How many pellets

[Howard cordingley]

My senior rabbit who is on a softened pellet diet only due to being unable to eat hay occasionally gets soft poo. I wondered how much in pellets he should have. This is not your normal situation where only give a handful daily. He’s had this diet for 12+months and is fit. Has his spurs treated every two months. I don’t want to give him too many to avoid runny poo nor do I want to give too little a d Gi-Stasis set in. Has anyone else a rabbit on this sort of diet? Be interesting to see how others cope.

 

[JBun]

Have you ever tried adding in plain grass hay pellets to his diet? You could soften them like you do his normal pellets so they are easy for him to eat, and they would add extra fiber in his diet, which it sounds like he needs. He has soft poop because he needs more fiber in his diet. Hay pellets would help do this and hopefully clear up the soft poop issue completely. Plus it would help in preventing stasis episodes.

You could try a local farm store, an online one, or there is an online shop called galens garden that sells different types of hay pellets for small herbivores.

https://www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk/products/feeds.asp?id=1&name=Pelleted Forages
https://forageplus.co.uk/product/timothy-hay-pellets-horse-feed/
https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/forage-pellets-cobs/
Or maybe try a different rabbit food pellet. Supreme has a grain free/no sugar added pellet, that may not cause the mushy poop issues that you get with the current pellet you use. Usually it is the carbs in pellets that lead to mushy poop developing.
https://supremepetfoods.com/us/products/selective-naturals-grain-free-rabbit-food/
Those would be the things I would try for a bun with a sensitive digestive system, that was unable to eat loose hay.

 

[Howard cordingley]

Have you ever tried adding in plain grass hay pellets to his diet? You could soften them like you do his normal pellets so they are easy for him to eat, and they would add extra fiber in his diet, which it sounds like he needs. He has soft poop because he needs more fiber in his diet. Hay pellets would help do this and hopefully clear up the soft poop issue completely. Plus it would help in preventing stasis episodes.

You could try a local farm store, an online one, or there is an online shop called galens garden that sells different types of hay pellets for small herbivores.

https://www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk/products/feeds.asp?id=1&name=Pelleted Forages
https://forageplus.co.uk/product/timothy-hay-pellets-horse-feed/
https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/forage-pellets-cobs/
Or maybe try a different rabbit food pellet. Supreme has a grain free/no sugar added pellet, that may not cause the mushy poop issues that you get with the current pellet you use. Usually it is the carbs in pellets that lead to mushy poop developing.
https://supremepetfoods.com/us/products/selective-naturals-grain-free-rabbit-food/
Those would be the things I would try for a bun with a sensitive digestive system, that was unable to eat loose hay.

Good ideas he has the science selective pellets for mature rabbits but the grain free definitely I will try him on. Also will look at the grass pellets too. Thanks again!

 

[Howard cordingley]

You hit the nail on the head reading reviews on the grain free. Less sugar which will help him.

 

[Howard cordingley]

Have you ever tried adding in plain grass hay pellets to his diet? You could soften them like you do his normal pellets so they are easy for him to eat, and they would add extra fiber in his diet, which it sounds like he needs. He has soft poop because he needs more fiber in his diet. Hay pellets would help do this and hopefully clear up the soft poop issue completely. Plus it would help in preventing stasis episodes.

You could try a local farm store, an online one, or there is an online shop called galens garden that sells different types of hay pellets for small herbivores.

https://www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk/products/feeds.asp?id=1&name=Pelleted Forages
https://forageplus.co.uk/product/timothy-hay-pellets-horse-feed/
https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/forage-pellets-cobs/
Or maybe try a different rabbit food pellet. Supreme has a grain free/no sugar added pellet, that may not cause the mushy poop issues that you get with the current pellet you use. Usually it is the carbs in pellets that lead to mushy poop developing.
https://supremepetfoods.com/us/products/selective-naturals-grain-free-rabbit-food/
Those would be the things I would try for a bun with a sensitive digestive system, that was unable to eat loose hay.

He’s been on the selective grain free for a week and we are pleased with the difference in his poo. No soft poo! Looks healthier so thank you for the tip.

 

[LadyGrey]

Sherwood also makes an all you can eat Timothy hay based pellet feed. Because its grain free and not an extruded pellet, you shouldn't run a risk of weight gain or soggy poops. My only thought to useing science selective excessively is that it offers little to no benefit to their dental health. Seeing as your elder bun is already having tooth spurrs id aim to encourage him to keep chewing and wearing down his teeth. The sherwood pellet is thinner tougher yet easy to chew, part of their design was to create a food that was suitable for rabbits that had dental problems, such as malocclusion, teeth removed and other general mastication issues.

 

[Howard cordingley]

Sherwood also makes an all you can eat Timothy hay based pellet feed. Because its grain free and not an extruded pellet, you shouldn't run a risk of weight gain or soggy poops. My only thought to useing science selective excessively is that it offers little to no benefit to their dental health. Seeing as your elder bun is already having tooth spurrs id aim to encourage him to keep chewing and wearing down his teeth. The sherwood pellet is thinner tougher yet easy to chew, part of their design was to create a food that was suitable for rabbits that had dental problems, such as malocclusion, teeth removed and other general mastication issues.

What a good idea and yes I will look for this product to try too. Thank you.

 

[Howard cordingley]

Sherwood also makes an all you can eat Timothy hay based pellet feed. Because its grain free and not an extruded pellet, you shouldn't run a risk of weight gain or soggy poops. My only thought to useing science selective excessively is that it offers little to no benefit to their dental health. Seeing as your elder bun is already having tooth spurrs id aim to encourage him to keep chewing and wearing down his teeth. The sherwood pellet is thinner tougher yet easy to chew, part of their design was to create a food that was suitable for rabbits that had dental problems, such as malocclusion, teeth removed and other general mastication issues.

Do you know where it can be bought? Amazon out of stock sadly

 

[LadyGrey]

https://store.sherwoodpethealth.com/adult-rabbit-food-free-choice-timothy-pellet/

 

[JBun]

Sherwood is a US brand. I would think it's pretty expensive to ship internationally. It might be cheaper to just supplement with adding some of hay pellets that I mentioned earlier, if you are wanting to add more fiber into your rabbits diet. Those you can order locally.