Can Rabbits have Guinea Pig pellets?

[chinchillasundertherainbow]

I know Cavies can't have rabbit pellets, due tothe lack of Vit C (although some feed high quality rabbit pellets andadd C). But if high quality pellets, can Rabbits have Cavy pellets?They are almost the exact same product , besides the extra vit c forthe Cavies.

http://www.americanpetdiner.com/analysis.html

 

[Linz_1987]

Im not sure, but Ive seen in pet stores bagsofrabbit AND guinea pig food. But personally I dontagree with that because both animals are completelydifferent. I wouldnt advice you to feed them both the samepellets though. They have different needs in theirdiets.

 

[chinchillasundertherainbow]

With Rabbits and Cavies, they are very close,the main difference being that Cavies MUST have Vitamin C. So whileit's not ok to feed Cavies rabbit pellets unless Vit C is added in someform, I know some that say it's ok to feed Rabbits Cavy pellets, theyare just basically getting extra vitamin C. Wanted to ask some othersfirst though. And, also, wanted some to specifically look at AmericanPet Diner brands, as that is what I am feeding.

Can't really go by reading bags in pet stores in the US because the petstores in the US generally carry all crappy feeds, as far as littleanimals go. Bout the best you can Get in pet stores is Mazuri.and it'sbetter than the rest by far, but not great.



Really cool avatar pic by the way.

 

[Bunman]

Almost as bad as "Small Animal Pellets"!

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

The nutritional requirements for Guinea Pigs is completely different than that of rabbits.

And actually, you can get a half decent pet food at pet stores but I'veonly ever seen one decent food -- Kaytee Timothy Complete for rabbits.The rest are junk.

 

[pamnock]

I wouldn't usecavy feed forrabbits.Most brands aregenerally too highin protein, fat, calcium and other minerals for the nutritional needsof thepet rabbit. Pet rabbits should not get an 18%pellet (as most cavy pellets are).

Pam

 

[Linz_1987]

OMG I havent seen the Small Animal Foodyet! That is so bad. Im suprised that the pooranimals havent died from eating that food. I suppose they aretrying to make it less expencive for people with lots of small animals,but really it isnt right at all. Probually make the vet billssky high!

But I should hope that all pet owners have more sence than to buy that sort of pet food.

 

[JimD]

chinchillasundertherainbowwrote:

Bout the best you can Get in pet stores is Mazuri.andit's better than the rest by far, but not great.

Mazuri is actually a PMI Nutrition International company (aka Purina Mills Inc.) Not that bad of a choice really.

With a rabbit, thethings you need to be concerned with are the amount of protein, fiber, and fat.

IMO.....rabbits should have pellets that are made for rabbits.

 

[pamnock]

Linz_1987 wrote:

OMG I havent seen the Small Animal Food yet!

I'm not sure if you are referring to the small animal feed on the PetDiner site, but that is a "supplement" -It is meant to begiven as a temporary dietonly for use as a supplement forconvalescing pets.

Pam

 

[Linz_1987]

Agh I see.

Im not sure, Bunman, is that the food you was on about?

It really frustrates me to see Rabbit and Guinea Pig food! :X

 

[chinchillasundertherainbow]

I don't personally consider anything Kayteeedible. The hay I've fed when desperate..but even that is scary(usually has black mold)

I'd really like input on American Pet Diner Products specifically, ifanyone cares to look at that sight and give some feedback. Not justspeaking of pellets ingeneral.

Also, this is a 5 mo's old rabbit (sorry forgot to mention his age). I know he'll need lower protein amounts later.

 

[Bunman]

The Small Animal Pellets can be found in many pet shops.

As for rabbit pellets, i would say they should simply be a very smallpart of the diet anyway, about 1/8-1/4 cup/day for the average bun. Ihave no hard evidence as to the quality of various brands. I suspectthere are a few that are acceptable. Some rabbit vets may haverecommendations.

I' ve always given my buns KayTee Timothy cubes, because for somereason all three i've had hated loose hay. I really tried to get themto eat it. They loved the KT cubes, which always appear nice &fresh & don't make a mess.

Whenever i bought baled hay anywhere it turned out to be moldy, anotherbig disincentive to use it. But they would not eat even nice baggedhay. I get the KT cubes for less on the Net than from the supermarket,even including shipping.

I realise food can be a controversial topic.

 

[cheryl]

Linz_1987 wrote:

It really frustrates me to see Rabbit and Guinea Pig food! :X

I know what you mean,i just don't understand why some companies willmake rabbit and guinea pig food in the same bag,i just don't thinkcompanies do their research to find out that they both need differentrequirements,a lot of pet owners with both rabbits and guineapigs would not know any different when they buy these pelletsunless they did their research first



cheryl

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Bunman wrote:

Whenever i bought baled hay anywhere it turned out to be moldy,another big disincentive to use it. But they would not eat even nicebagged hay.

That is odd, I've never had an issue with hay being mouldy. I wouldhave to improperly stored and/or baled. Have you always gone to thesame farmer? Or have you tried a few?

And bagged hay is rarely what I'd call 'nice'. It's never as green and fresh as baled hay.

Chinchillasundertherainbow, I have never in my life heard of blackmould on hay. I've seen white mould but never have I seen or heardofblack mould on hay. And I have NEVER seen store hay thathas mould on it. I've seen very old hay, yes, but most of it is so drythat there is no way it could mould unless improperly stored.

But anyways, the bags of Kaytee pellets I buy are very fresh and sweetsmelling so I'm not concerned about it. And my rabbits are picky, ifit's too old or not good, there is no way they will eat it.

 

[chinchillasundertherainbow]

I've bought Kaytee hay in Petsmarts in Austin, those were the worst. HUGE amounts of black mold.

And used to try to get Kaytee hay at our local Walmart, which goesthrough it fast..so it's not on their shelf for long. But you knowKaytee products, in general, may be on wharehouse shelves for a verylong time.

I just in general, do not like Kaytee products due to inferiouringredients. That, and they use Ethoxyquin which is a known carcinogen.

Mold is semi common in baled hay. I've managed a pet store/feedstore..and had to keep an eye out for it as our main customer base, asfar as hay was concerned, were horse owners.

I get my hay in 25lb boxes from American Pet Diner now. No one in Texas grows Timothy.

 

[Eve]

Hi Cheryl! I was just wondering what brand ofpellets you feed your bunnies? Asin all the shopsIhave been to the only plain pellets are the Rabbit &Guinea pig alfalfa pellets from the Peters and Lovatts brands. I havenever seen any pellets that are only for Rabbits which are not a junkfood mix here :?

 

[cheryl]

Hi Eve! do you have a pet stock store near youanywhere? this is where i buy my pellets from and the name of them isBarastoc,i buy the 40kg bag,they are the best that i can find,of coursethey are still lucerne based though,but they also sell them in smallerbags

i know how hard it is to find a good pellet brand here in oz,but ifound something that is pretty decent,i was so happy when the Pet stockstore opened up here in South Australia,a little while ago

i do not know if any of these are near you or not...

Ballarat

Bendigo

Braeside

Castlemaine

Colac

Corio

Cranbourne

Geelong

Gisborne

Hoppers Crossin

Horsham

Lillydale

Melton

Mildura

Mitcham

Ormond

Shepparton

South Geelong

South Melbourne

South Morang

Stawell

Taylor bros

Traralgon

Warrnambool

Hope this has helped you a bit



cheryl

 

[Eve]

Thank you so much for your help Cheryl, you are great!

Braeside is fairly close to me, but the pet stock store there had bagsof mixed pellets last timeI checked. I will definately ringaround to see if they stock the brand you mentioned though.

 

[cheryl]

That's ok Eve,ohh if they don't sell thosepellets there maybe you could ask them if they could order them in foryou,they are really the best i have come across!



cheryl

 

[Eve]

Thanks Cheryl, that's a really good idea, I hadn't thought of that!