Junior and Adult pellets?

[Abbie Lauren]

Hi everyone, I need some help with rabbit pellets. I am planning to feed my rabbit Burgess Excel nuggets, but what age should I start feeding pellets, hay and veggies? The one I'm hoping to adopt is 7 months old. Also, do I feed Junior nuggets? And what age will I have to swap with Adult nuggets? Thankyou for any answers x

 

[fruitandnutcake]

It would be best to check with the rescue to find out what dry food, veg & hay the bun has been on. The packaging for excel adult pellets, says from 16 weeks, i.e. 4 months of age. When you get your bun, the rescue should either give you some of the food he is on, or let you know which type so you can buy a small packet of it, and slowly change over to excel adult pellets ( I usually change over by reducing old food and adding new food at a rate of 10% a day, but some buns with sensitive tums may need a more gradual change).

edited to say that at 7 months, he should already have unlimited hay...some buns can be fussy with hay! Again ask the rescue which hay he prefers and see if you can get the same hay before trying new types.

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

Hay needs to be unlimited and 90%+ of their diet. Hay for pets sell timothy and rye hay which always goes down well with mine, also baled hay. Veg, stick to green stuff, things like carrots and banana are full of sugar so should be fed as treats. I avoid them completely tbh. I also avoid veg though, mine get herbs. Pellets - rabbits don't need feeding constantly, depending on the amount the rabbit is eating you should gradually take pellets away until you get to maybe an egg cup worth of pellets.

Depending on what pellets they are on it should be changed gradually if you need to. (if they are on muesli type food for example) I recommend science selective pellets as you can buy it in big bags and it lasts ages, nearly a month on and I still have neary a full bag. I've read on here excel can sometimes make buns poos a bit horrible as I was thinking about changing mine over but went against it. They could be fine though. All of mine are on science selective, one is on mature but that's because she needs her food soaking and she can't eat the longer pellets.

Over about 2 weeks I changed mine onto SS 'adult' when they were 6/7 months.

 

[Abbie Lauren]

Thank you everyone So when I get my bunny I will slowly introduce Burgess, but if it did cause any problems I'm going to try Science Selective like you suggested @Aly&Poppy<3
Also, is their any favourite veggies with rabbits? I've heard romaine lettuce is a big hit

 

[Amethyst]

Also, is their any favourite veggies with rabbits? I've heard romaine lettuce is a big hit

I find every rabbit is different. The best thing is to gradually introduce new veggies to their diet if you're not sure whether they've had that particular one before. For example, I just rescued my bunny last Sunday, and I knew she'd had chard, carrot tops, endive, dark leaf and romaine before, but I didn't know whether she'd had kale. So I gave her a bowl full of chard, carrot tops, endive, dark leaf and romaine, and added a piece of kale about 1" square to see whether she liked it and whether it agreed with her. She yummed up the kale, and 24 hours later there were no problems digestion-wise, so now I know that a) it agrees with her and b) she loves it! Through the same process I've also discovered she doesn't like bell pepper.

AMETHYST

 

[Abbie Lauren]

Thankyou for your ideas! But now one more final question! :lol:
I've been researching about when bunnies are able to have veggies, pellets and hay at which age and I'm getting confused. The bunnies I'm getting are actually going to be 2 months old, I don't know why I put 7 And I was wondering, what age can they start being fed pellets, hay and veggies? I have researched but all the answers are different... So I wanted to check here with the experts Thankyou again!

 

[Abbie Lauren]

Anyone know? I just want to make sure about how old they need to be to start eating solids x

 

[elmoandfern]

i was told to wait til my buns were 6 months before introducing veg, but that was probably over cautious!

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

Hay - unlimited, all the time. It should be 90% of their diet.

Pellets - younger rabbits can have more pellets, I fed my rabbits (when they were that age) a large handful and split it into 2 feeds. One in the morning and one in the evening. Now they are older and bonded they have a very small handful between them.

Veg - I wouldn't feed veg until they are older, in young rabbits its much more important to fill them with hay and fibre rather than worry about feeding them veg. They don't *need* veg, when they are about 5 months old I think that's when you can start introducing veg slowly. Green things are better:wave: Ice bug lettuce is a no no.