what brand and type of food do you use?

[Evan55]

The rabbit I just adopted is pretty overweight. Ive never seen a rabbit so fat.

What kind of food would everyone recommend for getting her back in shape?

She currently eats Kaytee food that isnt in pellet form, itscolored and looks like little cookies. I think itsthe Exact variety. 14% proteinif irecallcorrectly, which seems in line withwhat I have read.
She also has yogurt treats that she has been getting 1 of aday. And plenty of timothy hay although she usually does noteat a whole handful a day.

She does have her ownroom now with toys and lots tokeep her entertained, so Im hoping that exercise will do themost good.



any advice? thanks!

 

[naturestee]

Hi Evan55! Welcome to the forum!

How much of the pellets are you giving her? You'll need tolimit what you give her. If she currently gets as much as shewants, start slowly decreasing the amount until she finishes them alland eats a lot of hay. Usually 1/4 cup is recommended for a 5lb rabbit, although it varies by the individual and how active theyare. You don't need to put her on starvation rations, justfeed her for her ideal weight. Also, don't feed her treats,or cut them back to only one or two a week. She needs lessdessert.

Kaytee Exact isn't bad, but I'd recommend switching to Kaytee TimothyComplete or Oxbow Bunny Basics/T. They have much better fiberand also low protein, fat, and calcium.

Other than that, as much exercise as possible is great. I'vefound that moving around furniture or big toys like cardboard boxesencourages my rabbits to practice running around them.

 

[honey_bunny]

i feed my rabbits hine-holds. they seem to likeit alot. we used to have penpals but decided to change cause they likethis stuff better. i also get them timothy hay, bananas, carrots andapples

 

[Evan55]

naturestee wrote:

Hi Evan55! Welcome to the forum!

How much of the pellets are you giving her? You'll need tolimit what you give her. If she currently gets as much as shewants, start slowly decreasing the amount until she finishes them alland eats a lot of hay. Usually 1/4 cup is recommended for a 5lb rabbit, although it varies by the individual and how active theyare. You don't need to put her on starvation rations, justfeed her for her ideal weight. Also, don't feed her treats,or cut them back to only one or two a week. She needs lessdessert.

Kaytee Exact isn't bad, but I'd recommend switching to Kaytee TimothyComplete or Oxbow Bunny Basics/T. They have much better fiberand also low protein, fat, and calcium.

Other than that, as much exercise as possible is great. I'vefound that moving around furniture or big toys like cardboard boxesencourages my rabbits to practice running around them.

Thanks naturestee,

She is a big girl, about 14 pounds. She doesnt get unlimitedfood, probably around a cup a day, and she pacesherself pretty well with that, doesnt eat it all atonce. I just got her on saturday, so mostof this is going off what the previous owner has told me, Istill need to observe her more to really get a good idea on her eatinghabits.

Switching to one of the Timothy based pellets is a great idea,thanks. Ill starttransitioning over to thatsoon. Im definately going to cut out the treats too.
Ill probably cut portions back to around 3/4 cup a day too and see how she reacts to that.

 

[ani-lover]

canela_2004 wrote:

Kahlua is currently eating 1/2 cup of alfalfa pellets (fromthe feedstore) but I am thinking about switching her to timothy basedpellets, probably Kaytee becuase I can get those locally. Shealso get unlimited hay, usually bermuda, timothy, or orchard grasshay. She also gets 2 cups of veggies daily, with at elast 3different kinds of veggies. Her favorites are broccoli,romaine lettuce, parsley, cilantro, and green pepper. I makesure to rotate veggies so that no overdosing on calcium or vit aoccurs.

dont feed too much broccoli because it is known to cause gas. You should only feed the leaves and stems.

 

[canela_2004]

ani-lover wrote:

canela_2004 wrote:

Kahlua iscurrently eating 1/2 cup of alfalfa pellets (from the feedstore) but Iam thinking about switching her to timothy based pellets, probablyKaytee becuase I can get those locally. She also getunlimited hay, usually bermuda, timothy, or orchard grasshay. She also gets 2 cups of veggies daily, with at elast 3different kinds of veggies. Her favorites are broccoli,romaine lettuce, parsley, cilantro, and green pepper. I makesure to rotate veggies so that no overdosing on calcium or vit aoccurs.

dont feed too much broccoli because it is known to cause gas. You should only feed the leaves and stems.

Yeah I know. T hanks though. Shegets one little piece whenever she gets it and it hasnt caused anyissues.

 

[binkies]

What about DuMore Show Rabbit? There isnt any ingrediants listed on the bag. It came from Tractor Supply.

 

[solebomber]

I feed my Dwarfs Manna Pro 16% pro formula, I also buy it at TSC , I think its one of thebest pelleted feeds on the market and I find it keeps my rabbits inexcellent condition. I also Feed Timothy hay a few times aweek.

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Thanks, guys, great ideas! :great:I will start to incorporate these!

 

[Pipp]

Remember to check out the "Pellets" section in the Resource Center..

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12160&forum_id=17

It includes a contents list of as many brands as we can find.

And if anybody has more to add, please do so!!

 

[JimD]

The Pet Goods by us just started carrying rabbit pellets made by F.M. Brown.

Has anybunnie used these ??

There's not too much info on their website.

`jim

 

[ani-lover]

im not sure if fm brown pellets are any good buti wouldnt use them. A friend of mine used them in hamster products andall 4 of her hamsters got sick and died.

 

[naturestee]

Is she sure it was the food? Hamstersdo get respiratory diseases and other illnesses that they could havepassed to each other. They can also get very sick if they'vebeen in contact with mice (not the pet type) or mousedroppings. Or if she changed their food too quickly they mayhave gotten diarrhea. I've had that happen before.It's really hard to tell if it was the food unless a vet diagnoses themor the food is tested.

Jim, I've never heard of that brand. Maybe you could take a picture of the label and post it?

 

[ani-lover]

im not sure what the food was called but she gotthe hamsters after the other ones died and it was with allnew supplies stil with fm brown food and those hamsters got sick. soyeah we are sure it is the food.

 

[JimD]

Hi naturestee,

Here's a pic of the 5lb bag. The 25lb bag is a paper bag.

• Crude protein (min) 13% Crude fat (min) 2.5% Crude fiber (max) 15% Moisture (max) 15%
• Ingredients
  Alfalfa meal, wheat middlings, barley, oats, wheat bran, corn,wheat germ meal, soybean meal, vitamin A acetate with improvedstability, d-activated animal sterol, vitamin E, vitamin B12, calciumcarbonate, dicalcium phosphate, salt, manganous oxide, iron sulfate,iron carbonate, copper oxide, cobalt carbonate, calcium iodate, zincoxide.

They also make a brand that contains colored "vitamin" pieces called Nutrition Plus, but the Traditional is just plain pellets.



`jim

 

[naturestee]

Is there a minimum fiber? The max fiber is really low. I wouldn't recommend feeding it because of that.

 

[JimD]

naturestee wrote:

Is there a minimum fiber? The max fiber is reallylow. I wouldn't recommend feeding it because of that.

I couldn't find a complete analysis. I looked at the bag in the store but couldn't find the info on the labeling.

The fiber did look a bit low. The alfalfa pellets I use have 17%min -20% max....and the timothy pellets I use have 18% min - 23% max.

Too bad too, because the protien is only 13%.

 

[Evan55]

JimD wrote:

naturestee wrote:

Is there aminimum fiber? The max fiber is really low. Iwouldn't recommend feeding it because of that.

I couldn't find a complete analysis. I looked at the bag in the store but couldn't find the info on the labeling.

The fiber did look a bit low. The alfalfa pellets I use have 17%min -20% max....and the timothy pellets I use have 18% min - 23% max.

Too bad too, because the protien is only 13%.

Kaytee Timothy Complete is 13% protein, with 18%-23% fiber.

 

[JimD]

Evan55 wrote:

JimD wrote:

....and thetimothy pellets I use have 18% min - 23% max.

Kaytee Timothy Complete is 13% protein, with 18%-23% fiber.

I give my buns a 50/50 mix of alfalfa and timothy pellets. I'm using Kaytee Timothy Complete for the timothy pellets.

`jim