There is a difference between a pellet
only diet and a pellet based diet. Yes, a rabbit can survive and even thrive on a pellet only diet IF you're feeding the good stuff. I see all too often that most pet rabbit owners feed their rabbits food they bought at a pet store or even Walmart. *shudders* They don't read labels and don't have an understanding of the ingredients and how they can help (or hurt) their rabbit.
My suggestions.....buy from a feed store and buy a well known brand like Purina Mills (
this is NOT the dog food "Purina" company that paid to use the checkerboard logo), Nutrena, Manna Pro, King, etc. These companies have animal science nutritionists with PhD working for them full time at their research facilities and keep abreast of, and create, the most up to date information on research based rabbit nutrition. The *only* rabbit food company that sells their products at pet stores that I could recommend is Oxbow. However, you can get the exact same or better quality at a feed store and pay only about 1/2 to 1/3 of what you'll pay in a pet store.
It pays to read labels, including feeding guidelines that are on evey package of rabbit feed. Hay (either alfalfa or timothy) is the main ingrediets in nutritionally balanced pelleted rabbit food. It reads just like any super market nutritional fact/ingredients label - with the first ingredients listed as being what is used most in the product.
Your friend need not worry that much about her son's rabbit rabbit not eating hay though I would recommend finding a good hay that it will eat. There are so many good choices - timothy, oat, orchard, fetch, etc. Barbie Brown is quite the expert when it comes to the nutritional break down of hay varieties and hay blends. You might suggest your friend Google for a consult. I'm sure she can help find *some kind* of good rabbit hay that the rabbit will like.
My rabbits have preferences for different types of hay and I know which ones they like and could tell you how my rabbits rank them. lol. But there are also other reasons, besides just preference, that a rabbit might not eat hay. Moldy hay (looks like dust but not the normal bit of dirt dust that is a by product of baling it in the field), teeth problems, age and/or packaging of the hay, or some other health problem that has nothing to do with the hay.
Again, I recommend purchasing quality hay from a feed store and not those "bread bag" hays you see at pet stores. The feed store employees can/should tell you exactly where it came from and when, what cutting it is (this affects nutritional values), if its a blend - what percentages of what grasses are in it, etc., etc.. AND you can buy an entire bale for what you'd pay for 2 smal bread bags of pet store hay. If a bale is too much for you (it keeps for 3 years if stored properly) then split a bale with friends or ask the clerk if he'll bag is down for you because you don't need a whole bale.
The difference in quality between pet store and feed store pelleted food and hay is incredible - like night and day. I can see why those that don't have much experience with rabbits might think pelleted based diets are not good. I would not waste a penny on pet store stuff, myself. It's junk. Switch to the stuff the the exibitors use and your eyes will be opened.
Most exhibitors use a pellet
based diet. That means that the core of the nutrition comes from a nutritionally balanced food in pellet form. By volume, the rabbits eat very little of this (read labels for feeding guidelines) because it is concentrated nutrition. They'll also get hays, bark, veggies (at the appropriate age), and sometimes "special" conditioners used to give their rabbits that extra "oomph" during the show season.
Any concerns about using a pellet based diet are easily dispelled by just a glance at, and running your hands over, a show rabbit. They'll have thick, luscious coats, be lean and muscular, and bright eyed and bushy tailed (alert and as active as their specific breed typically is).
Do encourage your friend to investigate the hay issue. It may be as simple as switching to another variety or it may be that there is a health issue present. But, barring those, in the end, your friends rabbit should be fine and live a long life on
"just" a pellet diet (reads:
quality pellets). Purina Mills even makes a higher fiber pellet (Fibre 3) that some like (and some don't) jic the rabbit owner can't get the rabbit to eat hay and is still concerned about it.
