Fun Food?

[mlg4491]

Hi all,

So here's the deal. I just settled on a brand of pellets that I really like (Zupreem Nature's Promise) and I'm really happy with it. It's the healthiest pellets I could find and, after convincing my buns that they will like it, since in the beginning they picked the pellets out of their dish, I feel like I have a good start. I started with Kaytee Fiesta because I thought they would enjoy it. They did of course, since it's sort of like feeding a kid McDonald's every day. From there I switched to KayteeForti-Diet Pro Health for adult rabbits. Getting closer, but not quite. The reason I went with this one was because, for one, it was a lot healthier. It still wasn't as good as I would have liked, but it was better. The second reason was for the extra little pieces that are not pellets. These are, without question, my buns' favorites. 'They always get picked out first. But, one of my buns is pretty chunky. He's not overweight, I took him to the vet for a check up to make sure, but he's pretty close. And I know that weight will be very hard to get off again. So, I again searched for a better food. I ended up with Zupreem Nature's Promise pellets. Which I am very happy with. Now, about 2 months later, I no longer feel the need to mix the old and new foods together. But I also want to spoil them a little because I'm a big softy. My question is, is there anything anyone recommends to add to the food that would be healthy, and not cause unnecessary weight gain? I have tried a hay salad mix, which included meadow grass, flower petals, herbs, and small pinecones. They were pretty unimpressed. So, this time around, I have added vitakraft nibble rings, about 3/4 a box per 10 lbs of pellet. Also, a handful of raisins (the kind without sweeteners or preservatives) raw pumpkin seeds (dehulled, unsalted) about 1.5 cups, and about a quarter cup of raw sunflower seeds.In hindsight, I would have added less of the rings, and I'll probably start picking them out.:twitch:But that's ok. Honestly, I'd rather save the raisins for treat time, but I didn't know what else to add? I've been trying to puzzle this out on my own for a while, and I hoped someone here would have something to add.

Thanks!

Oh, I should add that this is their breakfast, they gets 1/4 cup each in the morning. At night they get an assortment of greens. They're definitely not bored there. Thank goodness that no one complains about me pulling up dandelions! :biggrin2:

 

[Maureen Las]

it sounds like you like to spoil them but you are giving way more treats than you should and worrying about which treats they should get when they should be hungry enough to eat a lot of hay.

The healthy diet for a rabbit is a good varieties of different types of hay

oat, brome, timothy, orchard grass , meadow grass and alfalfa only for the very young ones.

Your rabbits probably are not hungry enough to eat what is good for them because they are getting too many pellets and treats. They are not going to lose weight this way.

You are enjoying giving them the treats but in the longrun itis not healthy .

The amount of pellets a rabbit eats daily should be a very small portion . a 5 lb rabbit can at most eat 1/4th cup and one on a diet can go even less.
I would invest in learning how to get really good quality hay and at that time i would cut out treats entirely, slowly lower the amount of pellets fed and start to introduce a green veggies one at a time like romaine or parsley.
My rabbits eat a lot of hay , a tiny amount of pellets and amedium amount of greens daily ; they think that their daily pellets are a treat and that's the way it should be ...

I'll give you sites to read on feeding from the library

When you do make diet changes do not do anything drastic but slowly , very slowly

cutting a rabbit's diet down too quickly can cause liver problems.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12046&forum_id=17

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I would keep the pellets plain. The other stuff should be picked out as you don't need to give it every day. You can give some of the stuff as a treat, maybe a few pieces a day. All that extra stuff can cause weight gain, especially in pet rabbits.

You can make it so the rabbits have to work for the pellets. You can put them in a paper bag that is stuffed with hay. You could also try some of the treat balls made for dogs. You put the pellets in it and the buns have to roll it around to get the pellets out.

Providing variety in veggies, hay and healthy treats is better than adding unnecessary stuff to the pellets. You can give lots of toys too to keep boredom away.

Pellets don't need to be a huge part of the diet. Some bunnies get excited just to have pellets.

Just my :twocents

 

[FlickeringHope]

Zupreem's rabbit pellets contain corn ingredients, though, which isn't healthy for them as far as I know. And the "spinach" that it contains is high in calcium(probably more than the rabbit needs). http://www.heartlandhumane.org/pub.03/?q=rabbit_diet_faq

Probably isn't too much of a concern if you're not feeding them pellets 24/7, but I just thought i'd mention.

 

[Jess4921]

I feed Smudge 1/4 cup of Oxbo Timithy pellets in the morning, and veggies at night. During the day, he has to eat his hay. Isntead of mixing stuff in his food, I just hand feed him a few treats once in a while... IMO its alot more fun that way! He get really excited, and dashed around and does his "Happy Food Dance" when ever he hears the pellet and treat bags crinkle!

 

[anneq]

My bunnies will go absolutely ballistic if they smell/hear the oat box coming out - that's about the only treat they get, other than a very occasional apple slice or watermelon rind. (btw, that's just plain rolled oats - but they are over the moon with excitement when they smell the stuff and dive into their bowls like it was their last meal, lol).

 

[BethM]

My bunnies go crazy for their pellets. Just plain pellets. The only treats they get are a slice of banana (the size of a dried banana chip) at breakfast, and a small piece of dried papaya (no added sugar) at bedtime. They also love their salad (which only rarely has a bit of fruit in it), and eat plenty of hay.

They love getting their treats, because they truly are treats, not something they get all the time. Bunnies don't need all that extra stuff. I would pick out all the extra stuff from the pellets.