changing pellets?

[flemish giant]

How should I go about changing Polly's pellets? I went and bought the pellets she was feed at the fosters but I would like to switch her to what I feed peeta. Also do I need to keep them seperate until she has switched pellets? Their bonding is pretty close to being definite IMO. So I don't want to keep them seperate if I don't have to.

 

[Azerane]

You'll need to introduce the new pellets gradually mixed in with the old pellets. Since Bandit gets 1/4 cup of pellets per day, when I switched, for the first five days I gave him his daily portion from 1 cup of old pellets mixed with 1/4 cup new pellets. The 5 days following that were 3/4cup old pellets half cup new pellets. Then 1/2 cup old, 3/4 cup new. Then 1/4 cup old and 1 cup new. If in the first transition you see she's not adjusting well, you can slow it down and "water" down the amounts to compensate.

 

[flemish giant]

So you gave him more pellets than normal?

 

[KeltonB]

I do mine like this...

1. Make a container of 1 cup new pellets to three cups old pellets...feed normal amount until gone.
2. Make a container of 2 cups new pellets to 2 cups old pellets...feed normal amount until gone.
3. Make a container of 3 cups new pellets to 1 cup old pellets...feed normal amount until gone.

You should now be able to transition to entirely new pellets.

Be sure to keep a watchful eye on poops/appetite throughout the changeover.

Good luck!

 

[flemish giant]

OK that's a good idea I'll try that thanks!

 

[whitelop]

I would go like a pinch of new pellets added into her old pellets. Like a teaspoon at a time added into her regular amount of pellets. Do that for a few days, then add another teaspoon for a few days. Then add another, 3 teaspoons = a tablespoon for a few days, then like half and half old and new, then a little less old, then a lot less old, then all new. It should take you like a week or two to finish out the transition.
Just make sure you keep an eye on her poop and make sure it stays uniform and not soft. If its getting soft, then you should give less new pellets. She'll probably be okay, but you should just try to transition her slowly, because she might be a little stressed out; since she just got to your house.

I had to transition my rabbit ON to pellets, but it still took me like a week or so to get her eating the pellets. She ate those for a few months and then I had to transition her again to another pellet because she wasn't doing well on the first ones. So that took like 2 weeks too, because the new pellets had more sugar in them and I didn't want to upset her too much.

How much pellet is she getting now? I think with her weight, she should be getting like 1/4 cup a day. What pellets is she eating and what are you switching her to? I'm just curious, I'm always interested in what and how much other people feed their buns.
Good luck transitioning!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

When I would change Ash's pellets I mixed equal amounts of both pellets with each other and Ash was fine. It might have been just because he liked them both already though.

 

[flemish giant]

I feed her 1/2 cup BC she's 6 lbs. She was on oxbow at the shelter but I buy Purina in bulk BC my parents are cheap. Getting a job soon so I may switch them both to the oxbow but for now Purina is what I'm using.

 

[Watermelons]

Its probably best to keep her on a timothy based pellet, especially because shes an adult, and has had issues with obesity in the past. Peeta is old enough as well to be switched to a timothy based pellet.

 

[flemish giant]

I've read that the alfalfa vs timothy pellet doesn't matter BC for a house bunny the pellets are limited so much that as long as I have a good grass hay they pellet type isn't really going to matter as long as its good quality and isn't one of those mixes with seeds.

 

[Watermelons]

1/2 a cup for a wee 6lb bunny is not what I would call limited. You need to be careful with alfalfa based stuff for bunnys that don't need it (severely underweight, breeding, showing, growing, etc). The high protein and high calcium can do a lot more damage then good in some cases. I have seen bunnys with kidney failure that ate an alfalfa based pellet and timothy hay.
You're better off keeping her on oxbow, not only because its much healthier, but for many other reasons, and just lowering the amount she gets.

 

[flemish giant]

She wasn't obese from pellets she was obese from a hoarder case who fed them only bird seed.

 

[flemish giant]

I guess I could switch them to oxbow. About how long will a 10lb bag last? Also I just mixed 1 cup of the Purina with 3 cups of the oxbow. Can I give this to peeta or is that too much oxbow too soon? I don't wanna waste that 3 cups of oxbow.

 

[Azerane]

So you gave him more pellets than normal?

No, I explained it badly I still gave him 1/4 cup of pellets per day, but the amounts mixed changed. It's like below but with different amounts of old and new.

I do mine like this...

1. Make a container of 1 cup new pellets to three cups old pellets...feed normal amount until gone.
2. Make a container of 2 cups new pellets to 2 cups old pellets...feed normal amount until gone.
3. Make a container of 3 cups new pellets to 1 cup old pellets...feed normal amount until gone.

You should now be able to transition to entirely new pellets.

Be sure to keep a watchful eye on poops/appetite throughout the changeover.

Good luck!

That's what I meant, but with slightly different amounts. Each batch of pellets (below) lasted me five days since I feed Bandit 1/4 cup of pellets per day.

Mine was:
1. Container of 1 cup old pellets, 1/4 cup new
2. Container of 3/4 cup old pellets, 1/2 cup new
3. Container of 1/2 cup old pellets, 3/4 cup new
4. Container of 1/4 cup old pellets, 1 cup new
Then change to all new pellets

 

[flemish giant]

OK I'll do it like that for peeta I guess I'll throw away the pellets
I mixed.

 

[Azerane]

You don't have to throw it out, you could always use it later on towards the end of being transitioned and just have them eating that mix for longer. Wouldn't want to waste the food.