Oxbow Bunny Basic/T is this good?

[Tweetiepy]

Maybe I should have asked this before I ordered it but then again it must be better than what he was eating before.

I ordered three 10 lb bags of this food - Peaches current food is Nutriphase but it's Alfalfa based with some oats & colored bits which he loves and I know alfalfa is too calcium rich once they're no longer babies. Hisfood before that was corn based (not good). The vet mentioned that the Oxbow would be good for him - the ingredients look okay and there's lots of fibreso that should be good. It is more expensive than the other stuff, but I figure if it's better for him and he eats it, then it's well worth the $$.I just thought of this (too late really) but this may last about 6 months or more - will it keep for that long without spoiling if the bag is not opened? Could I freeze the unopened bags?? I only have one bunny and he's only a bit over 2 pounds and eats about 1/4 cup a day. I got it from MontrealCritters and they charge about $10 for shipping which is fabulous but I made it worth the buy - I hope it keeps. See below for product description

Timothy Grass Meal, Soybean Hulls, Wheat Middlings, Soybean Meal, Cane Molasses, Sodium Bentonite, Soybean Oil, Salt, Lignin Sulfonate, Limestone, Yeast Culture (dehydrated), Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Folic Acid, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Riboflavin Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Biotin, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Magnesium Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Etheylenediamine Dihydriodide

Guaranteed Analysis

• Crude Protein min 14.00%
• Crude Fat min 1.50%
• Crude Fiber min 25.00%
• Crude Fiber max 29.00%
• Moisture max 10.00%
• Calcium min 0.35%
• Calcium max 0.85%
• Phosphorus min 0.25%
• Salt min 0.50%
• Salt max 1.00%
• Copper (min) 30 ppm
• Vitamin A (min) 19,000 IU/kg
• Vitamin D (min) 900 IU/kg
• Vitamin E (min) 190 IU/kg

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I feed Oxbow BB/T to 2 of my rabbits. Korr has been on it for about 3 years now and gets comments form the vet and other people about his nice coat. He won a small rabbit show last weekend mostly based on his condition and he beat out pedigreed rabbits that have won other shows.
He eats about 1/4 cup per day, but with 2 rabbits eating it a 10 pound bag lasts about 8-10 weeks. With one rabbit it would last about 4-5 months. This is still within the time before it goes bad. I would put some in a container and keep the bag sealed so it stays fresher longer. You can also put some into zip lock bags soon after you open the bag. If you do freeze it, I would put it into smaller zip lock bags so you can only have what you need for a short time.

 

[Suz]

With pet food, I have found you pay for what you get!

I actually did a lot of research on dog food about 5 years ago, and found out what was slowing killing my golden retriever. Her vet recommended Science Diet food. Back in the 80's, SD was a high quality brand. But since it became popular over the years, they filled it up with corn fillers and my poor golden was allergic to grains. I never knew this until she was 13yrs old. This is after thousands of dollars of vet bills for ear infections, inflamed soar paws, skin problems (pieces of her skin were literally peeling off and leaving huge sores, etc. My vet just told me it was old age and the paw chewing was boredom. Nope. I changed her food to California Natural which was very basic ingredients starting with CHICKEN and much more expensive. Within two weeks my 13yr old dog looked younger. Her coat became very shiny and she never chewed on her paw or had an ear infection again. She only lived another six months before dying of cancer, but I learned my lesson. It definitely pays do to your own research.

That is why I buy Oxbow. It was the most expensive rabbit food available in the pet store. Plus I have a baby FG,and wanted the higher percentage protein so I got the one for young/active rabbits.

Buy the most expensive food that you can afford, and LOOK at the ingredients on the bag. That is what I tell everybody when they ask what food I use for whatever pet.

 

[missyscove]

I also feed Oxbow BB/T to my buns at home.
I'd recommend freezing the unopened bags and maybe even splitting the opened one in half and freezing it that way to keep it fresher - no matter how good the food is, over time you will get bugs, etc if you don't store it properly.

Remember to transition him over to it slowly and that some GI issues may show up while you're transitioning feeds, especially if you switch too quickly.

 

[Tweetiepy]

My problem was that I went to Petsmart with the family. Hubby and the kids were running all over the place and we were rushed to get out of there. I was trying to quickly find what I was looking for and found one pellet brand that didn't have corn or grain as a first ingredient and that looked okay - Then I got home and realized that the alfalfa wouldn't be good for him for very long. Walmart's pellets has corn as a first ingredient and the petshop has unmarked bags of their food - so who knows whats in those. Petsmart is quite a drive out for us and since hubby isn't enamoured with the bunny it's a pain for him to drive us out there (I wouldn't even attempt the drive alone - I'd get lost so fast)

Peaches really loves his Nutriphase pellets - specially the little orange bits in there - I might save those as treats for later.

Wish I had had more time to really browse the store the lasti time I was there.

 

[MikeScone]

Tweetiepy wrote:

Then I got home and realized that the alfalfa wouldn't be good for him for very long.

It depends on how much pellets he gets, really. If it's just a small amount each day for dietary supplement purposes, then alfalfa's not harmful. It's just higher in protein than a grass-hay (Timothy) based pellet would be.

My last bunny, Scone MacBunny, wouldn't eat Timothy in any form, so he rejected the Oxbow pellets. He ate an alfalfa-based pellet all his life. I checked with the vets at Cornell and they said it was fine.

 

[goneforbaroque]

My rabbits both love Oxbow hay and pellets. The hays are usually good quality. I feed the Timothy pellets.

 

[fuzz16]

being expensive doesnt make it the best.

i feed unlimited hay on top of a small amount of pellets every other day for my buns and i use an alfalfa based pellet.