Oliver's food.

[daisyandoliver]

Oliver has food that has treat pieces in it, like those orange carrot looking things and seeds. Is this kind of food bad for him? Should I try and switch him to a food that doesn't have treats in it. He eats the Kaytee Fiesta food, should I switch him to what Daisy eats? It is Kaytee so the same pellets; but it is just pellets and timothy hay pieces. I read that all the treat stuff in the food can make him sick.

So basically my question is should I switch his food to something without the treats?

 

[littl3red]

I would say absolutely yes. But switch him over gradually, not all at once. I wouldn't recommend Kaytee Fiesta anything. It's what my first rats ate when I brought them home because I was like "Oh, variety! This is fun and healthy!" Um, no. The one that's still living still hasn't recovered from being terribly fat. Not to mention he was sick ALL THE TIME because he could pick and choose what he wanted to eat. Of course this is rats and not rabbits that I'm talking about, but I still think that Kaytee Fiesta is not something I would feed my rabbits. Anyways, aren't seed things supposed to be harmful to them? Don't quote me on that, I might be wrong, but I feel like I read that somewhere.

 

[Imbrium]

yeah, seeds are a no-no for bunnies, as is any food with colorful bits in it. it sells because it looks appealing to humans and we're wired to assume variety = good, but it's the opposite of what you want in a bunny feed.

sherwood forest is my favorite food and the only thing I'll feed my bunns - https://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/rabbit-food-labels/ - it has no added sugars/molasses or anything and is all natural. you can get a sample for just the cost of shipping.

they do really like the junk-food pellets, so it can take some time to make the switch - at first, mine would pick out all the old pellets and leave the sherwood in the bowl when I was mixing the two (usually came back to eat it later, though). within a month, they'd not only resigned themselves to being stuck with the sherwood pellets, they came to really like them.

 

[JBun]

You should definitely stop feeding him that stuff and switch him to Daisys' food. It's no guarantee that it would make him sick, but there are a lot of rabbits that have developed GI stasis from that kind of food, and trust me, you don't want to have to deal with stasis ever. It's horrible.

Ashtin's right, you should do it gradually. Some people just take a week to transition, I like to do it over 2 weeks, just to give the rabbits digestion plenty of time to adjust. You just start with a little of the new food added to the old food, and gradually increase the amount of new food each day, til you're feeding all the new food at the end of 2 weeks.

 

[sugarbunnies]

Would you say that Sherwood is better than Oxbow? Oxbow is more readily available in stores, and I have never seen Sherwood on the shelves here or in past states.

 

[Imbrium]

sherwood is online only. the guaranteed analysis is nearly identical to sherwood, but the ingredients differ (most importantly, no sugars/molasses in the sherwood) and sherwood is fresher since the "made on" date is always only a few days before it arrives at my home.

 

[mdith4him]

I second the Sherwood. My buns have LOVED it since day 1 and both the ingredient list and smell attest to its freshness and healthiness. Also, as has been noted in other threads, the customer service is amazing. If you ever have any issues, just contact them and they'll fix it. They offer a free 2lb sample, so you can always get that first and see how your buns like it. They always ship quickly, too!

It is online only, but the food is very well priced and if you buy in bulk, it's a better deal than Oxbow.

 

[littl3red]

That is a REALLY good deal on pellets. I pay like $15 for a 5 lb bag and it's not BAD but it's not very GOOD either. I couldn't find any better pellets in my area... I think I'm switching to Sherwood...

 

[sugarbunnies]

Where do I find the 2lb sample?

 

[sugarbunnies]

Ah found it, but it only seems to be for lactating mothers and babies.

 

[mdith4him]

Check this link:
http://store.naturalrabbitfood.com/free-rabbit-food-samples/

It looks like you can choose which type of food you want for a sample.

 

[sugarbunnies]

Are you guys using maintenance and show?

 

[lauratunes12]

Do ya'll know if we could just buy a few samples of the sherwood? Because Faith is so close to getting off the alfalfa that I don't want to buy a big bag of alfalfa pellets, but she does still need alfalfa.

Edit: which one would I use? Obviously not the lactating and baby's mix... That says its for buns up to 12 weeks old.

Never mind, figured out that they have the adult formula for after 12 weeks.

 

[sugarbunnies]

Where are you finding that, Laura? I only see the maintenance food.

 

[lauratunes12]

On the link above, there is a choice of pregnant rabbit food, lactating and growing baby, or the maintenance.

Edit: I have concluded that the maintenance one is what you want to feed for bunnies over 12 weeks old.

 

[lauratunes12]

After reading the comments, I agree that this is the best food. Now to convince my parents. They still think Walmart pellets are just fine.

 

[JBun]

The lactating growing has a higher fat content for young babies. The site recommends the maintenance and show for rabbits over 12 weeks. I'm assuming they are basing it on the companies research on dietary requirements. The m/s food actually does have some alfalfa in it. It is part alfalfa part timothy. If your rabbit is still young but you would be feeding the m/s food, you could always feed alfalfa hay in addition to the pellets, if you aren't already feeding alfalfa hay.

 

[ldoerr]

I would switch him to just about any fresh pellet that does not have the colorful bits in it. That is the sign of POOR quality food. I never fed it to my mice of hamsters even. When I had the mice and hamsters, I fed a lab block food. It worked to grind their teeth down, they could not pick and choose their favorite bits, and it was the healthiest food out there for them.

Sorry when off topic. I miss my hamsters and mice.

 

[mdith4him]

lauratunes12 wrote:

Now to convince my parents. They still think Walmart pellets are just fine.

Show them an article listing the reasons Walmart pellets (or other pellets featuring seeds, colorful bits, and lots of fruits) are not healthy. Also show them a price comparison. The 4lb bag of Wild Harvest rabbit food (from the Walmart website) is $5. If you buy a 20lb bag of the Sherwood, it will come to a total of about $30 (with shipping). 20lbs of the W.H. food would be about $25, so there isn't a huge difference in the price. I don't know who buys the food at your house, but if it's your parents, you could offer to chip in the extra $5 every few months you have to buy food. Do they have some major objection other than price and/or convenience?

 

[sugarbunnies]

Just as an extra confirmation, it IS Sherwood Maintenance and Show for adults? Also, is this cheaper than Oxbow in the long run? I do not pay for shipping because I buy Oxbow in the store, so was wondering if it was more expensive or less?