switching pellets?

[mocha200]

Mocha and Lulu are almost done with there alfalfa biased pellets and so i thought it should be time to switch them to timothy ( they turned one last month.) but the stuff we get is $0.43 a pound! its really cheep. so i know my mom and dad are not going to want to buy to much more expensive. so i was wondering if there is any cheep timothy pellets out there. if not, how long will it take for them to eat 10 pounds. ( they get a little bit more than 2/4 cups a switching
day i think) cuz if it took them a while i would just buy it myself.

[Sarita]

I think for your particular situation since you must rely on your parents I would say stick with what you are giving but decrease the amount of pellets.

[mocha200]

are you sure? cuz i don’t mind at all buying it myself.

[Sarita]

Your other option as far as price is to perhaps try the Kaytee Complete which is a timothy based. I’m looking at it on Petco and right now a 5 pound bag is $6.97 so it’s twice what your parents pay for the alfalfa. The Oxbow is going to be significantly more.

Do you get your pellets from a feed store now?

[mocha200]

yes i git it at a feed store.

[Sarita]

Do you know what brand they are?

[mocha200]

um… no…. i could try to find it on the internet.

[Sarita]

LOL – does it say on the package? I’m wondering if they are made locally. I am sticking by staying with what you have and decreasing the amount and letting your parents pay for it.

Others may disagree, but I think you take such good care of them that you will be fine staying with what you have.

[mocha200]

they let me buy a smaller amount. so instead of a 50lb bag they let me get 5 pounds. so it doesn’t say on the bag they gave me.

[Sarita]

It’s probably Purina. They sell that in alot of feed stores. But you can always ask the next time you go and get some.

[mocha200]

i just talked to my mom and she said she would think about it.

[Sarita]

About allowing you to get Timothy pellets?

[mocha200]

i looked up purina rabbit pellets and that was not it. mine come in a purple bag ( before he separated them) with a dark purple rabbit on it.

[KatnipCrzy]

If your Mom will switch to a Timothy pellet than that is good.  But there are members here that are not able to get Timothy pellets where they live- in another country/ or other reasons- and it is fine to give alfalfa pellets as long as they are doing OK on them.  Alfalfa pellets are only BAD when fed to adult rabbits in too large of quantities.  If your bunnies are getting a small amount-  pellets are not the main portion of the diet.  My Mini Lops only get a Tablespoon of Oxbow T pellets a day- and their bag lasts a long, long time.

If you are not feeding veggies- as much as recommended- then I would be more concerned about them making up the difference in pellets- and that is not good for them.  So what is the rest of their diet like?

[mocha200]

they get about 2 cups a day ( each) i think ( i don’t really measure it) and un limited hay.

[Beka27]

I’ve seen bulk timothy pellets at stores before. So is it possible that the feed store carries timothy also? You are in a delicate situation. I agree with reducing the number of pellets, whether you switch to timothy or stick with the alfalfa, but you may need to compensate by feeding more veggies. And I know that’s been an issue in the past.

You really are doing such a fantastic job with your bunnies! Let us know if the feed store has tim pellets.

[mocha200]

they do have timothy it is oxbow ( the stuff BB recommends i think) if i didn’t feed pellets at all what else would i have to add into there diet? ( i am not going to not give them pellets i just thought if they didn’t get as many i could serve other stuff that has the same stuff pellets have in them. hope you know what i mean.)

[Monkeybun]

If you didn’t feed pellets, you’d have to feed them alot more veggies if I remember right. So it would be cheaper for you to just feed them the pellets, plus whatever veggies they currently get.

[Sarita]

Yes, Mocha, stick with feeding pellets plus the vegetables. I think we are confusing you and we don’t want to confuse you.

Basically just stick with what you are doing if it is working.

[mocha200]

if i end up being able to buy timothy pellets should i?

[Sarita]

Yes, if your mom will buy the timothy pellets for you go ahead and switch.

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I find a bag of pellets last me quite a while. I don’t feed my bunnies too many pellets though.

[Deleted User]

mocha, is this pellet switch because you think they are fat? Just give less of what you are feeding in pellets, and have them eat more hay.

[mocha200]

no because they are a year old so when they are a year old you are supposed to switch them to timothy. right?

[Deleted User]

timothy is ideal, but if you keep the amount low you can use alfalfa pellets if their hay is timothy.

[mocha200]

there hay is timothy but somtimes it has a little bit of alfalfa ( i use our horses hay, but only the really good stuff)

[Brianne]

I don’t know if someone mentioned this, but its actually healthier for them to be pellet free. Everyone has their heads stuck around feeding bunnies pellets, when in reality they’ll be more healthy on a diet of timothy hay (which you can buy by the bail REALLY cheap) and greens. If you’d like more information, there is a group on bunspace http://www.bunspace.com/groups/group_index?gid=115 which is dedicated to educating people about going pellet free. Mine still eat pellets but they get a tablespoon full a day, thats all.

[mocha200]

they get 1/4 cut per day.

[Beka27]

Welcome Brianne!

You are correct that in some situations, pellet-free can be healthier; and in fact, some rabbits have to be pellet-free due to health issues. When a rabbit is fed a pellet-free diet, they need a wide, wide variety of greens to fill in all the nutritional gaps from not receiving a “nutritionally complete” pellet. However, since you are new to Binkybunny, you are not aware that Mocha is unable to provide her rabbits with the variety needed to maintain their health without pellets. Because of this fact, we are encouraging her to continue feeding pellets in a limited amount.

[Kyoshi]

I know lots of people say you should use timothy for health, so I think it’s a good Idea. You can’t just switch it right away, so I’d by a bag of both timothy and alfalfa. Feed them alfalfa normally, but add some timothy too. Then over the nexts days, gradually decrease the alfalfa and increase the timothy. Soon they will be eating only timothy!

[Author]

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