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What's best for my rabbits?

Hi!
First time rabbit owner here!
I have got two beautiful mini lop brothers named Ben&Jerry.
As i write this post they are about 16 weeks and since they have been home (came home to us at 13 weeks) they have been on a diet of Nature's Touch from Pets at Home although its great and both rabbits have loved it, I wasn't too sure on the portion size i should be giving them of it?
Its also £6 for 1.4kg of the stuff..
So i been researching and found a lot use Burgass pellets so i went out an bought some an trying to introduce and even now as my 1.4kg has run out all my bunnies seem to want to eat is leafy greens and i find my pellets don't even get touched. I still find the same amount in the bowl first thing and last thing of the day and i don't know what to do.
Is it ok for my bunnies to be purely on greens, veg and hay?
Should i revert back to Nature's Touch? if so how much should i feel them if they weigh 0.8kg?
Or should i try another form of pellet?
 
Whilst it doesn't answer your question our two buns are 2+ years old and share 12g of Science Selective a day.
Our smaller rabbit weighs 2.1kg the other one weighs 2.6kg
I do wonder if you are overfeeding the pellets?

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Is it ok for my bunnies to be purely on greens, veg and hay?

Absolutly. Pellets are a convinient way to feed rabbits, and when commercial raising meat rabbits the most efficient option. They have some drawbacks though, like that you'll have to keep an eye on their teeth, and many brands are too rich (ok for 5lbs butcher weigth in 10-12 weeks, no worry about teeth there). But in my opinion nothing beats diverse forage and free ranging. I use pellets only as a treat to get them from the pasture back into the hutches.
There are brands of pellets that are actually made for pet rabbits (no, not that colourful stuff sold at pet shops), can't tell anything about those. But what I've seen at lokal pet shops being sold as rabbit food was mostly unhealthy rubbish.

I feed vegetables only in very small amounts, somewhat more in winter (beets, carrots, potatoes, apples), the rest of the diet is hay if fresh forage isn't available.

Here's a good read on that topic, the other stuff on this website is great info too.

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits

But anyway, there are lots of ways to feed rabbits, many of them not causing problems, it's not black or white. It's not that pellets are bad, or so, it's just a differnet way and just be aware of the drawbacks- other ways to feed have their drawbacks too.
 
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Hi!
First time rabbit owner here!
I have got two beautiful mini lop brothers named Ben&Jerry.
As i write this post they are about 16 weeks and since they have been home (came home to us at 13 weeks) they have been on a diet of Nature's Touch from Pets at Home although its great and both rabbits have loved it, I wasn't too sure on the portion size i should be giving them of it?
Its also £6 for 1.4kg of the stuff..
So i been researching and found a lot use Burgass pellets so i went out an bought some an trying to introduce and even now as my 1.4kg has run out all my bunnies seem to want to eat is leafy greens and i find my pellets don't even get touched. I still find the same amount in the bowl first thing and last thing of the day and i don't know what to do.
Is it ok for my bunnies to be purely on greens, veg and hay?
Should i revert back to Nature's Touch? if so how much should i feel them if they weigh 0.8kg?
Or should i try another form of pellet?
Sorry you've not had more responses.

So my rabbits are pellet free. However, this makes feeding difficult as you need to ensure a variety to cover all nutritional needs.

This means 3 or more different hay types, a variety of fresh forage and veg per day.

The easier option is pellets, veg and hay.

Hay is the main thing and should be making up 80% of their daily diet.
Veg should be 15%
Pellets are only 5%.

If they're not getting on with the Burgess I suggest trying Science Selective. My girls loved this when they were on it, but we had too many dental issues with one girl which is why we are now pellet free.

They only need an egg cup each a day, so about 15g. Is it possible you're providing too many pellets? They should finish their pellets in about 2 to 5 mins depending on how quickly they eat.

Sorry again you didn't get more answers earlier.

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I can't add too much more to DaphnePhoebe's brilliant and expert reply, but if it helps, my situation is very similar to the one she describes - pellets are only a top up, particularly in the winter months when forage is tougher for me to find.

At the moment, my two mini lops have continuous access to hay & water, plus grass when they are free-ranging, and then two feeds a day consisting of:
~ Forage (dandelion/thistle, borage, plum/apple leaves and branches, chick weed - whatever's in season!)
~ Veg (leafy greens, carrot tops, courgette trimmings, coriander leaves)
...and then a few small chunks of apple in the evening as a treat. Currently they are also going wild for the green leafy bits of sweetcorn plants and the husk around the cob!
Generally they will go for all of the leafy stuff well before they bother with the pellets (last resort for them if the human slave hasn't got home from work until late it seems!), the only thing I really have to be careful not to overdo with them, is the greens - mini lops are more prone to messy caecotrophs than other breeds for some reason, and so I have to keep a close eye, particularly on my girl bunny who loves kale.

Re: pellet brands, mine refuse Burgess, and will rather eat hay, so there's no point I learnt! -- I use a really generic hay and alfalfa one from Supreme (I think... must check, maybe it is Science Select also!). I have occasionally bought the Nature's Touch one that you mention, and they love it -- close examination of the ingredients of the pellet portion explains why - super sweet, yum yum!

I hope that helps to reassure - variety and moderation, and finding out what works best for your particular little furry bundles x
 
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