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Cutting out Pellets

SisterMoonbeam

Mama Doe
Following on from my thread about Fidget's mucky bum.... http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=188136

It seems that excess caecotrophs are being produced by her and this may be the cause of the problem (as wel as blocked inguinal glands). So is completely cutting pellets the way to go?

At the moment they both have a small handful each at night. Is there anything i need to do if i cut pellets out (provide more veg etc...?) She does eat lots of hay already. Also Frankie's poos are absolutely fine and his bum is always pristine so i don't really want to change his diet so how is best to go about feeding Frankie pellets but not Fidget? Feed them separetely? They go mad for their pellets so there is no way i can attempt to feed Frankie without separating them as she will most definitely charge in and eat them.
 
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Are you sure it is the pellets that is causing the mucky bum. What pellets are you feeding and how much carrot do you give them. As that can be a problem with Honey. She only gets a tiny bit each week. Sorry I haven't seen your last thread and the link doesn't work.
 
Hi,

Have updated the link. They don't have a lot of carrot at all, only once a week maybe at the most. They have mainly spring greens, brocoli and herbs. I'm not sure if it is the pellets but a few people on the other thread suggested that it might be. They both have Wagg optimum. The only thing to have changed in their diet is that they eat less grass but much more hay (though i would have thought that would be a good thing). They used to be on grass 10 hours a day at my old house but now i am at home they can only go in the run for a couple of hours when the dogs are locked up as it is not safe at the moment but i am soon to be buying a half boarded aviary so that should be better :).

Anyway back to topic lol... so i am assuming it is the pellets that are doing it but i don't know. I really don't know much about why her inguinal glands are blocked either, The vet had no idea, and didn't even know that's what it was :?

ETA: They are in an 8x6ft shed when not in the run so not locked away in a hutch all that time - just to clarify :)
 
Have you tried changing their pellets?

Hi,

Frankie used to eat dodson and horrell before he came to me but he has been fine ever since i changed him, absolutely no diet probs with Frankie at all.

Fidget has eaten PAH pellets, excel and Wagg and did best on Wagg. Excel did not sit right with her at all, she produced loads of ceacatrophs and her regular poos were very dark and smelt. PAH a similar problem but not as bad and on Wagg, up until recently, she has been doing very well.

I am at the bottom of my Wagg sack at the moment so would be a good time to change if there are any suggestions as to better pellets? Though i would like to keep frankie on Wagg. :)
 
Hi,

Have updated the link. They don't have a lot of carrot at all, only once a week maybe at the most. They have mainly spring greens, brocoli and herbs. I'm not sure if it is the pellets but a few people on the other thread suggested that it might be. They both have Wagg optimum. The only thing to have changed in their diet is that they eat less grass but much more hay (though i would have thought that would be a good thing). They used to be on grass 10 hours a day at my old house but now i am at home they can only go in the run for a couple of hours when the dogs are locked up as it is not safe at the moment but i am soon to be buying a half boarded aviary so that should be better :).

Anyway back to topic lol... so i am assuming it is the pellets that are doing it but i don't know. I really don't know much about why her inguinal glands are blocked either, The vet had no idea, and didn't even know that's what it was :?

ETA: They are in an 8x6ft shed when not in the run so not locked away in a hutch all that time - just to clarify :)

I put Wesley on half Wagg Optinum and Science a while back and I noticed excess poos which he has never had but Honey was fine on it. Perhaps change the pellets before cutting them out totally as you really have to make sure they get the right amount of vitamins and minerals in their veg and grass to keep them healthy.

Pellet suggestions would be either A & P, Bunny Basics Timothy, Science Selective or Science Selective Mature. Wesley is fine on Science Selective and Honey who has small spurs is on a mix of Bunny Basics Timothy and Science Selective Mature but only a very small amount.
 
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Would you recommend SS then? You can get small packets of SS like 350g can't you? I can then try her on that and see maybe?

How i will manage to feed them different pellets is a task i will have to consider :lol:
 
Would you recommend SS then? You can get small packets of SS like 350g can't you? I can then try her on that and see maybe?

How i will manage to feed them different pellets is a task i will have to consider :lol:


I'd gradually change them over to the same pellets but if you needed to feed different pellets I would hand feed the pellets as they shouldn't have very many anyway.
 
Yes, I would try hand feeding them - I used to always hand feed my bunnies their few SS pellets, until I found I had to cut pellets out altogether (GI stasis issues).
 
Oh yes SS are quite long aren't they? That's a good idea. I shall get some SS then and gradually change fidget over and see how she gets on :)

I would rather avoid making unnecessary changes to Frankie's diet which is why i would be feeding them different pellets but i could see how he gets on too :)
 
I feed all mine SS now and have not had a problem.If you pm your address i can send you some for them to try.
 
If you cut pellets completely you have to work really hard to make sure they get all the right vitamins and minerals through the veg you provide (like has already been said) and that can be a huge challenge (although I thik I have a link about it somewhere if you want it, feel free to PM me because its from another forum and not sure its ok to link).

I agree that switching pellets is the way to go at first. It might also be worth cutting down the pellet amount that you give because some buns can tolerate a larger amount than others.
 
Yes it's hard work but quite possible - we did it for mucky bum rescue buns and it worked amazingly it's certainly a viable option - it's just more expensive and takes a bit more time that's all but I personally don't believe rabbits need commercial pellets, that's just my opinion though. If you decide to go this route i'm happy for you to PM me and I can give you some pointers on how to go about it :D

Edited this to say - healthy adult rabbits that don't need them. Sick, disabled, young and elderly bunnies may of course need them :)
 
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