Opinions on Russel rabbit food? She won't eat anything else :(

[Cashew1992]

I was just wondering what people think of Russel Rabbit complete food?

I feed my youngest bunny Buster on Supreme science selective but my older bunny Jessica will not touch it at all she refused it to even try it we've tried mixed a small amount in her Russel rabbit but she leaves the SS in the bowl.?

I went to the vet about this and he just said RR is like feeding a child Sugar puffs :/ and said to give her a bowl of SS and leave it there till she ate it :/ after a week i couldn't bare it she was noticeably loosing weight so we took her in and they just said to feed her small amounts of her RR back and she ate straight away :/

i'm at my wits end with her I've tried 6 or 7 foods over 4 years and she will only eat the RR

She gets a good portion of veggies and plenty of Timothy hay everyday and munches that down happily

Is RR an ok food?

 

[yvette]

My Mrs Bun ate every scrap.
She loved the stuff..but I changed her over to SS.....for the sake of the other bunnies.

 

[Maizey]

Hi my buns are free range so get other goodness in their diet and the only dry food,even though ive tried to change over,they eat is Russel Rabbit.I know a lot of people on here dont agree with it but if its all your bunny will eat then stick to it,its done my bunnies no harm :wave:I would also add some forage foods to supplement her diet

 

[Stator]

Do you make sure she eats all of it? As long as you are feeding an appropriate amount and she eats lots of hay too I don't think it's a huge problem. The mix foods are balanced so if she is only picking out the bits she likes it won't be a balanced diet, make sure she eats all of it.

 

[Cashew1992]

She eats every last piece of it; i very rarely find loose food in the hutch when i clean it out

I'm feeling a little bit better about it now but it's very nice to hear peoples suggestions

 

[Mrs. Bunnykins]

That's good that she eats every last morsel of it.:thumb:

 

[susie bun]

If she's eating it all up and doing well on it I wouldn't worry. Other than Science Selective, what else have you tried her with?

 

[Cashew1992]

@susie bun, from what i can remember we've tried..

Pets at home nuggets (which we were told she was eating and she did for the first 3 weeks we had her then she went off it)

Burgess excel tasty nuggets (got kicked everywhere and never saw her eat them, a good 90%+ of it was left every day)

Oxbow adult essentials pellets (again she turned her nose up at it)

Chudleys Rabbit Royale Food (she picked the grassy bit out)

Mayfield Fruity Rabbit Food (not ideal i know but she only ate the flaked peas in this)

and a few local store mixes; both pellet and muesli's

 

[okikokikate]

My bun came on this from the rescue and leaves certain bits everytime. hoping to move her onto something else when she finishes this big bag

 

[susie bun]

@susie bun, from what i can remember we've tried..

Pets at home nuggets (which we were told she was eating and she did for the first 3 weeks we had her then she went off it)

Burgess excel tasty nuggets (got kicked everywhere and never saw her eat them, a good 90%+ of it was left every day)

Oxbow adult essentials pellets (again she turned her nose up at it)

Chudleys Rabbit Royale Food (she picked the grassy bit out)

Mayfield Fruity Rabbit Food (not ideal i know but she only ate the flaked peas in this)

and a few local store mixes; both pellet and muesli's

She's certainly had quite a selection. I would keep trying her with SS as you are buying it for your other bunny anyway. I'm quite shocked that your vet instructed you to change her right over as I've always read and heard that a gradual changeover suits the bunny digestive system best.

My Spenser was on Rabbit Royale when he came to me. It's generally considered the best of the mixes, but no good if the bunny is only eating bits. That's why I changed Spenser to pellets.

How old is Jessica?

 

[Cashew1992]

She's certainly had quite a selection. I would keep trying her with SS as you are buying it for your other bunny anyway. I'm quite shocked that your vet instructed you to change her right over as I've always read and heard that a gradual changeover suits the bunny digestive system best.

My Spenser was on Rabbit Royale when he came to me. It's generally considered the best of the mixes, but no good if the bunny is only eating bits. That's why I changed Spenser to pellets.

How old is Jessica?

Thanks i will keep trying her with it; i think i might stick to a half and half mix and then at least there's something for her to eat if she doesn't go for the SS but hopefully she will have a nibble and like it so i can reduce the RR in the mix

I know I wasn't overly impressed with this but as I'd said i tried mixing and increasing the amount gradually he said if may be best to to remove the one she was eating. This was when she had just turned 2 that we first tried SS, We've been desperate to find her something a bit better but i can't have my baby girl starve in protest about it!

Jess will be 4 years old in June

 

[martlou]

Just to echo what others have said I believe it's only a problem if your bunny is picking out the bits she likes. Seems that's not the case and as she's eating hay and no issues I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe you could just throw 2 or 3 SS pellets in the bowl (maybe snapped up into very small pieces) and see if she'll try it but I wouldn't stress about it whilst you've no other issues.

 

[nessar]

Have you tried her on the new SS? They have recently changed the recipe and it is now 23% fibre, but it tastes different too it seems, from peoples buns reactions to it.

Have you tried offering it like a treat and making a big fuss of it? As she is just refusing to eat it she probably doesnt even know if she likes it :roll::lol: silly buns!

You could also try the new supreme fibafirst sticks, they are different to usual pellets.

If you cant get her onto something else, the RR isnt the worst food she could be on and at least she is eating it all, although its not great. I would feed only a little of it if you can. As long as she is eating a lot of a good quality hay then that is the main thing.

edit: if you want to try more pellets, see The Hay Experts, they have loads of brands. https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Food.10/View+Foods+by+Animal.145/Rabbit+Food.146/ If you see one you want to try and ask on here, I'm sure someone who uses it will send you a handful if you pay postage. Supreme are also very good at sending out samples, so you might want to email them if you fancy trying some more of their pellets.