Mixing pellet brands?

[Jenk]

I'm slowly increasing the amount of pellets that I feed our Cali boy. Currently, I give him Oxbow BB/T.

Because he'slosing too much fur even whennotshedding, I'm looking to add a little extra fat/protein to his diet. (Iwant to watch the calcium content, though.)So I'm debating if I should try mixing Purina Rabbit Chow Complete with Oxbow BB/T, or if it's likely better to mix BB/T with Oxbow's 15/23 line?

There are three "crummy factors" in all this:

1) Our boy has a sensitive digestive system. (So mixing brands may be a bad idea; I dunno.)

2)Oxbow is overpricedfor the amount of pellets that you get.

3)The closest feed store that offers Purina pelletsis about 30 minutes from my house.

Thanks,

Jenk

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Gee, I'm not sure, but wanted so say a little something since you've gotten no responses yet. As he is sensitive, I wouldn't add the pellets. I would push different hays. You can feed many hays and it will be good for him. So, if you feed timothy, maybe add orchard grass and maybe some Bermuda or Oat?

Not sure about adding the protein...I'm sorry. Hopefully someone comes along that will know more.

 

[Pipp]

Sorry Jenk, missed this. Thanks for the bump, Crystal.

Agreed with mixing the hays, but I think a mix of pellets is also a grand idea. You can mix all three.

Any reason you're restricting calcium?

And when you say he has a sensitive gut, exactly what happens?

Here's the Library entry, btw.

Pellets



sas :bunnydance:

 

[jcottonl02]

Lol this is between 1.05am, and 7.12am for me so I was in the land of nod!!
I agree with Pipp- what exactly do you mean by a sensitive gut? When he has veggies does he get loose stool? Etc. etc.?

Rapidly changing/introducing anything into an animal's diet is not advised. Slowly begin to introduce the 'new' thing, mixing with the 'old', and slowly lessen the ratio of old to new, until the diet consists completely of the new.

As for mixing Purina and Oxbow pellets (I use Oxbow personally myself), I don't see that should be a massive problem, as long as you keep him on that diet, and introduce the Purina slowly.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Mixing pellets isn't necessarily a problem. However, I wouldn't do it with a rabbit who has a history of a sensitive digestive system. When you feed a straight rabbit pellet, you can be sure that what's listed on the ingredients list is what you're getting.

When you start mixing pellets, it's harder to know how much protein, fat, fiber, etc. is in the diet since pellets vary. If you started seeing digestive troubles in a rabbit with a sensitive stomach (which is not unlikely at any given time), it would be difficult to determine what exactly is causing it to cut it out of the diet.

I'd choose one pellet, if you can, and then offer a variety of hays.

 

[elrohwen]

I don't see any problem with mixing pellet brands. As with any change in food just slowly switch him over to whatever mix you want to feed him.

 

[Jenk]

Pipp wrote:

Agreed with mixing the hays, but I think a mix of pellets is also a grand idea. You can mix all three.

In the past, his loud gut gurling/signs of discomfort have occurred within two hours of eating sweet meadow hay; I've given up on feeding that one to him.

I've been told that some rabbits do better with a little less fiber--that too much of it can force food through the digestive tract too fast. I'm unsure if this is an issue.

As for mixing pellet types, I'm on the fence--at least with regards to mixing different brands. I don't want to spend a bazillion dollars on Oxbow, but our guy's gut has been testy enough that the thought of bringing in Purina makes me nervous.

Any reason you're restricting calcium?

He ate Purina Complete at the shelter, and it's what we fed him when we first got him. But within the first few days of having him home, I saw a lot of calcium deposits in his urine. I sent a photo of it (see below) to his vet; she thought he might be passing enough of it to cause a problem down the road and recommended Oxbow for a lower calcium content.

One concern right now is that he's not shedding, but he's losing a lot of fur, which I can see sticking to the bottom of his pen walls. Someone suggested that I increase his protein/fat content to see if the shedding decreases. (For all I know, maybe he's allergic to gluten and it's causing him to shed year-round. But you'd think that he'd also feel miserable 100% of the time, if dealing with a gluten allergy. :?)

And when you say he has a sensitive gut, exactly what happens?

Besides his super-lethargic behavior, he typically produces very loud gut sounds that can be heard from 3, or more, feet away. It almost sounds like fireworks are going off inside of him. But it's his behavior that first clues me in to his pain because he'll hunker down in his litter box at a time when he'd normally be chomping at the pen bars to be let out.

His bad gut reactions have always occured 2-3 hours after eating something: greens and/or various hay types. It's hard to pinpoint any one thing--and hard not to blame nearly everything.

 

[Runestonez]

Hi there!

What types of greens are you feeding him right now?
How much?

Danielle

 

[Jenk]

Runestonez wrote:

Hi there!

What types of greens are you feeding him right now?
How much?

I have always fed him parsley (Italian and curly) and Romaine. It's too wasteful to feed anymore variety than that because he'd be the only one eating other greens; and he seems to have problems with a large amount of them.

It can't give you an exact amount; I don't measure his greens. But I've drastically--though slowly--reduced his greens ration. He now gets what I call a "treat" amount. For example, he was getting 3-4 full Romaine leaves; now I'm not even feeding him quite one leaf.

He's of a breed that it's typically fed greens in captivity anyway; I strongly suspect that his ancestors weren't fed greens, and that's likely why his system doesn' seem to tolerate them long-term. (He was having gas episodes every 2-3 weeks at the highest point.)

 

[Runestonez]

The reason I ask is certain veg if fed too much can show more calcium than usual in the urine as well! It can be a contributing factor in combination with the pellets!

I was going to suggest introducing a few different veg that are lower in calcium and oxalates to see ifit makes a difference! Our one girl has a calcium problem...or rather one was developing so hubby reduced her parsley intake and started to supplement her veg with different greens instead!

We haven't had an issue since then!

Just a thought!
Danielle

 

[Jenk]

Runestonez wrote:

I was going to suggest introducing a few different veg that are lower in calcium and oxalates to see ifit makes a difference! Our one girl has a calcium problem...or rather one was developing so hubby reduced her parsley intake and started to supplement her veg with different greens instead!

Our boy hasn't passed such obvious calcium deposits since he was switched to Oxbow BB/T. Still, he sheds more than a bun ought during an off-shed season; that's why I was wondering if I should dare to try adding at least some pellets with a higher fat/protein content. I'm undecided at the moment.

I'm curious to know what vegetables you added to your girl's diet in place of parsley.

I'd love to feed a decent amount of greens to all three of our crew, but each one seems to have an intolerance for a specific ration size and also specific greens. Oy!

 

[Runestonez]

We feed our bunns lotsof greens...we feed pellets as well, but rely on a hay and veggies diet for the most part.

We feed at least 5 types of veg per night and try to switch out a veg or two everytime. We feed about 7 cups of veg per day per bunn.

Our bunns favorites are:
Romaine
Dill
Dandelion
Carrot tops
Beet tops
Cilantro
Anise
Spinach
Arugula
Parsley-flat
Swiss Chard
Watercress
Celery
Basil
Lovage
Bok Choy-NOT a fav
Radish Tops

Peppers can't eat curly parsley...you can see the difference the next day with her urine turning white. But as long as we keep switching up and changingher veg up....she does just fine! She is 5and a half this year and even though we let her pig out a bit in the summer on carrot tops(her absolute favorite!)we seem tobe doing OK!

Certain veg like parsley, spinach, kale, collard greens and of course carrot tops that are high in calcium...are kept to a minimum in her diet...she still gets a bit of each...but we will give her more of the other veggies instead! We try to be moderate and strike a good balance rather than remove the "bad" veg altogether...it takes a bit of experimentation! Calcium has a place in a bunns diet...just not excessive amounts!

Danielle