To feed pellets or not

[LittlePuffyTail]

I was talking to my vet today (see my post about Stormy’s statis) and she told me I should drastically cut down my rabbits pellets. I’ve dealt with a lot of statis with my 2 boys so she thinks it would be best to cut out all or the majority of pellets. She said they should only get like a “pepperring” of pellets on their veggies.

Is there anyone who feeds no pellets? I really hate the idea…they LOVE their pellets but I’m willing to try anything to reduce my vet bills!!! The only problem is I find sometimes my buns don’t eat as much hay as I would like (they are really fussy and if it’s coarse or a bit different they eat only a small amount.”

What sort of diet changes do you have to make to compensate for the no pellets? Right now my buns get 1/8 cup pellets (a bit less for Storm) and two crocks full of lettuce and greens a day and unlimited hay. If I had to feed more greens wouldn’t that make their poo softer?

[Sarita]

Me, the majority of my rabbits are pellet free. My Dutches get them but they barely touch them. Pepe gets them but unfortunately he won’t touch his hay and doesn’t eat much greens.

I don’t make any changes to compensate. They get plenty of greens and carrots and treats and fresh water and fresh hay and they are fine.

Greens don’t make softer poo’s – pellets do. That’s really a misconception that greens cause this, they don’t.

[Binkles]

How much greens do you give each bun in this case, Sarita? I’m contemplating taking Little-Bit off pellets because she’s so enthusiastic about eating them that she choked yesterday morning. Are there any specific vitamins and minerals that need to be considered?

[LittlePuffyTail]

Good questions, Binkles.

[Sarita]

Binkles, I’m not at all scientific about the greens. I give a very huge amount in the morning only and only a few eat the whole amount (Toffee and Maxine) – the rest don’t eat the whole thing though and I waste alot. I think most greens are going to give you plenty of vitamins and minerals. I do give carrots every other day as well and some eat them and some don’t. I would give a much wider variety if I could afford it but with 8 rabbits, they get either romaine or green leaf daily, a herb (mint, basil or dill or a mixture), parsley and cilantro and the carrot chunks. Plus unlimited hay. Most of my rabbits are over 6 years old too and they don’t all seem to eat the whole amount – they eat what they need and none are starving. I guess it’s a matter of their individual metabolisms.

My rabbits are all healthy for the most part. Any medical issues they have are not related to diet – sludge, arthritis, dental and my vet is fine with their diet and agrees with what I do.

I do recommend that you discuss this with your vet so that you can get his/her consent on this.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I was going to say Sarita would be best to answer your questions. With alot of veggies and great hay-my buns hardly touch pellets (we free feed) a standard size bowl (like this one approx one cup or so http://i31.twenga.com/pets/pet-bowl/hagen-living-world-ceramic-tp_3322634687821196605.png ) will last each pair 1/2 a week.

I think of it like dog food-it’s balanced and complete and easy- but not ideal. The best thing is close to a natural diet-hay and veggies. I found with great veggies (I serve in portions they cannot finish-even with buns who eat with gusto can get enough veggies they don’t finish them-I throw veggies out if you can beleive it) in large portions and lots of nice hay-pellets are an afterthought.

If you cut pellets out-you’d want to lean heavily on VARIED veggies-because you don’t have a balanced nutrition source-so aim for the 3 different veggies a day switched up daily. And find a hay they go batty over I find adding hay several times a day rather then a big hunk of it available for days works amazing

Since I’ve alway free fed pellets I’ve never had buns go batty over them-but you know how your buns get over treats and the like? Mine now do that over hay-there’s a head binky dance when I come in to put down fresh hay.  

 

I think of it alot like it works with dieters-if you can’t have cake-you want cake. So with free feeding -they really don’t care about the pellets (in my case) and the hay is put down in small amounts all day (I put down hay between 4-6 times a day) and that’s the special food.  

[Karla]

I used to feed mine with lots of pellets, but am now off pellets 100 %. I got Jack 2-3 months ago, and he had teeth problems. So I was reading up a lot on rabbit teeth, and found that pellets have no abrasive effect at all. And so, if you feed a lot of pellets, the rabbits might get teeth problems.

Also, because of Jack’s teeth surgery two weeks ago, I started feeding them pellets again, because it seemed to be easier for him to chew while healing. And now I’m struggling with loose stools. All in all: pellets are banned here.

Oh, and about getting your bunnies to eat more hay: I had the same problem. Mine have been on a strict hay diet this week to make sure that they actually get their daily amount of hay. I think they used to eat 97% veggies and 3 % hay. Their diet should actually be 80% hay. I only just started adding veggies two days ago. And they all love their hay now. The first two days, I mixed it with raisins and meadow mixes, which they love. I still mix it with the meadow mix, but I don’t think I need anymore ’cause they just munch away on their hay

[Balefulregards]

I give VERY limited pellets to Coco and Jackson –

A hay tip, I sprinkled a tiny bit of pellets in the hay to incentive(ize) the hay eating. They dig through looking for the tidbits of pellets, and end up eating the hay. Then again, I have two enthusiastic Hay eaters. I get my hay from a local grower that I found on Craigslist and they LOVE it – far more than they ever loved any of the Oxbow brands

Of course I buy a lot of veggies – two HUGE amounts, twice a week. Right now the market had fresh, lovely arugula and they are boycotting it ( picky little buggers)

[MirBear]

what about a mostly pellet diet??? Hershey and Twix get some greens but for the most part they eat pellets…. my little sister feeds hershey and fills a whole bowl everyday!!! (i continuosly tell her.. only a small handful everyday) is this bad for them??
 

I have two BIG hay eaters though.. they can never get enough of any type of hay… they are currently on timothy everyday and alfa on fridays

[Binkles]

Little-Bit goes crazy over her oat hay, and I wind up feeding it to her four or five times a day. I wish there was a way they could infuse hay with vitamins and nutrients like they do pellets.

Hmm….

[Monkeybun]

MirBear, too much pellets can cause very chubby bunnies, as well as poopy butt, and teeth problems if they don’t eat as much hay. Definitely limit their pellets if they are adult bunnies

[Deleted User]

Pellets are essentially a livestock feed. They were developed to meet the needs of commercial rabbit raisers, to make feeding easy for the meat rabbit industry and to grow rabbits big fast. Many meat rabbits don’t even get any hay; the condition of their teeth and digestion system doesn’t matter because by the time they have matured to about 6 months their life ends anyways.
If you want to feed your rabbit healthy, it is best to mimic, within reason, the diet of rabbits in the wild. A rabbit should be eating grasses or hays 80% of their awake time. If they already have a belly full of pellets many won’t. Ideally a rabbit missing his pellets should turn to eating more hay, and a greater variety of hays (including calcium-rich legume hays).

[LittlePuffyTail]

While we’re talking about hay…I only feed Timothy Hay and sometimes the sweeter variety Premium Timothy which is the second cut. Is it better to give a variety of hays? I have a hard enough time finding quality timothy hay that I pretty much don’t have the option to feed any other types.

[Deleted User]

ask the vet but I feel that without any pellets the timothy alone wouldn’t supply them with enough calcium.

edit: I reread your post. if you have trouble getting hay, you could try the hay cubes from feedstores to supplement the timothy hay, can you get those? Or do your rabbits turn up their noses at those too?

[LittlePuffyTail]

We have hay cubes but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be impressed with those.

I think I will just continue to feed pellets but cut down a lot and feed more veggies and hay.

What’s the best hay to supplement along with the Timothy?

[MirBear]

my bunnies dont like hay cubes either… some time is i crush them up and mix it in veggies and pellets they eat them though

[Deleted User]

Posted By LittlePuffyTail on 02/03/2010 02:36 PM
We have hay cubes but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be impressed with those.

What’s the best hay to supplement along with the Timothy?

Mine never touched the cubes in the beginning, but, at the risk of sounding cruel, I skipped pellets for a couple of days and they got into the cubes fast and now love them.

LPT, this is a good list of nutrient compositions of different hays. (at the bottom of the link) — see which ones you can get and yours will like.

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-3/fiber.html

[LittlePuffyTail]

One of the horses at my barn eats alfalfa cubes but they look really nasty. Pretty dusty and not to my bunny standards. I’m not sure if there is better quality hay cubes available locally or not. I’ll have to ask her owner and look into it.

[KatnipCrzy]

Cotton and Schroeder eat much more hay now that they only get 1 tablespoon of Oxbow T in the am and pm- with salad time in between.

My bunnies have liked the hay cubes that come on some of the rabbit retail toys- and I have considered trying to find timothy cubes from the feed store to see how the quality compares- I can always feed the majority to the horse I am leasing.

Julie

[Beka27]

By definition, hay cubes are going to be dusty since they are pretty much obliterated hay. Absolutely not a replacement for regular, long strands of hay, but my two really enjoy them as an occasional treat. I’ve never noticed an issue with the hay dust, except it gets into the rug and has to be vacuumed up.

One day last week, there was some miscommunication in my house and the buns didn’t get any pellets at all that day. Let me tell you, they were practically licking the bottom of the hay bin the next morning when I got up. So reducing the pellets, even a small amount (maybe by half), for most bun will automatically raise the hay consumption.

[Deleted User]

A miscommunication… haha.
— what about giving cubes as a substitute for pellets/ I do sometimes.

[LittlePuffyTail]

What brand of hay cubes do you guys buy? I’m not sure if my pet store sells them or not. I’ve never seen them but they could be hidden somewhere.

[Beka27]

I’ve never seen timothy hay cubes at a pet store, only alfalfa. BB sells the Oxbow brand of timothy hay cubes, so that’s what we get.

[Deleted User]

The pet stores carry timothy cubes in small packages by “The Critter Bunch” (Critter Bunch also makes alfalfa ones) but they are expensive for being a small pkg. — Soome feedstores carry large bags of grass/alfalfa mix cubes. These are harder to find, though.

[Beka27]

The Oxbow packages are 1 pound for $5.25. When I have them, I only feed them as a treat a few times a week, so one pound last quite awhile with two buns.

[Deleted User]

Kaytee makes haycakes too but Oxbow would be the best choice. Some hay cubes contain bentonite as a binder, Oxbow’s don’t.

[Author]

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