No pellets?

[mirabun]

Hi everyone!

3 months ago I adopted a 2-3 year old Netherland dwarf. He’s doing well so far.

I took him to the vet yesterday for a check up. He said he’s healthy and he went over diet with me. I give him 1 TBSP of Oxbow adult pellets in the morning, 1 cup of greens in the evening, and unlimited timothy hay. The vet said to stop feeding pellets altogether. He said they can cause dental disease, and that greens and hay are all he needs as an adult rabbit.

I like the vet, and he is an exotic vet, but I don’t know if that’s misinformation. I just wanted to get some opinions on this, since I’ve always read that pellets should be a small part of the diet, but still a part of it.

[Beka27]

Different vets have different experiences, and it’s possible he may have done his own research on this topic and that was the conclusion he arrived at. I haven’t heard of pellets leading to dental problems, and it is recommended that they receive a small amount per day. If they don’t receive any pellets, they need A LOT per veggies, and A LOT of variety per day (like 10+ DIFFERENT types of veggies PER DAY!) This is obviously cost prohibitive for some people. It’s your call, and there’s a lot of great info on this site about pellet-free diets if that’s the way you want to go.

[NuggetBuns]

Agreeing with Beka, if you remove pellets from his diet, you’ll have to buy many different kinds of veggies to make sure your rabbit gets all the vitamins and nutrients he needs to stay healthy. If you have access to fresh, low cost produce and have enough room to store it, it would be a good diet to try. Or if you’re a vegetarian or vegan, it would be really easy =P

My buns also eat Oxbow for adults and so far, they don’t have any dental problems. It can cause issues if they ONLY eat pellets though.

[tanlover14]

I agree with Beka also! =)

[Deleted User]

My exotic vet suggested pellets (as ‘part’ of his diet) – to help make up for any nutrition Henry may miss out on through certain veggies I may not be able to give him for what ever reason at the time. The only issue my vet had a concern with in relation to his teeth was that he doesn’t eat much hay, and the hay is what keeps there teeth healthy, helps to combat the growing. So there you go…. I was worried about Henry’s teeth because of his lack of hay consumption, and your worried about pellets causing dental problems? No wonder we go bunny mad (insane)!!!!!

[Cochin]

Depending where you live, you can also harvest outdoor plants (like right now – if where you live hasn’t killed everything). It takes a bit of figuring out, but I know several people who feed all of their rabbits just forage. It takes quite a while of figuring out what’s what but sounds like its well worth it

[Author]

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