What’s your preferred pellets?

[Kailaeve1271]

I genuinely want to know what other people in the rabbit community use/recommend as rabbit pellets. The general answer I get is Oxbow, however, I would love to know other brands and your opinions on them. Another thing I am curious about is have you ever mixed multiple brands of pellets for your rabbits?

To start, I personally use DuMOR pellets because they are available in large quantities and still have a good nutritional value. Feeding all three of my bunnies takes a lot of pellets. I’m debating mixing Oxbow and DuMOR pellets together and seeing how my bunnies benefit

[pinknfwuffy]

I use Oxbow Essentials Adult pellets but I tried Kaytee for a little while when I first had Olaf. I prefer the Oxbow because he seems to tolerate it well and the pellets seem fresh. Kaytee seemed less fresh and the Oxbow always had better color and scent. But whatever works for your bunnies, as long as it has proper amounts of nutrition, is good. With three bunnies I don’t blame you buying in bulk! Rabbit food is so expensive.

[Asriel and Bombur]

the breeder I got my boys from used Purina, so we went out and bought a 50 pound bag that miraculously lasted until they were 6 months and went to adult pellets. I’ve only used Oxbow since they’ve been adults. I was using the Essentials Adult formula for a while, but I either have to drive an hour to the vet for those or order them on Amazon. So now they get the Garden Select formula which is available at Petco. Those have veggies in it, so I think the boys prefer it best.

[Bam]

I have given my buns mixed pellets of multiple brands. I still do. I give Fibafirst sticks at night, as a night meal/snack. In the morning and afternoon I give Cuni Complete sensitive. My boy Vilde inherited those pellets from my boy Bam, plus he came with half a sack of a local brand of pellets, so he gets a little bit of that too still.

I believe that as long as a bun eats a good amount of hay every day, it can tolerate a most pellets. Pellets should be rather more of a supplement, hay should be the mainstay of a rabbit’s diet. (Circumstances can of course occur when a bun needs more pellets – for example while it’s still growing, if it’s pregnant or lactating, is recuperating from illness or if it has difficulty keeping weight on due to old age or health issues). Transitions should be done slowly though, as should of course all introduction of new or additional foods.

My bunny Bam had a proneness for putting on weight, so I had probiotic pellets for him as treats. I think he considered all pellets treats except for one (apparently very nasty) extra-healthy hay-only type pellets that he refused to have anything to do with.

[Kailaeve1271]

I’ve thought about Kaytee but I haven’t really been sure. I have much more experience with Guinea Pigs and with them Kaytee is a big no. Especially since for some reason people find plastic in their piggies pellets. Haven’t looked into the rabbit pellets much but it is worth a look! And yes 3 bunnies are expensive for pellets. The only reason I haven’t reached for higher quality brands is because why pay $25 for a 4 pound (yes I’m American) bag when I can get 20 pounds for $15? I’ve been looking into it though and since it is getting colder inside and outside, I know they’re fur will get fuller and, from what I read, better quality pellets can help fur grow better so I think it’s worth trying.

I’ve heard excellent things about Garden Select, but I’d have to order it online since I never see it in stores. I also never knew Purina made bunny food! I always associate them with dog chow.

Bam, it seems like your bunny has a great mixture! I’ll definitely look into those Fibafirst sticks before I make a switch too! My bunnies eat more pellets than I’d like (about 1/8 to 1/4 a cup). Dutchess is older and has hip problems, I don’t know her exact age, but she has a lot of white ticking in her black fur and she doesn’t really gain weight no matter how much I feed her. I believe she gits with your older buns. Peanut is about a year old. Her and Dutchess eat together so they get about half a cup technically between the two of them. She seems less interested in food and she also isn’t too heavy (a decent weight with no dewlap). The male is free fed. I try to give him about 1/4 cup and he doesn’t really eat much. He grazes for days, eating what he wants and he seems thin but a lot of it feels like he’s just thin and muscular to me

[LittlePuffyTail]

Big fan of Oxbow Adult Essentials here.

[Muj Mom N Bun]

I started BunBun on Kaytee because that is what her previous family had her on when I adopted her but after a little bit of time, I moved onward to Oxbow. I planned on starting her on the Adult Essentials when I went to the store to make the change but they were all out and so I grabbed a bag of their Garden Select. Well, I must say, I never looked back. The pellets are so pretty and green and they smell wonderfully herbaceous…I also noticed that BunBun’s poops became more uniform and greener in color so overall win for us!
The price is a tad more but I think they’re worth it.

[Muj Mom N Bun]

And, btw, Chewy has been a savior in slashing some of those pesky prices at chain store locations… and I’m sure that with 3 Buns, getting free shipping will be a breeze for you!

[Kailaeve1271]

That’s Awesome!

Chewy is the greatest when I need to restock on a lot. Trust me with 3 domestic bunnies, 2 guinea pigs, 7 chickens, a horse, 2 dogs, and cottontails coming in and out of my home for rehabilitation, I can usually get free shipping! But with my other animals, I order a lot less often than my rabbits so sometimes it’s cheaper to hit the nearest Tractor Supply or Petsmart

[Thumper_LittlePeanut]

Small Pet Select and Sherwood Health are good brands! Both, I think you have to order online. I feed my 2 bunnies Oxbow Garden Select but I want to switch them to Sherwood as I’ve heard that Oxbow contains some fillers like Molasses.

[tobyluv]

Posted By Thumper_LittlePeanut on 12/14/2018 6:41 PM

Small Pet Select and Sherwood Health are good brands! Both, I think you have to order online. I feed my 2 bunnies Oxbow Garden Select but I want to switch them to Sherwood as I’ve heard that Oxbow contains some fillers like Molasses.

Oxbow Essentials Rabbit Food does contain molasses, but the ingredient list for Oxbow Garden Select Rabbit Food does not show molasses.  Garden Select replaced Oxbow’s Natural Science pellets.  When they made the change to Garden Select, they left out molasses and soy.

[Thumper_LittlePeanut]

Oh! Thank you for correcting me I hope I don’t upset anyone with my dumb answer?

[Daisy]

I feed Science Selective, the adult bun kind. They love it and it has very good nutritional value so I’m happy. I have Beaphar Care+ as treat in food balls just because the SS pellets are too big to fit in them and the Beaphar has very aromatic and small pellets.

I have fed Beaphar Nature before because it’s grainless but it’s such a hassle to order! It’s only available at 2 online shops and last time I had issues with the availability so I immediatly rage quitted and when back to SS, that’s available both online and in pet shops.

[JackRabbit]

Sherwood Adult Maint fan here. Made a huge difference with my sensitive tummy bun. Switched all of my bunnies to Sherwood a few years ago.

[Azerane]

I use Oxbow, I’m in Australia and we have very few quality pellet brands, Oxbow is the only brand that my Luna can tolerate so that’s what they eat. Granted they get very little, my pair share only 1 tablespoon daily.

[Q8bunny]

Versele Laga’s Cuni Complete Sensitive (my holy grail pellet) in the morning (20g only) and 2cups fresh greens in the evening. Supplements (2 tabs) and one cookie and maybe the odd bit of fresh fruit or veg throughout the day.

Our backup pellet when we can’t get the Belgian gold is Sherwood’s pellets (the red Professional bag, or if not available, the blue picky-hay-eater version).

FibaFirst sticks are also awesome, but in Canada are too difficult to find at reasonable prices

[Q8bunny]

I just want to say that we used Oxbow’s Organic bunny pellets and they were very nice compared to many other formulations, but I try not to feed cereals/grains or sugar syrups as a daily pellet.

[Author]

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