I think I have an addiction to buying rabbit pellets. I have so many different types of pellets it’s ridiculous… and then I find different ones… My problem is, is Buttons’ tummy. I need to make sure he is getting the right amounts of nutrition, and that limits the brand and quality of the pellets down substantially. Certain foods upset his digestion and he can have major poopy issues for many days after he has eaten something that disagrees with him.
I read people’s issues online saying that they don’t want to introduce their rabbit to new foods because it takes too long (up to 3 weeks). That is only because they stick to the same foods each day and don’t give their rabbits variation in their diet.
I love introducing them to different flavours and textures. It is fun to see them try a new food for the first time. By introducing a lot of different foods, like pellets, their digestion gets stronger and they can cope with a lot more variation in their diet. And, they go looking for new and interesting flavours.
I will never stick to one type/brand of pellet for the rabbit’s entire life span, because I know from the research into what they put into them, not every pellet has the same nutrition, and if you stick to one type of pellet, your rabbit is missing out on some vital things.
If you have the chance, introduce lots of different foods. Don’t stop. Foods are what keeps your bunny alive.
My current range of pellets
Ok, so, in the start I didn’t want to feed my rabbits pellets. But because grass becomes scarce from October – April, I have no choice. They need the fibre and they won’t getting it from lettuce. People in the know always say “get good quality pellets”, but i had no idea what a good quality pellet was. What did I need to look out for? So, I began my in depth study of pellets. Which turned out to be really scary. I have a whole article in the Health section of you want to read it.
Anyway, from that I figured out what was a good quality pellet and looked into the “vet recommended” brands. Which is just marketing hype. It’s not true. Some of the vet recommended pellets are the worst on the market, and it’s only because the vets get paid to advertise them that they are “vet recommended”. Don’t believe the packaging.
Not all “quality” pellets are perfectly balanced, healthy and nutritious. Not all “quality” pellets are what I would regard as “quality”. So, with that I had to make the best judgement about the pellets that are available in Australia. Like everything, we hardly have any good quality stuff, and we have to make do with what we get.
I had a look at two the main “recommended” brands:
- Burgess
- Oxbow
And I had to laugh. Oxbow is less than quality. I would never buy their pellets. Their ingredients are less than desirable. Burgess on the other hand are what I class as “Ok, they will do sometimes”. They have much better quality ingredients than Oxbow, but they still don’t cover all dietary requirements.
I then found Selective. They are so much better nutritionally than the other brands. They have more variety in their minerals and vitamins and they target their feed specifically to rabbits.
These are the pellets I fed on a regular basis. I mixed and matched, other times I gave some of one and none of the others.
The Burgess Minty pellets are formulated with a lot more protein for babies or nursing mothers, so feeding them to Buttons became an issue because his digestion can’t handle too much protein. I got them initially because mint helps settle a bunny’s tummy, but after a short time, they didn’t work and they had the opposite effect.
As for the Selective brand, I try to get both the Science and the Naturals ones. But of course, they aren’t available at the same shop so I have to buy them separately from different shops. Buttons loves these pellets, he will scoff them down without breathing. I went from buying the 1kg bag to the 4kg bag. He takes about 3 months to get through a 4kg bag. Unfortunately, they don’t put the Naturals ones in a 4kg bag, which is stupid.
When I found the Minty pellets they also had Burgess Hedgegrow Herbs pellets, but they were out of stock. I had to keep my eyes peeled for them… Then one day they had them in again. I snaffled two bags, and I also noticed they had Tiny Friends Farm Nuggets…
Tiny Friends Farm is made by Selective, the same company as the Science and Naturals pellets.
I quickly ordered 2 bags of the Tiny Friends Farm pellets, too. Now, what is good about the Tiny Friends Farm pellets is they have added probiotics, which will help Buttons’ tummy grow back the good bacteria.
I have focused on introducing Tiny Friends to Buttons and Nova, even though they have had a taste of the Hedgegrow ones too. Because my bunnies are used to having different foods, it doesn’t take them the usual 3 weeks to have them introduced. And, because the Tiny Friends pellets aren’t going to be their “every day” diet, they have some here and there with everything else they get. So, here’s how I introduced them to the Tiny Friends pellets:
- Day 1: about 10 pellets mixed in with their usual feed of Selective ones
- Day 2: about 30 pellets with their Selective, less Selective ones than usual
- Day 3: a handful (about 50 pellets) of Tiny Friends pellets
Keep in mind that both Nova and Buttons eat the same pellets at the same time.
The interesting thing was, after day 3, Buttons passed a whole lot of bladder sludge. That says to me that the Selective pellets were binding the calcium in his system and he couldn’t pass it. Then, when his system was digesting the Tiny Friends pellets, due to the probiotics, he released the built up sludge.
Bladder sludge is in the rabbits urine, it is a white chalky substance that has a orangey-brown colouration (same colour as the bunny’s wee). Rabbits also pass a white chalky substance, which means they are passing an overdose of oxalates. Neither of them are bad, and should go away after a few days. If they don’t and the bunny is still passing oxalaxtes or sludge after a week, you need to seriously change the rabbit’s diet. If the rabbit still passes it after a couple of weeks, take it to the vet.
The sludge stayed around for about 3 days, becoming less every day. After the fourth day, he wasn’t passing any sludge.
He also hasn’t had tummy troubles. So things are looking up.