Bun not eating as much pellets nowadays...

[Purinchan]

Hi,

My bun used to love eating his pellets more than his hay, and I fed him the Martin brand and I would always refill it every night with 1/4 cup; however, now that the vet told me to switch to Oxbow Basics, I noticed my bun ate more hay versus his pellets, I don't even have to refill it until 2-3 days later compared to daily.

I was wondering is this due to the switch in brand and it tasting different or because he has blockage of fur? And if so should I feed him papaya tablets, are they safe for younger rabbits?



Thank you!!

 

[aurora369]

Was there a particular reason your vet recommended you switch? How old is the bunny and what breed?

In my opinion, if a pellet is working well for you then there is no need to switch pellets. You can also always feed a blend of pellets, just mix the two brands together.

I personally like the Martins pellets. I think they are a really good pellet and would not switch unless I was having problems. If it was recommended to switch to a less active timothy pellet, Martin makes a less active pellet.

And I also don't really put much weight into feeding one brand over the other, because as long as the pellet has the correct protein/fibre/vitamins, then the bunny will be healthy. A pellet is more like a supplement than cornerstone in a rabbit's diet. You need enough to ensure they are getting all vitamins and minerals and are maintaining body weight.

As long as your bunny is eating lots of hay, he should be healthy still. If he has increased his hay intake and decreased his pellet intake it is probably because he doesn't like the new pellets. Is his poop output the same? His poops may be lighter in colour because of the increase in hay.

-Dawn

 

[Inle_Rabbitry]

One thing I'velearned while taking my classes on hindgut fermenters, is the amount animals will eat compared to the quality of their diet.

When you feed any animal a high brand quality feed, they will eat less. Lower quality feed, and they'll eat more.

Higher quality feeds (such as Oxbow) contains higher quality ingredients which are packed with more nutrients than lower quality feeds. The more nutrient packed the product, the more the animal will become full and satisfied. Make sense?

 

[Pipp]

I'm another Martin fan. The Martin pellet is extruded, which means its processed differently and contains longer fibers. I'm pretty sure it's really helped my dwarf's molar spurs for one thing, but everybody seems to have better digestion as well.

I've been meaning to research this further, because I also started feeding everybunny more veggies around the same time I switched to Martin (or switched back to Martin after using Oxbow when I could afford it), so I'm not really sure how much is the pellet (they only get a few tablespoons) and how much is the big variety of vegetation.

They didn't like Oxbow, although if I mixed the two together and they eventually started eating it.

I don't like the papaya treats, they're really nothing but an overload of sugar. They don't help digestion, and they can hurt an already compromised gut.


Inle_Rabbitry wrote:

One thing I'velearned while taking my classes on hindgut fermenters, is the amount animals will eat compared to the quality of their diet.

When you feed any animal a high brand quality feed, they will eat less. Lower quality feed, and they'll eat more.

Higher quality feeds (such as Oxbow) contains higher quality ingredients which are packed with more nutrients than lower quality feeds. The more nutrient packed the product, the more the animal will become full and satisfied. Make sense?

This is really interesting. I know they ate less at least at first because they didn't like the Oxbow, but I didn't really monitor the hay intake.

I have Oxbow here, now, for my foster bunnies. I'm mixing the two at the moment. Maybe I'll do some experimenting.


sas :bunnydance:

 

[missyscove]

How quickly did you switch him over? It's best to switch pellets gradually because a quick switch can upset their GI tract or you'll see what you're seeing where they just won't eat the new stuff.

And yes, I agree that a change in quality will affect how quickly they reach metabolic fill, and some rabbits may eat more hay until they reach physical fill, but there are certainly some rabbits that will just keep eating even high quality pellets until they reach physical fill, which is why it's important to limit and monitor pellet intake for mature rabbits.