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Is it ok to cut out pellets altogether?

amyp

Young Bun
We live in Uganda and there's only one place that sells pellets; this is alfalfa and comes in 70kg bags only so it goes off before we can use them all for our two buns! Our rabbits eat lots of grass from the garden, have hay all the time and greens twice a day, plus the odd carrot etc. I give them pellets at night so they have something to keep them occupied while they're in their hutch. The other use for having pellets is for when we go away- it's easier than someone temporarily looking after them having to find extra odds and ends for them. But are pellets necessary with the other things in their diet?
 
With a good quality hay, grass and plenty of greens (if bun can tolerate them) then pellets are NOT at all necessary! :):wave:
Mine have not had them for years and do very well on a hay and veg diet.

The only time it is not suitable is if bun is unable/unwilling to eat hay/grass and can not maintain a healthy weight due to illness/elderly etc.
 
mine don't have pellets and do very well without. they love hay though, grass, dried herbs, and fresh herbs, anything natural really. :)
 
thanks... I thought as much.. the only real benefit I see is when we go away it is much simpler for the person looking after them to just give a bunch of greens and a dish of pellets a day rather than looking for the other bits and pieces we tend to give, also they won't be running round the garden getting a variety of stuff. We are going away in Feb for three weeks, haven't left them with anyone else that long before. Is it ok to just give pellets for a few weeks then return to usual diet?
 
thanks... I thought as much.. the only real benefit I see is when we go away it is much simpler for the person looking after them to just give a bunch of greens and a dish of pellets a day rather than looking for the other bits and pieces we tend to give, also they won't be running round the garden getting a variety of stuff. We are going away in Feb for three weeks, haven't left them with anyone else that long before. Is it ok to just give pellets for a few weeks then return to usual diet?

No i'm afraid not. Rabbits should have access to fresh hay in unlimited quantities all day every day it is absolutely essential in order to maintain gut motility and prevent bunny going into GI stasis which can be fatal, it is also essential to keep the teeth worn correctly, several weeks without hay would be absolutely disastrous. I wouldn't leave a bun a single day without a plentiful supply of hay, it should be 90% of their daily diet so to leave it out would be a critical mistake.
 
No they always have hay available anyway, I'm just talking about pellets and greens rather than any other veg?
 
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