Rabbit Food??

[RockyRoad]

I have heard numerous times that rabbits should not be eating pellets past theirbaby stage. I only caught bits of it, and I am really confused..:confused: Floppsy eats pellets, and we never had a problem with her eating them, she devours them! :p But I was wondering if it is true that rabbits as old as Floppsy should be taken off pellets? :confused: I'm going to try and see if there is any info on HRS website.

[Karen]

I have never heard that. Some rabbit live on pellets their whole life. Miss Hoppy refused them from the minute we got her, so she's a veggie diet bunny!

http://www.rabbit.org will answer all your questions.

[Corinna]

I havn't ever heard that either.I have raised rabbits for about 35 years. It is formulaed just for them.

[wolfsoul]

my rabbits always ate pellets throughout their entire lives! one of my rabbits lived a really long time, and she was fed on only those and veggies...

[RockyRoad]

OK, I was really confused there! :D Thanks for the help!

[luckies4me]

Alfalfa can cause problems for some rabbits such as bladder stones and urinary track infections....but this is ONLY if there is a LOT of calcium/fiber. Rabbits should have free feed of pellets while babies, then gradually reduced as they get older.


My rabbits ate pellets forever and I had no problems. You can do a search online for more info.

Try typing in "dangers of alfalfa pellets in rabbits" "Is alfalfa bad for rabbits?" "How to choose a good brand of rabbit pellets" etc. Something should come up giving you more info...most people are now choosing to feed timothy pellets andhay because it's gentler on the digestive tract.:)

[luckies4me]

I KNEW someone had posted about this before on this forum and I have finally found it....a very informative article for all bunny owners!


dangers of pellets (http://www.petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9445&highlight=alfalfa+pellets)

[RockyRoad]

Thanks Luckies4me! I love learning new things about bunnies, so when I become old enough to support a few(of course indoor-born), I can know more about what to avoid, etc.:D

[Aspen and Misty]

Jilly loves Pellets. Are there a diffrent kind of pellets besides Alfa pelets???

Ash

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by Aspen and Misty
Jilly loves Pellets. Are there a diffrent kind of pellets besides Alfa pelets???

Ash

Yes ma'am... www.oxbow.com or www.oxbowhay.com (forgot which it is...) They have a timothy pellets.

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by zippy-kat


Yes ma'am... www.oxbow.com or www.oxbowhay.com (forgot which it is...) They have a timothy pellets.

Thank you!

Ash

[zippy-kat]

You're welcome... it's the last link by the way!

[Aspen and Misty]

Yea, I noticed, LOL :D

Ash

ps: i want to see some more pics of that adorable Piper soon!!

[ChewmonkeyBC]

In the past I have always fed my bun buns pellets....along with veggies,and i never had a problem with it......

[wolfsoul]

im going to go to the petshop and ask for the ingredients to their pellets....(the stupid pellets dont even have ingredients on them)
even if they dont have alfalfa, r they still hard on a ratties tummy?

[Aspen and Misty]

Most usually your pet store will haev RAT food. Thats always a good thing to give your rats :D


Ash

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by Aspen and Misty
Most usually your pet store will haev RAT food. Thats always a good thing to give your rats :D


Ash
nope lol...neither of the petshops have rat food...believe me, ive looked like crazy..ive seen rabbit, guinea pig, gerbil and hamster, chinchilla, but most of them just say small animals food...

[Desert Arabian]

nope lol...neither of the petshops have rat food...believe me, ive looked like crazy..ive seen rabbit, guinea pig, gerbil and hamster, chinchilla, but most of them just say small animals food...

Than those two pet stores must be pretty crappy!!! :eek:

Are you sure they weren't out of stock?:confused:

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by YellowLabLover


Than those two pet stores must be pretty crappy!!! :eek:

Are you sure they weren't out of stock?:confused:
they r kinda crappy lol...the first one is very small like one u might see on tv...the other one is huge with shelves practically piled to they sky, with a veteranary clinic, groomers, a photography room, a doggy daycare and dog obedience, yet no rat food lol
i dont hink they were out of stock cuz i go to one or the other almost every day and havent seen anything yet...
their bedding sux too lol...i cant find carefresh or mountain frsh but i really wanna try it!

[Aspen and Misty]

Originally posted by wolfsoul

nope lol...neither of the petshops have rat food...believe me, ive looked like crazy..ive seen rabbit, guinea pig, gerbil and hamster, chinchilla, but most of them just say small animals food...

Order it on line

Ash

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by Aspen and Misty


Order it on line

Ash
what does rat food consist of anyways? i think the food i give them right now is fine ;)

[CathyBogart]

Originally posted by wolfsoul
im going to go to the petshop and ask for the ingredients to their pellets....(the stupid pellets dont even have ingredients on them)
even if they dont have alfalfa, r they still hard on a ratties tummy?

Erm...I hope you mis-posted something and you aren't feeding rabbit pellets to a rattie!

Rabbits: We sell the Timothy based Oxbow food at work. I find it really hard to sell because it is more expensive, and a lot of people want the least expensive....grr....

Rats: In case you were talking about "rat pellets", I do recommend a lab block diet for rats, as long as they are NOT KAYTEE lab blocks. Go for Harland if you can get them, but most brands except for Kaytee are all right.

[wolfsoul]

Originally posted by WolfChan


Erm...I hope you mis-posted something and you aren't feeding rabbit pellets to a rattie!

Rabbits: We sell the Timothy based Oxbow food at work. I find it really hard to sell because it is more expensive, and a lot of people want the least expensive....grr....

Rats: In case you were talking about "rat pellets", I do recommend a lab block diet for rats, as long as they are NOT KAYTEE lab blocks. Go for Harland if you can get them, but most brands except for Kaytee are all right.
i had given them some pellets before i was corrected on here...but i noticed something lastnight...it actually says total pet unifeed rabbit pellets...doesnt that mean its used on other animals? either way, i wont be giving it to them, just wondering... if u look on a post i put bfore, there arent any lab blocks in my area...i dont understand really, cuz the petstore across from me is huge and filled with so much stuff (most of the pocket pet stuff is completely useless though lol)

[CathyBogart]

http://www.rodentfancy.org/acart/agora.cgi?cart_id=5782088.14472*Hs2sD4%Êrt_id%%&xm=off&keywords=E-100+SP-100&product=_o_

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/dept_brands.asp?dept%5Fid=256&mscssid=8RRKWQTDL8EW8JPFLL68K9XV08KB291E

http://www.petswarehouse.com/search_result.asp?MANUFACTURER=ALL&CATEGORY=SA+Pkg+Foods+RT

http://www.mousiekin.com/pet-mouse-food-starter-kits.html

http://www.heatherlea-pets.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Rats_Food_96.html


"Unifeed rabbit pellets" still says to me that they are for rabbits.... There are a few links ofplaces to order rat food. I'd ask at the large pet store in your area also, although I know a lot of pet stores carry only Kaytee blocks and seed mixes, both of which I'd steer clear of. Another good food is Suebee's mix, which you have to order directly from Suebee at www.goosemoose.com/rfc

[wolfsoul]

my mom said she doesnt want me to order from the internet....and i dont really trust it either....the internet isnt always the best place to get ur stuff.....
but what does rat food have in it anyways? i think what im giving them should suffice, but is there something in "rat food" that is really essential?

[Desert Arabian]

Internet prices beat store prices by a long shot...at least that's the case with all the stuff we buy off the internet i.e. pet supplies.

[wolfsoul]

i cant make her do anything she doesnt want to do...ill tell her that, but i dont think it will work...how do u pay for pet supplies? can u send money? or do u have to use a credit card?

[Heather Wallace]

A rabbits diet should consist of maily a high quality hay throughout the day along with some vegetables and only a small amount of pellets/dried food.]

Rabbits can survive on a diet of hay and grass.

[Daisylover]

Getting back to Rabbits, see www.rabbit.org and go to the link for nutrition.

Alfalfa-based pellets are not good for adults, especially as the rabbit gets older. Alfalfa pellets are high in calcium, which for babies is good (for their bones), but as an adult they not longer need that calcium for bone growth. The excess calcium sits in their bladder, forms into crystals and eventually becomes bladder stones. The tell-tale sign for excess calcium is called sludge, a whitish deposit in the bunny's urine.....that is a danger sign that you need to stop ALL alfalfa based products immediately.

There are timmothy hay based pellets, as Zippy indicated, made by the Oxbow company. Rabbit specialist vets usually sell them as well as oxbow online. americanpetdinner.org (or maybe .com)
also sells timmy-based pellets.

I urge people who say they've always feed their rabbits pellets and have never had a problem....I'd like to know how old did your bunny get to be before it died and do you know what it died of?
I'm not being a smart alec.... I'm sure that some bunnies can live on nothing but pellets but as my vet says, do wild bunnies eat pellets? Of course the answer is no. It is not a natural food. Bunnies need unlimited amounts of timmy hay and greens to keep their gut moving. If the gut gets heavy with pellets, or the bladder heavy with calcium crystals you could, not would but could, lose your bunny. A bunny's gut has to move 24 hrs a day and if it stops they die within hours, so please don't take the chance.

[Daisylover]

I also meant to add in my prev post above that with advances in bunny health and nutrition and with most bunnies living indoors,
rabbits are living a much longer life span than previously..... Specialists are now saying we can expect a well-cared for rabbit, getting proper vet care and diet and living indoors to live a average life of 7-11 years. It's possible that sludge and bladder problems were not seen in bunnies who never got that old and/or that live outside.

[Aspen and Misty]

Question-

How old should a bunny be before they get veggies???

Ash

[Daisylover]

I'd start a young one on timmy hay first, and gradually add the veggies...and not a lot, very small handful.

Hay should be the mainstay of the diet and always available, then veggies, and finally 1-2 TBLS of timothy hay-based pellets for an adult rabbit . The amount of pellets depends on its weight---5 lb bun gets 2 TBLS of pellets and only if you cannot bring yourself NOT to give your bun pellets. Also depending on weight an adult bunny should average 1 cup of veggies twice a day. Since it's impossible to measure 1 cup veggies I sort of do mine by the handful. AND since mine do not get any pellets, I double the 1 cup to 2 cups of veggies, but mine are all grown up and are 4-8 years old.

Again, I would check the nutrition link at www.rabbit.org

[Heather Wallace]

Some good advice there Daisy.