Science Selective portion recommendation?

[edikit]

I’m making the switch from Oxbow to Science Selective for our buns. It’s much less dense than Oxbow and the pellets are much bigger, so maybe that’s just throwing my perception off, but it recommends 60-70g per day, which comes out to nearly a cup per rabbit!

I’m used to feeding 2tbsp (20-25g) per bun with Oxbow, so this just seems like way too much? Does anybody who feeds their buns SS have any insight? Should I go with their recommendation, or something else?

Thank you!

[Asriel and Bombur]

That’s seems like a lot to me, especially when you factor in that it’s primarily alfalfa based, not timothy like Oxbow is. So personally I wouldn’t even feed it to adult buns because it is alfalfa based. I think alfalfa plus that amount of food is a recipe for an unhealthy and overweight bunny.

[edikit]

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, one of our buns has a bit of a sensitive stomach and wasn’t digesting Oxbow very well (soft poops). Since we’ve switched to SS, her poops have been looking much better.

For what it’s worth, I was looking at this chart to determine what might be a good alternative to Oxbow: http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/…arison.asp

According to this, SS actually has a better variety/quantity of nutrients than Oxbow does. I’ve seen this chart used on this forum and others quite a bit, so I’m hoping that it’s reliable.

The alfalfa base does concern me though, especially at that quantity of pellets. They do have a grain-free version that uses Timothy instead of Alfalfa as the base, so I might see if I can find that somewhere, but I’m nervous to switch things up again with our girl’s sensitive stomach!

[Bunny House]

Bunnies actually don’t need pellets. And too many pellets can cause bunnies to get points on their molars and then require dentals. So the new brand seems okay, but I would only do a tablespoon per bun a day, so they get pellets as treats but don’t cause points on their molars!

[sarahthegemini]

How do pellets cause points on their molars?

Edikit – most companies will recommend a higher-than-necessary amount. You use more product that way

[Bunny House]

Sarahthegemini, because instead of grinding their teeth like they do with hay and veggies, they chomp the pellets and eating a lot everyday can cause points to form, especially with poor hay eating buns. I know my lop has bad molars anytime she get more than a tbsp a day of them and she’s a really good hay eater.

[Wick & Fable]

I think a better way to phrase it would be that pellet consumption can lessen hay consumption, leading to less teeth wear. It’s not the pellets that directly cause molar spurs, but lots of pellets can facilitate eating habits that are more prone to developing molar spurs.

That being said, pellets are a good part, if small, of an adult rabbit’s diet because it helps ensure they are receiving the necessary minerals and vitamins needed. Some rabbits do not get enough variety of veggies to hit all those marks, so having some pellets to supplement is healthy, in appropriate quantities.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[sarahthegemini]

That’s what I thought Wick – it’s less hay consumption that can cause molar spurs not the actual pellets themselves.

[Bam]

Because Science Selective are extruded pellets, they weigh about half of what the same volume of Oxbow pellets weighs. So if you’d normally give 2 tablespoons Oxbow you should give 4 tablespoons of the SS.

The alfalfa is balanced in pellets, the amounts of Calcium and protein (and often the Ca/P ratio) are declared. It doesn’t matter if the protein and calcium comes from alfalfa or from other sources, as long as all the essential amino acids are there and the calcium content isn’t too high.

I agree with the others: Pellets are yummier than hay and if a bun gets a lot of pellets, the bun will choose pellets over hay and hay consumption will go down. And that’s bad for both teeth and tummy.

I have never fed any adult pet the full amount recommended on food packages. Half is often about right, or you’ll soon have a little fatty on your hands. My bunny Bam weighed 2 kilos and according to Science Selective he should get about 8 Fibafirst sticks per day. He was prone to putting on weight, so he had 1 to 1.5 sticks per day. My bunny Vilde gets 2-3 sticks per day because he’s a lot more active.

[Author]

Messages