Getting back on track with a better diet

[Sammybunny]

Hello all,

I recently had to deal with gasric stasis with my almost 3 yo Holland Lop, Sammy. He is better now and all is good, but I thought now is the time to reassess my diet for my two rabbits and make changes appropriately.
I have been trying to figure out what caused Sammy to go into severe stasis like that, and at first I thought he had gotten ahold of some birdseed underneath my bird cages where he likes to hang out. Then I noticed that the stasis occured when I started a new bag of pellets. Now my other rabbit Charlotte didn't get sick, but did have a minor bout of poopy butt on this new bag of food. The pellets I use are Zupreem natures promise timothy pellets. This last bag of pellets were slightly different in color so I wonder if they were a bad batch.
Anyways, the rabbits don't even really like these pellets and dump most of them out of their bowl. I feel at $20 dollars for a 10 pound bag, I am throwing my money away. I am basically looking for a better pellet that they will eat. They hate oxbow, but love nutriphase gold with all the junk in it. I refuse to feed it though. I don't mind the pellets being alfalfa based because they are fed a limited amount and don't have issues with bladder sludge. I have been looking at feed stores as I feel that the petstores are crazy expensive with their prices.
The feed stores in my area have manna pro, purina, elk grove, templeton, ect and they come in large bags for decent prices. The FFA and 4-H swear by manna pro and templeton for their show rabbits. Even my rabbit breeder uses templeton mixed with another brand that I forgot. The templeton is 16% protein and I believe 23% fiber but it is alfalfa based. I got a small smaple when picking up my bunny bales and I fed it in a very small amount and the rabbits scarfed it. They also get about 2 cups of leafy greens and unlimited hay as well.
Sammy isn't much of a hay eater and hates timothy hay, well I got a bunny bale that is oat, wheat and barley and he loves it. Hopefully eating more hay like this will help him. I also give a tablespoon of rolled oats occasionally on top of the pellets as a treat. Each rabbit also gets a papaya tablet a day.
Now Sammy is about 6 pounds and Charlotte is 6 pounds but chunky. I give each about 1/2 a cup of pellets a day. Is that too much? I might cut them back especially if I start the alfalfa based pellet. The doc said Sammy is in fine condition and not fat at all. I read Holland Lops aren't supposed to be more than 3-4 pounds, I wonder if he might be a mini lop instead?
Well I just want a few pointers on diet as I don't want them to get sick again. Also is it ok to just give different kinds of hay for variety, or do I have to slowly introduce them like pellets and greens. I don't want anymore upset tummies.

 

[DeniseJP]

Glad to hear Sammy is doing better.

On big Hollands: I have had Hollands go "oversize" - from my understanding of the breed, the show sized Hollands (under 4 lbs) have one dwarf and one "regular" gene... Hollands with two dwarf genes are the nestbox "peanuts" that fail to thrive and die within a few days of birth and Hollands with the two regular genes go oversize - over 4 lbs. I had an oversize doe who was 5.5 lbs.

I lost a favorite doe years ago from stasis and it still bothers me to this day. I am currently feeding Bunny 16 (Blue Seal) pellets, along with timothy/alfalfa mix hay and I supplement with dandelion leaves, parsley and timothy grass from my field, which everyone loves.

A dietary note: An interesting thing I found is that years ago, I had problems with "poopy butt" in my younger Hollands... to avoid that in Juno and Axel's kits I started supplementing Juno with fresh grass and her kits started on it when they came out of the nextbox. I was worried about kits on greens but my horse vet had told me that my Morgan Enterprise, who had loose poop constantly, was in need of green grass... the same stuff that helps an impacted horse loosen the digestive tract. I was in disbelief and the vet said it makes no sense but try it. Enterprise was on a dry lot and the grass made an improvement... as it did in Juno's kits - the first Holland litter I have raised without poopy butt.

Through many folks here and the rabbit breeders I am working with now, I feed a lot less pellets than I did and supplement with more natural green foods and give a lot more hay. Fiber is a big part of the equine diet and since rabbits are "similar", I use a lot more fiber these days.

I introduced the hay little by little and the different greens and my crew here did well... with horses you don't want to switch foods abruptly or that can cause gut problems, so I treat my buns the same way.

Good luck,

Denise