no pellet diet

[manicbunny]

I have heard of a pellet free rabbit diet.

where can i find info on this. i am interested in going pellet free

[osprey]

No pellets is definitely an option.  We have some folks in The Rabbit Haven that do not feed pellets at all, just hay and veggies.  We also have a person who does not feed pellets because her bun’s gut slows down when he eats too many calories.  I have not seen any good web references about a pellet free diet.  Anyone else?

[Hilde]

There are some good articles on pellet free diets, try this one: http://www.leithpetwerks.com/Bunfun/nonpellet.html
There may be more articles of use here: http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#diet

We have a 4 year old who hardly ever eats pellets, she mainly lives on a mixture of vegetables, herbs, greens (weed), flowers, hays and some fruit.

[osprey]

What kind of flowers do you feed to your buns?  Ours like the flowers from our herb garden and they really enjoy Calendula flowers too (Pot marigold).  I am always looking for ways to expand their diet.

[Hilde]

Following is a quote from a site that lists safe flowers, herbs, etc.
I haven’t tried all of those on our buns, but like yours they mainly get the flowers from the herbs (different basils, mints, hyssop, thyme, marjoram, dill, carrots, etc.), from clover and dandelion, and also roses and rosehips, calendula, chamomile, sweet violets, nasturtium, pansy, viola, strawberry, blueberry (they also enjoy the leaves and fruits of those). I tried geranium but they didn’t really like those,nor daililly which is also supposed to be safe.
I am growing some more edible flowers and herbs this year, and will try them on those when they grow in. I also am always trying to find more variety for my buns, especially our 4 year old who doesn’t eat pellets.

from http://web.archive.org/web/20010626004616/www.therabbeeotcharity.freeserve.co.uk/care-eat.html
Flowers
It is fine for your rabbit to feed on these flowers: aster, carnation, daisy, geranium, geum, helenium, hollyhock, honesty, marguerite, marigold, Michaelmas daisy, nasturtium, rose, stock, sunflower and wallflower,
however avoid acacia, antirrhinum, anemone, brugmansia, columbine, daffodil, dahlia, delphinium (larkspur), feverfew, glory lily, gypsophila, hellebore, hyacinth, iris, lantana, lily of the valley, lobelia, love-in-a-mist, monkshood (aconite), narcissus, polygonatum, poppy, primrose, snowdrop, tulip and other bulbs.

[Hilde]

Argh, I really dislike sites that change URI’s!!!! It’s supposed to read "therabbit charity.freeserve." etc (without the space between rabbit and charity), but because those 5 letters look like a swearword, each time I write this URL on a site, it gets mangled.

[belleandferdinand]

My bunny savvy vet recommended a pellet reduced diet, especially as Ferdinand is on the chubby (8lb size) and Belle has had gut problems. All I can say is do not implement it too quickly, just phase out them out very slowly. Ferdinand developed a destructive phase and ate my furniture (which I can only attribute to him being hungry!). We’re at 3/4s of what they were on and they don’t seem to have noticed yet My vet also said to mix up the types of hay – timothy and oat – so they don’t get bored.

[Hilde]

As you reduce their pellets, increase their greens and veggies. Increase the variety too, they need many different kinds of vegetables and herbs to get all the nutrients they need. There’s no need for them to be hungry, even with no pellets at all.
And ofcourse they should have unlimited access to hay all day long. You can also try them on different hays: orchard, brome, meadow grass, aswell as the timothy and oats. Even a little alfalfa is ok, since they don’t get pellets anyway.

[dmh426]

I’ve reduced Sophie’s pellets to an 1/8 cup a day but feel like I am starving her without any pellets, like the grass and timothy hay, as well as veggies, just isn’t enough. So, we keep an 1/8 cup in her diet.

[MooBunnay]

My bunnies have lost interest in their pellets which I attribute to their hay.  My mom lives in Eastern San Diego (AKA the sticks!) and goes to a feed store for her horses that imports hay from the midwest – so she brings me a bail of oat hay every couple months…its fantastic because its still green and fresh and has lots of oats! I get some weird looks from the neighbors when my mom drives up in her horse trailer and unloads 5 bales of hay – but every rescue friend of mine wants some (and its only $16 per bale). My boyfriend and I feed our buns this hay mixture, and allll of our buns have become disinterested with pellets:

In the litter box we put:

1) Mostly oat hay

2) A small sprinkle of alfalfa

3) A handful of timothy hay

4) A handful of orchard grass

The variety keeps them interested I guess and the sprinkle of alfalfa keeps them digging! 

[poopy]

Ya seriously- horse feed is the best. I got 120 lbs oat hay (I couldn’t life it) for $18 at a horse feed store. Hopefully it won’t go bad. Medusa gobbled it up fast though (even the stalks which they usually avoid)…must have been reaaaallly fresh.

[osprey]

If you keep it dry, it can last a really long time.  I get all of my buns’ hay at feed stores.

One word of warning: Don’t store the hay in sealed plastic bags or containers.  I did that once and it all spoiled.  The bags have to be open to allow moisture to escape or mold will form.

[MooBunnay]

Hi Poopy! Where did you get the hay from around here? I was looking for a good place for those times when I can’t wait for my mom to bring hay up from San Diego. Thanks

[BinkyBunny]

adding to what Osprey said, if you can store it in a cardboard box, that’s even better.   Bags have tendency to hold moisture more, even with air holes (though that makes a big difference!)

Also, if you can go in and rotate it around every once in awhile that helps too.   Hay can actually be stored up to a year if stored properly.

[Lucy]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have switched to a no pellet diet- every since Fujoe got GI Stasis. I’ve had no problems with them at all. They get tons of hay- and lots of greens. They seem to be doing well. The only time they get pellets is about twice a week I make a treat bag for them- the brown paper bag stuffed with hay with a few pellets in it. They go crazy for it.

Yesterday i did give them a carnation.. it was very odd to see them eat a flower

[pookah]

I realize this is an old post, but I arrived at it from a search engine, and I wanted to point something out–

The formatting is such that, the words, “however avoid” could be easily missed by someone scanning for a particular flower.  (Particularly if they have a narrow browser width, such as on a mobile device.)

In fact I missed it when I was reading it, but knew to look for it, because my search engine term had been “acacia”, (in fact “site:binkybunny.com acacia”) so “however avoid acacia” had been highlighted in the search engine blurb.  Otherwise I might have misunderstood the list that followed (although the inclusion of tulips might have given me pause)
I thought perhaps a moderator could edit the post to make “however avoid” more clear.  It’s a very helpful list.  I’m only concerned that someone could stumble upon the post from a google search, and misread the list.

Posted By Hilde on 5/07/2007 12:48 PM

Following is a quote from a site that lists safe flowers, herbs, etc.
I haven’t tried all of those on our buns, but like yours they mainly get the flowers from the herbs (different basils, mints, hyssop, thyme, marjoram, dill, carrots, etc.), from clover and dandelion, and also roses and rosehips, calendula, chamomile, sweet violets, nasturtium, pansy, viola, strawberry, blueberry (they also enjoy the leaves and fruits of those). I tried geranium but they didn’t really like those,nor daililly which is also supposed to be safe.
I am growing some more edible flowers and herbs this year, and will try them on those when they grow in. I also am always trying to find more variety for my buns, especially our 4 year old who doesn’t eat pellets.

from http://web.archive.org/web/20010626004616/www.therabbeeotcharity.freeserve.co.uk/care-eat.html
Flowers
It is fine for your rabbit to feed on these flowers: aster, carnation, daisy, geranium, geum, helenium, hollyhock, honesty, marguerite, marigold, Michaelmas daisy, nasturtium, rose, stock, sunflower and wallflower,
however avoid acacia, antirrhinum, anemone, brugmansia, columbine, daffodil, dahlia, delphinium (larkspur), feverfew, glory lily, gypsophila, hellebore, hyacinth, iris, lantana, lily of the valley, lobelia, love-in-a-mist, monkshood (aconite), narcissus, polygonatum, poppy, primrose, snowdrop, tulip and other bulbs.

[Author]

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