bunny brunch to hay pellets?

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Why are you switching him over to just hay pellets?


When switching feed, you want to make it gradual, add a little more of the new food each day, and a little less of the old food, until it's all the new food (I usually do it over a week or so)
 
SableSteel":3i3ftcz8 said:
Why are you switching him over to just hay pellets?


When switching feed, you want to make it gradual, add a little more of the new food each day, and a little less of the old food, until it's all the new food (I usually do it over a week or so)

well, i took him to the vet the other day because he wasn't eating as much food (he was pooping, peeing and jumping around as usual) and she checked his teeth & they are all well and good but she recommended just trying him on hay pellets
i just really want him to be happy n healthy
 
Why pellets, and not just plain hay? Additional to his other food, it's really good for their teeth when they nibble it, also, they love to nibble. Or does it have unlimited hay anyway?

MY approach on feeding is that I give as much different stuff as possible, now it's hay, forage (mostly grass now), pellets, apples, beets, carrots, Topinambur, imho diversity reduces problems. Whatever. But well, there are so many ways to feed a rabbit that aren't actually wrong :lol:

Forage may be problematic, depending on where you live and if there are wild rabbits around which could spread deseases.

Anyway, as mentioned, do any changes gradually, starting with thumbnail sized bits, over a week or more. They need to grow the right bacteria to digest new stuff, that takes time (I wonder how guinea pig digestion works...).
 
Preitler":3nmb7ls1 said:
Why pellets, and not just plain hay? Additional to his other food, it's really good for their teeth when they nibble it, also, they love to nibble. Or does it have unlimited hay anyway?

MY approach on feeding is that I give as much different stuff as possible, now it's hay, forage (mostly grass now), pellets, apples, beets, carrots, Topinambur, imho diversity reduces problems. Whatever. But well, there are so many ways to feed a rabbit that aren't actually wrong :lol:

Forage may be problematic, depending on where you live and if there are wild rabbits around which could spread deseases.

Anyway, as mentioned, do any changes gradually, starting with thumbnail sized bits, over a week or more. They need to grow the right bacteria to digest new stuff, that takes time (I wonder how guinea pig digestion works...).

he always has fresh hay <3 i mentioned that he doesn't eat as much hay and she said that maybe hay pellets would be beneficial since they are hay based
thank you so much for the help, we appreciate you !!
i havent ever owned a guinea pig but i hope you figure it out !!!
 
I'm not sure if your vet meant to replace the regular pellets with hay pellets or to use the hay pellets as a supplement.

Most grass-based hay has less than 10% protein. Rabbits need at least 15% if they are "just pets" and a bit more if they are being bred or shown. Check the nutritional breakdown of both kinds of pellets and if necessary, contact the manufacturers for an ingredients list. (You might have already done this... I can't remember and am a bit pressed for time at the moment.)
 
MaggieJ":riw5jv0o said:
I'm not sure if your vet meant to replace the regular pellets with hay pellets or to use the hay pellets as a supplement.

Most grass-based hay has less than 10% protein. Rabbits need at least 15% if they are "just pets" and a bit more if they are being bred or shown. Check the nutritional breakdown of both kinds of pellets and if necessary, contact the manufacturers for an ingredients list. (You might have already done this... I can't remember and am a bit pressed for time at the moment.)
i might just keep him on bunny brunch and also offer the hay pellets as a supplement, i never thought to do that & i feel it'd be very beneficial! i did contact the company for a list of ingredients and found that the percentage of protein in bunny brunch was 13.5% and i kinda feel terrible now i've only been giving him that much ): i'm definitely going to add in pellets too
oh and i'm feeding bunny brunch to my theda who is slightly over a month old because thats what they were feeding her at the place i got her from and i want to assume she needs way more protein, should i give her pellets too???? i'm so dumb :bunnyhop:
 
ziegfeldbunny":3pdv5qyb said:
MaggieJ":3pdv5qyb said:
I'm not sure if your vet meant to replace the regular pellets with hay pellets or to use the hay pellets as a supplement.

Most grass-based hay has less than 10% protein. Rabbits need at least 15% if they are "just pets" and a bit more if they are being bred or shown. Check the nutritional breakdown of both kinds of pellets and if necessary, contact the manufacturers for an ingredients list. (You might have already done this... I can't remember and am a bit pressed for time at the moment.)
i might just keep him on bunny brunch and also offer the hay pellets as a supplement, i never thought to do that & i feel it'd be very beneficial! i did contact the company for a list of ingredients and found that the percentage of protein in bunny brunch was 13.5% and i kinda feel terrible now i've only been giving him that much ): i'm definitely going to add in pellets too
oh and i'm feeding bunny brunch to my theda who is slightly over a month old because thats what they were feeding her at the place i got her from and i want to assume she needs way more protein, should i give her pellets too???? i'm so dumb :bunnyhop:

Not dumb at all! :encourage: We all have to start somewhere, and it sounds like you are trying to do what's best for them! Dumb would be ignoring obvious signs of issues or distress then wondering what happened when they died... You are noticing subtle changes, taking steps to figure out why it's happening, and weighing the options for what you can do better :) <br /><br /> -- Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:26 pm -- <br /><br /> The feed I used to use (until the store that carried it closed) has this listed on it's website, I had a pic of the ingredients, but no idea where it's at:

BARTLETT RABBIT FOOD with Adiguard C®: contains 16% protein, dehydrated alfalfa, fermentable fiber and probiotics; ideal for all life cycles of commercial or show rabbits. Contains no corn. Adiguard C® is an all-natural source of beta-glucans and mannan oligosaccharides (MOS), for improvement of gastrointestinal health and immune response.Click here for information on Nutriad's Adiguard C®. Bartlett Rabbit Food provides mature does with all the nutrients essential to produce five to seven litters per year. Provide free-choice to does and kits. For dry does, non-working bucks and pets, limit feed 4.5 to 6.5 ounces per day. Tag link [top ]

I fed it with free choice hay... occasional greens (introduced slowly, working up to daily during prime growing season), some "treats" occasionally...

This is what I am currently using, and I am not as happy with it:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produc ... oCSlbw_wcB
 
I still don't get why you are looking to switch? If he's not getting skinny, looks healthy, things are going in and things are coming out correctly then there's no reason to switch. Rabbits eat different amounts. Even within the same size they will eat slightly different. There are a few ingredients I would prefer to avoid in that mix but whether something better is available in your area I do not know. If you want to replace the pellet you need to replace it with another equal or better pellet. Not just hay pellets. Usually they are less likely to eat hay pellets than anything else. If you want more hay then provided more hay. If he's on unlimited hay then hay pellets aren't going to do any thing beneficial. They are just powdered, compressed hay. They have less health benefits than loose hay. I would definitely not feed that pellet without a good loose hay or maybe a quality cube. I would not rely on hay pellets because of how they are processed and the lower amount that is generally eaten. That pellet is not hay based which is what a complete pellet needs to be. It does have some lucerne (alfalfa in the US) but it is not the leading ingredient like it would be here. That mix leads with grains so I would question it as a balanced diet by itself. However, like I said loose hay or if you can't stand it hay cubes are more what you need and hay pellets are kind of a last resort for people who really want to include hay but can't find other methods or a supplement they might eat if they feel the need more than they are a good major diet ingredient. A hay only diet of any kind of hay requires balancing various fresh foods, often supplemented with grains, and sometimes requires a vitamin/mineral mix for livestock to finish it off. These things would be in a pellet normally so you don't have to worry about and you just have to add the hay part.
 

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