Pellet Advice

Would someone be able to tell me if I'm doing the right thing?

Florence is on Excel pellets for junior/dwarf rabbits. I also have a bag of Science Selective which I got before I brought her home, but where I got her from said I should continue with what she was already on, which I was fine with. I'll gradually introduce the Science Selective when she's bigger.

I am desperate for Florence not to be a dental bunny if at all possible. I lost my three bridge bunnies to dental problems and I want to do all I can to prevent it. On the Excel packet it says full size dwarf lops should have 50-60g a day of the pellets. I've been feeding her about 40g a day, 20g in the morning and 20g in the evening, as well as hay. She is 11 weeks old tomorrow so I'm going to start introducing veg in a week or so, she has had some grass but it seems to cause a lot of uneaten cecals if I give her too much.

Am I mean in restricting pellets in order to make her eat more hay? The bowl is always emptied, before I started giving her them twice a day one night she ate her whole 40g allowance and boy did I feel mean all day for not giving her extra. She does eat hay, but never eats all I have given her. It's almost just nibbling it, however whenever she has grass she scoffs the lot (ok it isn't as much as the hay I've given her). She has a hay rack, plus I put it on the floor, but I'm just so worried she isn't eating enough.

I want to get her into the habit of eating a lot while she is still a baby, but what is the amount she should be eating? I could be just worrying over nothing.

Thanks guys!

I spoke to Daisy's specialist about nuggies as daisy is a dental bun. Daisy has to have dentals every 12 weeks unfortunately.

He said that actually - they are not needed at all. I still like to give them to daisy though because I can monitor his teeth when he is eating them.

You see, when his teeth start to hurt he stops eating them....we immediately know something is wrong and get him in for a dental pronto.

The best way to prevent dentals is to make sure the bun eats LOADS of hay. Therefore Daisy only gets about half an Eggcup full in the morning and the same in the evening. He also has a cup of veg each day, but the rest of the time its grass and hay.

There is no problem with her eating grass. It also makes the bun grind the teeth down when eating. A mix of grass and hay will be fine.

Dental problems it buns can be treated easily normally if they are spotted early. Some signs of painful teeth are

Reduction in Eating, or a change in eating habits
Sticky or clumpy or dribbly fur underneath the chin
Runny eyes
Head shaking

Daisy has Burgess Excel because a) he likes them and b) the Science Selective pellets are to big for him to get into his little mouth! As I understand it both have similar fibre levels and are the better nuggets to give buns.

So dont feel bad about giving her only a small amount of nuggs, you are doing the best for her in the long run. x x x x

Like Daisy, Bruce is a dental bun. At one point he was having his molars burred every 3 months but with an improved diet he is now down to annual dentals. The biggest change that has achieved this is to get him out on the grass daily. My garden is fairly new and the grass was seeded when I moved in 2 years ago and because the soil under the grass is not ideal the grass is very poor in some areas yet lush in others. It also has a patch of clover in it. I have noticed both my buns seem to really enjoy eating both the long grass and the poorer short grass and I think it is this variety that encourages the most effective grinding. Unfortunately Bruce's jaw is misaligned so he will always have issues with his molars.

I also feed a variety of hays. The bulk of the hay I feed is meadow hay which is good because it has a mix of grasses in it. Into this I add a little timothy hay and some excel marigold forage. I also feed a small handful of readigrass, but not more as it is higher in calcium and could cause urinary problems. The variety appeals to both buns and they love eating it and the different textures. I feed it mixed as described in their litter tray where they love to chew and poo. And then I always have small boxes or toilet roll tubes stuffed with the individual hays to give a more stimulating way of feeding. I always squish in the ends of the tubes to make it that bit more difficult for them. Where possible you want to look for longish hay as this encourages long periods of chewing and so better teeth wear.

I feed a good mix of veg and herbs in the morning from the rwaf safe list - I feed a cereal bowl full between the 2 of them in the morning.

The pair of buns weigh 4-4.5kg between them and I feed 20g of a mix of selective mature and excel light between the 2 of them in a feed ball at 7pm. And they get a couple of vetcare plus digestive health sticks and a fenugreek treat each on top of their pellets. That might not seem like much but it is more than enough for them. If anything they are a smidge overweight.

As you can probably predict I would say you are not cruel at all to restrict the pellets. It is the best thing for you bun long term.

These two posts hold some brilliant advice

I reduce the pellets in order to make the buns eat more hay, at one point they had uneaten c's too but since reducing I've had no problems. Just need to get the balance right, can be tricky at first but once you get it sorted its fine.
I add in apple tree branches and soon I will be trying to make some dried forage, its worth getting different hay once in a while to get them quite excited about trying new tastes.