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Feeding muesli - what are your reasons?

Check all that apply. I feed muesli because...

  • I always have done, and I see no reason to change.

    Votes: 2 8.0%
  • I didn't realise there were negatives to feeding muesli.

    Votes: 3 12.0%
  • it looks more interesting/ yummier than pellets.

    Votes: 6 24.0%
  • I feed so little, it doesn't make a difference what I feed.

    Votes: 10 40.0%
  • muesli is cheaper than pellets.

    Votes: 3 12.0%
  • my rabbit arrived eating muesli and I've continued it.

    Votes: 2 8.0%
  • my rabbit refuses to be weaned off it/ only likes muesli.

    Votes: 2 8.0%
  • I feed one of the 14% fibre ones and feel this is high enough.

    Votes: 5 20.0%
  • I feed one of the brands lower than 14% fibre and feel this is enough fibre.

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • it is more natural.

    Votes: 3 12.0%
  • my rabbit does not selectively feed and I feel the muesli contains everything they need.

    Votes: 7 28.0%
  • my rabbit selectively feeds but I feel that they are get everything that they need anyway.

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • it is more readily available.

    Votes: 2 8.0%
  • I don't believe pellets are better nutritionally.

    Votes: 5 20.0%
  • Other (only if the above really don't apply)

    Votes: 8 32.0%

  • Total voters
    25

nessar

Warren Veteran
I know a fair few people on here feed muesli, and you must have reasons, so I'd like to know them :D Wait for the poll, it will be private so noone will see what you choose, but I'd be interested if you explained your reasons below along with which muesli you use. It is multiple choice so check all that apply.

This is sparked by the thread on the recent research into rabbits' diet.
 
I don't feed muesli, however I would have a serious think and chat with my vet if for some reason I could no longer feed Fibafirst. After having one choke and the way they go completely crazy at food time the idea of feeding pellets right now scares me.
 
After Parsley choked on a pellet we moved all the buns over onto Rabbit Royale.
The RR is a tiny part of the diet and the biggest part is obviously hay and herbs veg etc.

I was worried about moving them onto this as pellets seem to be the 'best' on offer.
But since I moved them onto RR I havn't seen any negative change in their output, their water consumption, or their dental health.
I did speak to my vet about it, she said as I feed so little to them and just allow them to have unlimited hay it is absolutely fine.
The fibre content is still quite high at 14% and all the buns eats every last bit so I'm happy to continue feeding them.

Feeding pellets after Parsley's choke would be a difficult thing to consider, If I could find a larger pellet I was happy with then I'd probably be giving them a small mix of both.
 
I am not a believer in one size fits all with any part of Rabbit husbandry. Whilst basic principles about diet are obviously appropriate, there are always going to be case specific issues regarding how optimum diet is achieved for the individual Rabbit. There is no point in doing what is meant to be 'right' if it is certainly not working for the individual Rabbit.

The Rabbits in my care now all do MUCH better on Rabbit Royale than any pelleted feed (Excel, Science Selective, A+P, Oxbow)

I have also had THREE episodes of near fatal chokes on a pelleted feed (Science Selective)

They all only have a small portion of RR, they all eat tons of hay and there is always a mountain of big healthy poo for me to clean up every day !!

I will continue to feed a small portion of RR to my Rabbits as they do very well on it. Those who had problems on a pelleted feed no longer have issues and I have never had a choking episode when feeding RR (so far- *touches wood*)
 
My rabbit, Biscuit, did very well for 10 years on Excel pellets. However in his later life he became very fussy with all sorts of foods. He wouldn't eat rabbit pellets or rabbit muesli. In desperation, I moved him onto Guinea pig muesli, that he seemed to like (albeit selectively). Not something I would recommend as a rule, but Biscuit went on to live another 3 years, to a ripe old age of 13!
 
It is a minority of my two's diet, they eat loads of hay, even still the muesli I use I think is a high-ish fibre one for muesli (RR), they get veg and herbs and the odd bit of fruit, so even if there was a lack of a certain vitamin/nutrient in their feed they are getting it from the rest of their diet. But RR is good quality and has a variety of natural and healthy ingredients so should contain everything they need. As long as I feed them not too much they don't selectively feed. If I gave them way too much I reckon they would, and they would probably not eat as much hay either, but the I think this is the same for pellets, if you give too much they would go off their hay, they just wouldn't selectively feed. I think if you feed the correct amount of food it shouldn't matter so much what it is (as long as it doesn't have something that could actually harm them like too much calcium).

Also, my two are healthy, happy, the correct weight, have shiny coats and have never had gut problems (ok well Harvey had two bouts of stasis last year, but one was after he fell down his ramp and hurt himself and the other was after I have him too much of a new vegetable, so not muesli related!) so why would I risk changing to a different feed which may (however unlikely) cause them to lose weight, gain weight, get gut problems or choke when I know the feed I have works for them? It seems like a strange thing to do to change their food when they are healthy on one! We all know it can upset some bunnies tummies to be on new food however gradual the introduction of it is!
 
Sorry lost the plot now,:oops: I thought I was doing right by moving them onto SS pellets (admit stll give a sprinkle of meusli which came with Lilly and Mimi)
I thought that meusli was not recomended due to selective feeding so now it appears there is a top notch version!
Never heard of RR, just googled it and it looks yummy! :lol: Might go a try it myself.

Seriously, I want best for my buns so would like to know more! They all eat loads of hay.:thumb:

ETA just read funny bunys post.
So good quality food like SS or RR is ok, they do go a bit mad for the pellets, so I suppose they have to slow down for the meusli.
 
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Jane - the choking incidents - was that down to pellet size? Cos I always think SS is a bit big :?

I feel excel - very tiny amounts for all bar 2 as one was losing weight when the temperature dropped.

Sometimes I've had museli come in with fosters or something - I start changeover straight away, but my other buns will often get a handful - more as a treat really.

Rabbits are individuals - I don't think you can say "all buns are better on....". I'm not really up on the ins & outs of the different foods available. I feed it until it doesn't work:oops::lol:
 
Harley came to us eating Muesli - her breeder made up her own mix and was very firm in telling us how much we should feed her (eggcup a day) and had no selective feeding nonsense or anything but we changed her over to SS.

Harley and Bobo now get Muesli as their evening treat - but so little it doesn't really count but they love it. Sort of like us having a custard cream bikkie as a treat. As long as they eat loads of hay - am fine about a slightly naughty treat and as they don't like vegies it's what they get for a bit of a variety to their normal diet.

We have never given Holly or Sheldon muesli - they get a mix of SS and Excel pellets - just to give them some variety too.
 
I feed my buns RR, and will continue to do so.

I was using it because my oldest bun was on it when I got him but swapped them over to pellets earlier in the year, thinking they were better for them. I had one develop tummy problems with excess gas every 2 weeks on Excel, and one almost choked to death on SS pellets.

They get fed a tiny amount of RR and get unlimited good quality hay, herbs/veggies, and wild foods.

I want to continue to have the choice to feed them on RR, and not to have it dictated to me that pellets are the best for my buns.
 
I have used Muesli for 15 years as I am not sure if there was such a thing as pellets then. Some Muesli is not very good, full of green peas and locust beans although I know of a rabbit who lived until he was 13 on green pea muesli! All my rabbits stay very healthy on Muesli and with 80 rabbits how much more would it cost to go over to pellets? I think I will be sticking to the Muesli.
 
I feed mine pellets in the morning and muesli in the afternoon or as a treat if I've fed dried herbs/flowers in the afternoon.
I don't believe it's doing them harm as it's such a small part of their diet and it's made up largely of flowers, grasses, etc (RR).
They really enjoy it, probably because it gives them a bit more variety than just pellets and hay.
All three are in good condition and good health on their current diet. In fact, the few issues I've had with lola's gut occurred when we weren't feeding RR.

I see no reason to eliminate it from their diet, particularly when they enjoy it so much and it's such an easy and low cost way to give them a bit of variety.
 
Jane - the choking incidents - was that down to pellet size? Cos I always think SS is a bit big

I am not sure really, I would have thought that the much smaller pellets such as A+P would be more likely to cause chokes. Does anyone remember all the issues with those Carrot Treat pellets ? They were about the same size as A+P an apparently several Rabbits choked on them, some fatalities occurred. AFAIK the Carrot Treat Pellets were withdrawn from the market.

Having had to deal with a choking Rabbit first hand I am not prepared to take the risk again by feeding Science Selective pellets. Excel pellets have caused some of my Rexes gut problems and a few of my other Rabbits wont touch it at all.

Many of my Rabbits are elderly or health compromised and they ALL lose condition on A+P Pellets

As I said in my previous post, feeding Rabbit Royale is what works best for my Rabbits. If it aint broke why try to fix it ?

I fully understand that in general advising the feeding of Pellets as opposed to a Muesli is appropriate. Especially as so many people will continue to overfeed a concentrate. A huge bowl filled to the brim twice a day in many cases. But to try to enforce a Pellet diet as the only option for Pet Rabbits by withdrawing all alternatives is ridiculous and could cause huge problems in the long term.

Finally, I am no statistician, but the trial does seem to be more than a little flawed on many levels. So I am not going to rush into making drastic changes to my Rabbit's diet on the basis of that.
 
I'm another who fed Rabbit Royale. Noisette came to me at two years old eating it. She was a rabbit who had never eaten hay before. She had molar spurs and I tried weaning her off but caused three bouts of statis... and then came an abscess on her hind leg with caused statis again!!!! She was down to 4kgs from 8kgs when she first came to me. I wasn't going to risk it at all and decided RR is the only option for her. She fed very very well on it. I personally think RR is very good quality.

Nearly 5 years on her molar spurs have disappeared all thanks to grass eating :shock: (couldn't operate at the time due to statis) Abscess all gone too. Her diet has changed since then... she doesn't actually get any pellet or mix. She eats plenty of grass and hay, plus a huge bowl of veggies and herbs too. I must be doing something right as she's a healthy weight of 6kgs and as a giant bunny she's coming up to her 7th birthday too and showing no signs of slowing down. She's just as bouncy as she was when she was 2!
 
I don't feed museli, but then I rarely feed pellets either. My guys have Oxbow Bunny Basics Timothy pellets (better for teethies) as the odd treat.
 
I have never fed muesli, a good friend who had rabbits before I had my first ones recommended pellets because of the selective feeding issue. I have varied between SS until the choking issues which quite frankly scared me a lot. Especially when I observed my buns just gulping them down. I think they were far too big so they are on excel now and so far so good. They only get an eggcup between 2 each day. The rest of their diet is made up of hay, grass and herbs fresh or dry. Oh and I suppose apple and willow sticks might count too. I think the people who feed muesli fall into two camps; those who give it because their rabbits do need it and benefit from it whether it is age or health related. The other camp being those who need or want to do things on the cheap such as a rescue I know of and some breeders.

All I can say is each to their own, those who do it on here know their bunnies best and are clearly educated enough to know not to over do it, same for pellets tbh. Some people (not on here that I know of) sadly do over fill the bowl and leave it full all day long and do not offer hay at all and I think that is where the negative connotations come to be associated with muesli.
 
I feed Smokey a tiny amout of Russel Rabbit and about 4 Excel Mature pellets twice a day. She also has hedgerow herbs and adlib fibre pellets from Protexin.

Smokey has suffered with digestive problems throughout her life and any attempts to give her only pellets has resulted in digestive problems, despite trying long periods of transition. She doesn't selectively feed, so I don't worry about that. Smokey eats lots of hay, is very active and seems happy judging by her binkies (particularly for 9 and a half year old who lost her partner 6 months ago).

I was quite upset by the research the RWAF have put out that suggests that feeding muesli is always the wrong thing to do.
 
Doughnut still has 5g of SS pellets and 5g of vetcare ones which she is unlikely to choke on. I always break the SS pellets up into small pieces for fear of choking since she's a greedy bun. The Excel gave her a poopy bum and I wanted her on high fibre due to gut problems. The pieces I break them into are the size of Excel anyway so don't see the point in changing.
 
My lot are all fed on rabbit royale, they are not selective eaters and the main part if their diet is obviously hay and veggies. Mine are all doing fine on it so I see no need to change. It also smells delicious :lol::love:
 
I think the issue with pellets and choking is because they are so hard. Have you ever tried to crumble a pellet?! Which is why so far I like the Fibafirst (even if they do leave crumbs all over my bed!!). The only thing I've found with FF is working out how much to give, I think initially I wasn't giving enough and they lost a little bit of weight 0.1-0.2kg but their poos are fantastic. Nutmeg just did some on my bed to prove it :lol:
 
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