What food should I feed him?

I’ve been wondering about food. I brought a mix from my local pet shop. The food had dried bananas, carrots and different shapes and coloured pellets. I was a bit concerned about the colouring in it and he tends to pick out what he thinks is tasty and leaves the rest!

Yesterday my local vet advised me to buy excel rabbit food. I purchased the junior and dwarf one, I thought he’d stick his nose up at it because of the pellets but he wolfed it all down! Which food would you advise me to buy and what do you feed your rabbits on?

A pellet feed like Excel or Science Selective is preferable as it stops selective feeding.

Any change in diet should be done gradually over a 14 day period. You mix a tiny bit of the new pelleted feed in with the feed Bun is used to. Then you gradually increase the new feed and decrease the old. This reduces the risk of GI upsets.

My Rabbits are fed on Science Sellective Pellets and Dodson and Horrell Pellets. But they only have a tiny portion a day as most (90%) of their diet is hay.

I feed Allan & Page pellets but have found some of my rabbits need more of these than they do any other pellet as the protein content is not sufficient for their needs (generally my older or poorly buns). Personally I think the best pellet is Science Selective but likewise it is also the most expensive, though if you are feeding just one bunny it dosn't work out too bad.

As Jane says any change in diet should take place gradually to minimise the risk of a gastro-intestinal disturbance, particularly in young rabbits.

It never occurred to me that I should introduce new food slowly. I always have done with my cat and dog so why I didn’t do it with my rabbit I don’t know. I want to feed him the best but I’ve already started changing his diet to excel. How long shall I leave it before I change him too the selective? I need to get a measuring cup so I’m feeding him the right amount too! Thanks for the advice.

If he does OK on the Excel (which many rabbits do) then keep him on it, it's still quite well formualted. The problem to watch out for is if he starts to produce excess ceacal pellets or developes a messy bottom....some rabbits find the Excel too high in protein and this is a common side-effect of that.

It seems to be affecting him already. hes running around bonkers!

Birds_Will_Fly wrote:It seems to be affecting him already. hes running around bonkers!

Perhaps I'll have a bowlful myself then !!

My 3 thrive on A&P, it's cheap and high in fibre too

A&P not heard of that unless its Allen and page that do horse feeds.

Mine are now on science selective 1 small handfull each and lots of veg and hay and i also use the science selective as a treat for good behaviour one pice each