Binky's Diet

At the moment I'm a little worried about the food Binky wants to eat and the food he doesn't. The vegetables he likes are cabbage, carrots, sometimes Brussels Sprouts when they're folded out...but he isn't fond of anything else. I've tried and tried to make his diet better, my mother has purchased dfferent vegetables...spinach, broccali, etc but he just isn't interested. Other food he likes are certain pieces from his dried mix, apples, pears, other fruits...He'd eat a bit of bread as well but I'm still a little worried about whether his diet is okay or not. From what I've heard, pellets are an important food in a rabbit's life...but Binky doesn't seem to like them. Maybe it's just the certain pellets they are. They're mixed in with his dried mix and everyday, when I go to let him out of the hutch, all his dried mix is gone - except the pellets. Should I start getting pellets seperately? Or perhaps a whole different mix? And as for the vegetables, is there any certain one that most rabbits would really love...anything I could try? I was wondering what everybody else feeds their rabbits on a daily basis? :?

Help would be really appreciated.

Thanks. Jen and Binky.

Hiya It's probably worth you trying one of the 'proper' pelletted foods - I think these types of pellets are made a lot more palatable than the ones in mixes, they smell very fresh and herby and my bunnies always dive for them, very different to the type of pellets you find in a mix.

I don't know how easily available the pellets like Science Selective or Burgess Excel are in Ireland but I'd say they are definitely worth a try, it may take a week or so before they eat them but once they get the taste, they do genuinely seem to love it! Personally I've found that bunnies prefer Science selective over Excel, but I'm sure there are many others who have found the reverse :lol:

Both of my buns have liked excel and SS, in fact Kahlo almost sends me flying for them!

Mine eat science selective, timothy hay and meadow hay and they eat spring green type veg, broccoli, occasional carrot etc

food

mine are all eating supa exel, meadow and timothy hay, redigrass, and fresh veggies - in a week they will eat celery, broc, cabbage, corriander, parsley, spinach, carrots and tops and curly kale

before they were on supa exel, i used to feed them 'belvedere' rabbit mix, but they kept eating the ones they liked and leaving the bits they didnt like and i ended up wasting so much food. so i changed their diet to supa exel as its a pellet and its all the same so the bunnies cant pick and choose.

(apart from barbie and max as they are on a hay and grass diet)

Hi April - I'd suggest that you try Binky on a 'proper' pellet food as mentioned above - that, along with the veg you said and hay will be a really good diet for him.

My two have a mix of Science Selective http://www.russelrabbit.com/science_selective.php and Supa Rabbit pellets http://www.burgesssupafeeds.co.uk/Pages/excelrabbit.html (simply cos I started moving them from one to the other and never quite made it, so I buy both and give them a mix). You could contact the manufacturer for details of suppliers in Ireland.

Reports say that bunnies fed on pellets go to the vets less, and its better for their teeth. When I initially went from mix to pellets when the buns were very young, I gave them the pellets with a teaspoon of mix on top - they soon got the idea.

I don't know how much pellet food other people feed their buns but I use a third of a cup cooking measure, and they get one of those between them in the morning and one in the evening. It looks like hardly anything - especially beings as Lavender is a fairly large lop, but it encourages them to eat hay. Any more pellets than that and they get pooey bums (i.e. too much protein in their food).

Do you want me to send you some so you can see if Binky likes one or other of them? I could just put some in a jiffy bag, it won't cost much to send it to you and I don't mind paying the postage. PM me or get me on msn.

Personally I've found that bunnies prefer Science selective over Excel, but I'm sure there are many others who have found the reverse

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Like me! Though they seem to be finally getting the idea and getting just as excited about SS as they did Excel.

If you change to pellets, which is advisable, persistence is key! Mine looked at me like I was mad when I first gave them SS and used to pick out all the Excel bits and leave the rest. Now they go pretty much inane for both food about a month later!

I never had much problem but my rabbits are pigs, they love science selective and go mental wen they see me pick up the bag to give them their food - they also eat lots and lots of hay without too much encouragement

Well, I purchased some pellets and believe it or not, he still doesn't like them. :roll: I think he might have eaten one. :roll: Well, it might take some time for him to get to like them. Hopefully he will.
But the better thing is, I asked my mother to purchase some new vegetables, she came back with celery, and he LOVES it!

I think some rabbits are just fussy. Molly won't eat pellets and took some convincing to eat flake food. She eats plenty of hay (now that I've got proper meadow hay from a friend of mine and not the P@H stuff which she thought was less tasty than straw and wood shavings) and likes broccoli and brussels. She does not like carrots or parsnip.

Piper eats all of the above and then some. He also sometimes nibbles on my hands if they happen to smell of the veg I've just been feeding him. :lol: