Switching from Alfalfa Pellets to Timothy Pellets

[Rabbit Hero]

I have been trying to switch Shino (who is about 11 months) from an alfalfa pellet to a timothy pellet. I've been mixing the two pellets, and at first he ate all the pellets in his bowl without a problem. But I noticed the past couple of days that now he just pushes the timothy pellets out of the way for the alfalfa pellets. Even If I leave the timothy pellets there he wont touch them! What do I do?

Also If anyone knows any ways I can encourage him to eat more hey it would be greatly appriciated!

 

[fuzz16]

how much pellets do you feed them?
(thats worded weird but i couldnt think how to say it lol)

and offer hay and they should graze on it after pellets are gone

 

[Maureen Las]

I had the same problem when I attempted to do this with all of my adult shelter rabbits who never atetimothy pellets

My rabbits would not eat Oxbow pellets. I truly gave up on the Oxbow (except for one);I ended upgetting Kaytee timothy pellets and mixing it with an alfalfa pellet.
. I think that Sweet Meadows has a good timothy pellet butI have never tried it although it is popular with some members. I fed themthe mix for a very long time and they dideat the kaytee

I then decided I was feeding too many pellets anyway soI reduced the amount of pellets. That seemed to be the key ..when they were getting less pellets they were hungrier for any pellet and then I eliminated the alfalfa ones
if you reduce the number of pellets and provide very good quality hay the hay consumption will usually increase dramatically; anyway it has in my case.

If a rabbit is getting really a very small portion of pellets it really makes very little difference whether they get alfalfa or timothy. ( I did not know this at the time)

My rabbits are relatively inactive ..if you have a very active rabbit that is free roam you can feed a little more pellets but finding the right hay that the rabbit really likes is really essential in terms of feeding correctly

 

[kirbyultra]

Oddly enough my Toby was all over the timothy pellets and not his alfalfa pellets when I started to mix his. I also found that reducing the total amount and measuring out how much he gets at each serving helped. Sometimes he leaves a bunch in his dish and i pretty much know he left his alfy pellets there because he knows I'll give him another scoop of mix for him to pick through. I refilled his pellet dish later and later until he diligently learned to eat what he was given entirely lol. He always had a full hay rack so I know he's never hungry, just spoiled

 

[Little Bay Poo]

kirbyultra wrote:

Oddly enough my Toby was all over the timothy pellets and not his alfalfa pellets when I started to mix his.

Same with Billy. He actually hopped into the timothy pellet container and started eating while I was cleaning out his food and water bowl. And I always thought they loved alfalfa :?

Back to the original poster, I think all the suggestions offered are great. Switching the brand of pellets is a good idea because I've noticed mine have significant changes in appetite (usually for the better) upon switching brands.

 

[Rabbit Hero]

He gets about a half-cup of pellets in the evening. I admit I have caved and given him another quarter cup if I wake up and its all gone.

So I need to be diligent eh? lol.

Where I am there is a very limited amount of food available. I could only find one timothy pellet by "living world" called "timothy formula". He seemed to like them at first.

Does this mean I should not feed him at all until he has eaten all of his pellets?

I suppose no pellets encourages him to eat hey right?

 

[funnybunnymummy]

I'm pretty sure you're feedingShino too much pellets.

I believe the rule of thumb is 1/4 C of pellets per day per 5 lbs of rabbit.

Gus only gets 1/2 C of pellets (1/4 C in the morning and 1/4 C at night) and he weighs 8 lbs!

You don't have to cut out pellets entirely to encourage your bun to eat more hay, just cut back on the amount he gets. Ditto for eating his greens.

If you still can't get him to eat the Living World pellets, see if you can locate Martin's Little Friends Less Active (now called Adult Timothy) pellets. That's what I've been feeding Gus and he loves them. (Plus they've got Yucca extract which seems to help withlitter box odours.)

Hope that helps!

Rue

 

[Rabbit Hero]

oh my! Really? Shino is only about 3.5 pounds! And here I always felt like I wasn't giving him enough.

I will definitely cut back on the pellets and see how it goes!

thanks all for the help!

 

[kirbyultra]

I agree with Rue that it's a lot for a bunny of 3.5 lbs and 11 months old. Young buns can be fed unlimited if they are active but as they reach a yr old it is better to control their pellet intake and increase hay consumption.

My Toby is 3.6lb and I give 1/4 cup a day at the very most, but he's only abou 9 months so I have a little time to bring his pellets down another notch. Right now I give him 1/8 cup twice daily to help control his appetite so he will more steadily eat hay throughout the day.

I see pretty quick changes in both my buns' appetite and eating patterns whenever I change the amount of pellets I give them. So dial Shino's food down slowly, and mix the different type of pellets together to ween him off alfalfa slowly. You risk signifcant changes in the bunny's digestive tract if you suddenly go from 1/2 cup+ to less than 1/4 cup a day of different food.

 

[Rabbit Hero]

I was already mixing the foods, but I will definitely take his pellets down slowly. Thanks!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Rabbit Hero wrote:

oh my! Really? Shino is only about 3.5 pounds! And here I always felt like I wasn't giving him enough.

I will definitely cut back on the pellets and see how it goes!

thanks all for the help!

Keeping a measuring cup in the big food container is good, then you can keep a better eye on how much you really feed. Giving fresh greens and finding the hay they love is the perfect match all around. We found that Snuff just loves Orchard Grass the best! He eats it all and hardly any waste any more!inkbouce:


What angieluv said above about sneaking in the other pellet and less of them and tons of hay is right on! You have to try and trick em!:hiding:

 

[Rabbit Hero]

I do the measuring cup thing already. I found it easier to regulate his food.

But good news! Last night he ate it all!!

 

[bearbop]

I would also reduce the amount that the rabbit is eating and also supply alfalfa hay after he has eaten all of his pellets.

 

[ra7751]

Most people over feed pellets....and it seems to be the case all over. My pair of bonded Flemish Giants get only about 1/3 cup of pellets per day for them to share (with unlimited hay)....and they weigh in the mid 20 pound range each. Pellets should be a very small part of the diet and it shouldn't make any difference if they are alfalfa or timothy based.....old school legends. Pellets should be used only to maintain body conditioning with the vast majority of the diet being hay with limited greens and veggies. Since my rabbits live inside, I use pellets only for the Vitamin D supplement that is in the pellet.

Randy

 

[Rabbit Hero]

I have never heard before that timothy pellets and alfalfa pellets don't really differ. I thought timothy had more fiber?

 

[Maureen Las]

Usually we have been taught that if a rabbit is not a baby and has finished the period of growth and development that it is best to switch to a pellet that has less protein and calcium ( timothy pellet). Energy needs are less

What I have learned from Randy is that if you feed a diet that isa variety of different types of hay and feed some greens that the pellets are fed in such a small amount that it doesn't matter if they are alfalfa or timothy.

This makes some sense to me but some folks feed timothy pellets to be on the safe side which is fine if you want to do that.

 

[Rabbit Hero]

Mixing the food sort of appealed to me anyways. I'm not really sure why.

But thank you! The really cleared things up!

 

[Happi Bun]

I just wanted to toss in a related question, if that's okay Rabbit Hero.

My question is regarding Alfalfa pellets and Timothy, that it wont make a difference in such small amounts. The Alfalfa pellets are higher in protein, fat and calcium but lower in fiber. The changes between Timothy and Alfalfa pellets is not drastic and will have a bigger effect when free feeding to youngsters. However, Alfalfa is often recommended for older rabbit's having trouble keeping on weight due to age or illness. I'm guessing you would still be restricting their diet because too much calcium in an adult house rabbit can cause problems. If so, then I assume that small increase in protein, fat and calcium do play some roll, which would be unwanted in an adult house rabbit that has no health problems and keeping a healthy weight? That's just my thinking on the matter.

 

[BethM]

When I first took in Benjamin, he really did not want to eat his pellets. I feed American Pet Diner Timmy Pellets, but I suspect Benjamin had been used to getting either alfalfa pellets or junk-food pellets with the extra bits in it. He absolutely did not want to eat his pellets!

After a week when he wouldn't eat them (I would empty the dish at feeding time and give him fresh, every day), I decided to try to trick him. I got some oats, and added a small amount (less than a tablespoon) to his pellet ration. It worked at first, he would go for the oats and end up eating some of the pellets, too. After about three days, though, he had become expert at getting out every oat and leaving all the pellets! Since this had been going on for three weeks or more, and he really wasn't eating as much hay as he should have been at that point, I continued with the oats. After a couple more weeks, one morning I got up and the dish was completely empty! I continued mixing the oats with his pellets for two more days, then stopped, and he just kept eating the pellets from there. (He was underweight when I got him, so I continued giving some oats daily, but I do them at bedtime now. I am in the process of weaning him off of those, as he's put on a good amount of weight now.)

I think for him, it was just a matter of getting hungry enough. He has gotten used to the pellets now, and runs to his dish a meal time like everyone else.

I feed all of my rabbits about 1/4 cup of pellets each day. They're all adults, and range in size from 4lbs (Tobi and Nick) to 5 (Benjamin) to 6.5lbs (Amelia). I use a 1/2 cup scoop, and mound it up just a bit for Nick and Amelia because they share. Benjamin gets about half of the scoop, and Tobi gets just under half of the scoop. They also each get about 2 cups of salad daily, and get unlimited hay- which they eat TONS of.
They never get more pellets, even if they finish all of them. I just make sure they always have a full hay rack, and I know they won't go hungry.

(Well, there was that one time, when Nick sat staring into his empty dish, then occasionally looked up at me then back into his empty dish. I did have to give him more that time. He has trained me well. LOL.)

 

[Rabbit Hero]

hmmm. I suppose different diets work for different bunnies, and I just need to get into his stride. for the past two days Shino has eaten all of his pellets, and I haven't caved! (ya for me)

I will continue to reduce the amount of pellets that I give him and go from there.

Either way it doesn't appear as if a timothy pellet is the WRONG way to go. As long as I'm not endangering his health at all I will continue with what I'm doing. With perhaps a small amount of the alfalfa pellets mixed with the timothy by the end.

and Beth... OMG that is so super cute!