Nova has decided that she loves particular foods. Especially treats. I try and get healthy treats that are 90%+ rabbit safe food. There are stacks out there that pretend to be bunny-safe. The ones she particularly loves are made by Supreme Pet Foods, which is a reliable brand for bunny food.
Tiny Friends Farm
Even though they are mostly wheat with a bit of flavour, they are really good to train with because you can break them easily into tiny bits.
I know it’s not approved of to feed bunnies brightly coloured foods, but looking at the ingredients list, they are fine to give sparingly because the colours are apparently made with natural food dyes.
Russel Rabbit Crunchers – carrot shaped. Nova loves these more than anything. I usually break thin into half or thirds. Sometimes she gets a whole one, but that is not often. Buttons, he is happy with anything as long as it’s the same amount as Nova, so if she gets two, he has to get two or he gets jealous.
Russel Rabbit Munchers – pea and carrot biscuits are a hit. The pea ones took a bit of getting used to, but after a while the bunnies love them.
Russel Rabbit Scrummies – even though these are marketed for guinea pigs, they are fine to feed bunnies. There are lots of different flavours in this pack; banana, apricot, apple and carrot. Both bunnies love these very much, especially the tiny apricot flavoured hearts.
Russel Rabbit Fruitees – these apricot and cherry flavoured treats took a bit to get used to. They weren’t an immediate hit. But after a few goes at them they are tolerated.
Russel Rabbit Timothy Hay and Herb Stickle – much too big for a single treat, but when broken into thirds, or quarters, they are crunched on and gobbled down within 10 minutes. Buttons likes them more than Nova, he likes herbs more than she does. The plastic stick in the centre is stupid, but I guess it’s there to hang the stickle up. But I know my bunnies would chew on the stick because it smells herby.
Verdict
All of these are fine to feed your rabbit. It is known that it is not a good thing to feed your rabbit coloured foods because they are usually made with fake and dangerous food colourants. These have the more expensive organic food colours in them that are made from real fruits and vegetables. The flavours are also natural.
Most of these treats can be broken into smaller parts and they last a lot longer. I give a half a biscuit per bunny.
Remember that these are treats. They are not a to be the main part of a rabbit’s diet. When given once or twice a day, your rabbit should not get undesirable digestive issues.
Selective Naturals
Garden Sticks Rabbit – are hay based sticks with pea and mint. Buttons loves these sticks. I only give him half, and Nova half. Nova has got over the joy of these and leaves her half, allowing Buttons to eat it. So I’ve resorted to breaking it into quarters. You only get 7 in a packet, which is a bit stingy, for the price.
Forest Sticks Guinea Pig – these are marketed to piggies, but they are fine to give bunnies. They are made from hay, blackberry and chamomile. I give Buttons quarter of one of these if he is stressing or has been inside for a couple of days and needs to chill out. Nova likes these, too.
Meadow Loops Rabbit – not a favourite, but tolerated. I haven’t given them regularly enough for the bunnies to get used to. They are Timothy hay and thyme.
Woodland Loops Guinea Pig – who would have guessed that dandelion and rosehip was a hit? Well, these treats took a bit of getting used to, but Nova loves them. Buttons, he is OK with them, but he prefers a Garden Stick.
Verdict
These treats are expensive, at nearly $10 a box. But they are the best available on the Australian market at the moment. They are manufactured by the same company as Selective Natural pellets (and Science Selective) which automatically gives them the thumbs-up.
I always break the loops in half and give a half to each bunny. That way they can have a half of each colour (pink and green) and have a full loop.
My bunnies think the sticks are too big and boring if given to them whole. So I break them into about 2cm long chunks and give two of each colour with their pellet dinner each night.
Peckish
The other treats Nova asks for are the Peckish ones. I know Peckish is not a particularly good quality brand, but these treats seems to be fine. My bunnies love the crunch and the fact it takes them effort to eat the treat, they feel like they score big time.
Mixed Berry treats – these took a few times to get used to, but Nova loves them. They are crunchy disc shaped treats that fit neatly in her mouth.
Dental Care treats – these are slightly more crispy than the Digestive and Skin Care treats, they take longer to eat. Nova will take about 30 seconds to eat the treat, Buttons can take longer. There is value in the length of time it takes them to eat these. I use these for Jackpot treats when training.
Digestive and Skin Care treats – These are the best. They are small, disc shaped and hard. Nova goes nuts for these. I used these to train “Up!” and she does it without any concerns when these treats are being provided. I only give one a day to each bunny.
I try to only give a maximum of 2 treats a day. But sometimes it doesn’t work that way, and they get a couple more each, especially if it’s just the crumbs.
I don’t feel too bad giving them healthy treats that are full of fibre, herbs and hay, because really, that’s all they eat.
To choose these treats, I made sure that they suited my bunnies diet, and covered gaps that they would have only on grass, hay and pellets. I purposefully chose treats that have different flavours to cover all nutritional bases.
Oxbow Natural Science
These are not treats. These are dietary supplements. I have put them here for two reasons:
- to demonstrate the difference between price and quality
- to give you the opportunity to help your rabbit get everything it needs in its diet
All of these supplements have the missing vitamins and minerals in them that your rabbit will not be getting out of their daily pellet feed. I recommend considering supporting your rabbit’s diet with these. The good thing is, they are easy to break in half, so one biscuit can last two days.
Each of these are upwards of $16, the most expensive I’ve seen them is $33, depending on where you purchase them. In each bag, there are probably around 30 biscuits. Each biscuit is 3 x 2 cm, except for the Papaya Support which are small circular tablets that are about 13mm in diameter.
Digestive Support – The beneficial ingredients in these are chicory root (prebiotic), ginger root (proboitic), camomile (blood cleaner/calming effect), fenugreek seed (lowers inflammation). These are vital to have in your rabbit’s daily diet.
Vitamin C – NEVER GIVE THESE TO YOUR RABBIT. Rabbits get enough Vitamin C in their diet. If they get too much Vitamin C, they can get very sick. These are good for guinea pigs as they cannot produce enough Vitamin C from their diet.
Papaya Support – Papaya is vital to give to your rabbit every second day in their diet. These are like a little tropical flavoured health pill for your rabbit.
Multi-Vitamin – These are absolutely vital for your rabbit’s diet. It has Omega 3 and Omega 6 in it, which they cannot get from pellets as they are not included in the correct quantities, if at all.
Joint Support – GOOD FOR LARGE BREEDS LIKE FLEMISH GIANTS AND OLDER RABBITS OVER 4 YEARS OLD. These are good to keep joints flexible by the addition of glucosamine, which helps prevent cartilage degeneration. With natural pain relief through turmeric and yucca, helps rabbits have happier days and less pain.
Urinary Support – The included cranberry, dandelion leaf help urinary health, and Astralagus Root helps renal (kidney) function.
Skin and Coat – These have palm and canola oils, which make the coat shiny, but may not be beneficial to your rabbit’s diet if given each day. It can cause excess caecotroph production if given more than once a week. If your rabbit is having trouble passing excreta, or has swallowed a lot of hair due to moulting, these can help. These also have Omega 3 and Omega 6, which are beneficial to their digestion.
About Guinea Pig Food
It is not a good thing to give rabbits guinea pig foods – but that applies to the seed, grain and muesli mixes, not necessarily the treats listed above. Other treats (not listed above) may cause issues, you will have to decide that for yourself.
The Supreme Pet Foods manufactured treats don’t contain seeds and grains, because they promote the healthy foods. So the only reason why they say it’s for rabbits or piggies is just for marketing. There is no reason why either critter can’t eat either treat.
Peckish on the other hand, have chia (high in Omega 6) and flax (linseed) seeds in the treats listed above, but they are alright in a rabbits diet sometimes. They are marketed for both bunnies and piggies, which is only because of the chia and flax, but they don’t seem to be doing any damage.