a tablespoon daily. She LOVES her pellets and I don’t feel bad anymore about the decrease. I just give her a ton of hay to eat. Hay is essential to bunny health.

Jess and Peter – If your bunny finishes hay really quickly, I recommend putting out more hay. A bunny can NEVER have too much of hay Or perhaps try different varieties

[bunnymum16]

thanks brittany.

is it ok to introduce veggies now?my nethie is 3 1/2 months old.

[LoveChaCha]

No, not yet.

I would wait a few months. I introduced veggies around 6-7 months old. It varies

Your bunny should be getting unlimited pellets

What color is your Nethie?

[bunnymum16]

my nethie is a ruby-eyed white.he’s so adorable.i was lookin at your bunny’s photos and she’s so cute.im probably gonna get my bunny a girlfriend like yours.lol

[Beka27]

Jess: You might not have to remove pellets completely, but I bet you could reduce the amount even further. Can you get him down to 1/8cup a day total? He’s a small guy and he loves his veggies, so he really doesn’t need 1/4cup. As you do this, you could even increase veggies by another cup as long as his hay consumption isn’t affected.

Have you tried feeding veggies and pellets separately? Since fresh foods and processed pellets digest at different rates, many people (myself included) have had success with feeding veggies and pellets at least 8 hours apart. My pair get all their veggies in the morning, and all their pellets at one time in the evening. And this will actually make it easier on you because you won’t have to keep up a schedule with multiple feedings thru out the day. Of course, hay is available at all times.

Bunnymum: Veggies can be introduced to rabbit when they start eating solid foods at 4-5 weeks old. Ideally, they will be nibbling on mama’s veggies before they are weaned. So at 3.5 months, you can definitely begin to slowly introduce basic veggies like romaine and parsley.

[jerseygirl]

I found this article really educational regarding rabbit diet in general and pellet free diets. http://www.leithpetwerks.com/Bunfun/nonpellet.html  Re-reading it just now has me wanting to tweak my rabbits diets.

Good quality timothy based pellet should be ok in their diets though. So just an even smaller amount might make a difference and he can still have them as a sort of treat if he’s a fan of his pellets.

[angelicvampyre]

Only issue I have with pellets is they contain more salt I think. Rufus who eats large amoutns of pellets as he does not eat hay due to his teeth drinks a litre of water a day. Bugz and Anya who have little to no pellets and are big hay eaters drink a litre between them.

[Beka27]

That’s interesting AV. I’ve heard and experienced the opposite, that increased hay consumption will generally increase water consumption. I would be more inclined to think that Rufus’ background and (maybe?) not having consistent access to fresh water triggers a psychological response to drink since it’s now available. But who knows? It’s all just speculation one way or another…

[Sarita]

Heck, my rabbits barely drink water one way or the other and I give them fresh water in their bowls twice a day.

Maybe I should provide carrot juice for them LOL.

[Beka27]

Great article Pam. I liked the part about variety, but “regular variety”.

[jerseygirl]

I would be more inclined to think that Rufus’ background

Yes. And his dental issues! I had heard that they can drink more to sooth tooth troubles. Do you know if his water consumption was always above the norm?

[Sarita]

Jersey, I think you are right about water consumption and dental problems. Pepe drinks water way more than my other rabbits and I do think it’s to soothe his mouth. He also is a horrible hay eater.

[jess&peter]

Thanks everyone for your replies — I’ll bring it up with the vet when we go for a check-up in a couple of weeks. I think you’re right that I can go ahead and start reducing his pellet intake to 1/8 cup — I’ll go ahead and start gradually doing that. He’s really into his hay and veggies, and only recently been a little pig for the pellets, so I don’t think it will be a hard habit to break if I decide to go that route.

I’m also just beginning to work on some training commands with him, and I hope one day I can use the pellets as rewards — since his episode of stasis, I’ve been really vigilant about keeping his treats to a minimum. I think pellets would be a great alternative to be able to use.

Thanks again! : )

[Beka27]

Pellets are a great treat to use with training! But they are considerably less effective when he has a whole bowl sitting 5 feet away from him… lol!!!!!

[Deleted User]

I took my four bunnies off pellets and one of them, my smallest, 1-year old, became skinny, a little too much so. He gets a teaspoon of pellets now as a treat. I think a compromise is often the best solution, meaning just cut back but don’t eliminate the pellets completely.

[KatnipCrzy]

jess&peter- I have to agree with the other posters about decreasing the amount of pellets fed. My Mini Lops at about 5 1/5 lbs only get 1 Tablespoon of pellets a day- and my English Lop at about 9 1/2lbs get 1/4 cup of pellets a day (which will be reduced further now that he is a year old- my own schedule I want to follow).

My bunnies eat a large amount of hay and veggies. Since they are not filling up on pellets- the eat more hay and all veggies put in front of them. This SHOULD be a “recipe” for a healthy bunny diet. But each rabbit is different- so their needs may vary. But I would guess for better GI health increasing the amount of hay would be beneficial.

And I have noticed that having hay in abundance available and offering fresh handfuls of the same hay or another type of hay- increases their interest. I feed timothy hay from a bale- but buy oat, wheat, etc as a “treat” hay. And they appreciate the variety.

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