Junior pellets

I've ordered some science selective for Izzy. As this new rabbit will be fairly young (10/12 weeks I think) I'm wondering what to feed him. Are junior pellets a good idea or not necessary? Any other foods that are better/worse for babies? Or can I just feed him what I feed Izzy? I give Izzy some profibre pellets mixed in with her usual pellets and she also has some woodlands herbal forage mixed in just to keep it interesting. She has a mixture of herbs and veg in the morning, does all of this sound ok for a baby rabbit?

Obviously unlimited hay too!

Any advice? I'm getting him on Monday now so I can pop out and get more suitable food over the weekend if that's better

What is he being fed on now?

Both my young bunnies from 11 weeks had selective junior and they did great on it. I know it's naughty but both my two are still on them although they are 2 years old.

I've never had a problem with it, and I know pellets are needed by young bunnies to help them develop. Me personally would have him on the junior till at least 6 months and see how he's going.. As to whether to change to what izzy is on, but see what others think. Good luck with the little one, bet your so excited!!

I had both mine from a young age and loved every minute, I'm not going to lie and can be interesting along the way but we have such close bonds with them!

Alicia said:

I've ordered some science selective for Izzy. As this new rabbit will be fairly young (10/12 weeks I think) I'm wondering what to feed him. Are junior pellets a good idea or not necessary? Any other foods that are better/worse for babies? Or can I just feed him what I feed Izzy? I give Izzy some profibre pellets mixed in with her usual pellets and she also has some woodlands herbal forage mixed in just to keep it interesting. She has a mixture of herbs and veg in the morning, does all of this sound ok for a baby rabbit?

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Not knowing anything about anything before we got him, Monty just had "normal" standard pellets from the start. Otherwise, just following the standard diet advice for rabbits - fresh veg, little bit of fruit. He didn't have herbs to start with because we didn't have access to any, but we're introducing him to herbs now. It often took a little while for him to trust that food was food, but once he'd tried something we were able to sort into like/don't like. Feeding him a normal diet doesn't seem to have done him any harm - although we possibly fed too much, given the rate at which he's shot up!

I would continue with his present food - whatever that is - for a couple of weeks before deciding to gradually change. If you suddenly change his diet from what he has been used to, you risk upsetting his gut.

Yes I won't do any sudden changes, I'm not sure what he's being fed on now but I'm going to find out before I get him so I can get some. I just wasn't sure whether junior pellets are a good thing or whether it's not necessary. Also how much of his food should I feed him?

I bought some science selective junior, and also some of the food he's fed now (Wagg) how much dry food should I be feeding him and how long should I wait to start changing him over?

The general rule is 25g per rabbit. I fed my two on the Science Selective Junior pellets up until recently and if I remember correctly, it's 25g per kg for this type of food? So if your rabbit weighed 1.5kg, that's 25g multiplied by 1.5, making 37.5g of pellets.

I would wait a few weeks until your rabbit has settled in, and then start introducing new pellets. Change it gradually, in very small amounts, over a period of at least 10 days, increasing the SSJ and decreasing the Wagg.

It's always best to keep a young animal on the diet it is used to for a week or two while it settles in, then gradually swap over. So you really need to find out from the current owner exactly which food (including fresh veg, pellets, grass, hay), how much and how often they are being fed. A new pet already has quite a lot of changes to cope with, without risking gut issues from changes in diet.

I found that our most recent bun didn't stay on junior pellets for long (maybe a couple of weeks) before he decided the regular adult ones were nicer, refused to eat any more despite them being offered, and he swapped over with no issues. I just made sure that he had access to more than the adults had as he was growing rapidly. I now have a big bag of junior pellets left - so my advice would be to just get a small bag and see how it goes.


Whatever he is fed, he should still have plenty of hay and more pellets than an adult. Watch his poos to see if the balance is right. If you see any uneaten caecals, reduce the pellets slightly. Introduce any new food types gradually. It is unusual (in my experience) to get a proper diet sheet with a new animal - so treat all veg as 'new' at first unless you are certain that he has had them before.