Best rabbit food?

Eyssa

I don't know if there's any use asking this, but what is the best commercial food out there for rabbits? All I can ever find at Walmart is crappy food with tons of treats... and corn (one time that was the only food we could get for our rabbits and I sat for about fifteen minutes picking the corn out of the food every night). I've been trying to feed my rabbits veggies (like carrots, brocolli, and celery mostly) and fruit (as treats... like blueberries, apples, raisins), as well as timothy hay and grass.

But I can't find any good commercial food anywhere. I may have to order online... but I'm just concerned about shipping costs.

(For reference, we have one Angora, one Lionhead, and six Angora/Lionhead mixes... just thought I'd through that in there in case there's a special food I can get for their breeds.)

Willowy

Honestly, I use the regular food from Wal-Mart. The kind in the green bag, just pellets, no corn or other junk ( http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ct_id=10323572 ). I've heard that timothy based foods are best for adult rabbits, but my picky beasts won't eat timothy based pellets. But, yeah, the foods with weird things added are the absolute worst for rabbits. Whole corn can kill them. I can't believe they're allowed to put that in rabbit food. The Wal-Mart alfalfa based food was the best I could find (highest fiber, lowest protein). OK, there was a brand at the feed store made "for show rabbits", and the fiber/protein levels were excellent. But, again, picky beasts wouldn't eat it. So the Small World brand is second best, I guess.

Of course, timothy hay should always be available. I also feed lots of greens. I can get a pound of mixed salad greens at Sam's Club for under $3.00. So they get a lot of that, and so do the tortoises. Here's a good link: http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html . The only fruit I've given my girls is apple. Here's the fruit list: http://www.rabbit.org/care/fruits.html

momto7dogs

I got my rabbits off the walmark gunk when i found out how bad it was for them. I switched mine over to this I get it at tractor supply and boy what a difference in my bunnies! If you have a tractor supply near you this is the food you want to try. It has no corn, and has high fiber.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/...http:ClickInfo

Eyssa

Occasionally our Walmart will have Small World rabbit food, but usually it's just the junk with all the questionable treats in it. We usually get our rabbit food from the local grocery store.

The closest Tractor Supply is unfortunately about an hour away, and then we may as well go to Petco and get some food there. We ran into the same problem with our dogs and cats, and now we have to give the dogs Purina ONE and the cats Maxximum... both from Walmart. :-/ We do have a feed mill half an hour away, but I've only ever been there once. I'll have to check it out... maybe they have the Select Series Pro formula.

I'm just sort of frustrated at the moment because timothy hay is hard to find, and sometimes my rabbits will have to go without it. And trying to find *cheap* rabbit food for all EIGHT of our babies is very difficult. They go through food like it's out of style.

I also found this site whilst browsing across the web: http://www.mountainnaturehay.com/pro...ventional.html
Is it reliable? Or should we stick to the store-bought stuff?

ioreks_mom

i don't have a rabbit and honestly don't know anything about rabbit nutrition, but i do know that my friend feeds this food martin's little friends rabbit food to her bunnies and she said she is having great results. she said it is around $16 CAD for a large bag and it lasts her 2 small bunnies for 2 months or so.

good luck finding something that works well for your bunny and you.

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Shaina

My coworker has two housebunnies that he and his wife adore. They are fed the equivalent of a Bunny Raw Diet, lol. Basically they have timothy hay available at all times, and once a day are fed a mix of fresh veggies and a rabbit supplement. They get bits of fruit or this dried yogurt stuff as a treat for training and the like (they know "crate", "off", "jump" and a few other things I can't remember). They are also litterbox trained so they get the run of a rabbit-proofed part of the house.

Sorry I don't know more about the specifics.

Willowy

Ordering hay online is fine, if you can't find it locally. Most sites are pretty reliable. I buy timothy hay at Wal-Mart, but sometimes they're out of it, so I always buy 5-6 bags if they do have it when I go, LOL. That's actually the cheapest price I can find. Petsmart has a BIG bag of timothy hay for about $14, and I'll buy that if Wal-Mart is out and I need some. And it's not too much more than what Wal-Mart charges. Petco's hay prices are not good, and they don't have any decent, inexpensive pellet foods .


Yeah, check with the feed mill. They might have the Purina rabbit chow, which I hear is decent. There's a meat rabbit formula and another one (show rabbit?)---try not to get the meat rabbit formula, because it's too rich for pet rabbits. But if that's all you can find, just feed less of it.

Also check with your local grocery store to ask if they'll let you have/buy for cheap the veggies that are going to be thrown away. I'm told lots of local kids who show 4-H rabbits do that.

I'm considering going pellet-less (raw for bunnies ), but it's hard to keep weight on Pansy. Maybe now that she's spayed she'll chunk up a bit.

Hallie

I definitely vote Oxbow!! It saved my little bunnies life! It's really rich and tasty (i haven't tried it) lol, it's just pellets. it's the only pellet-only food my girl will eat. It is a little pricey but if you can't find anything else it's well worth it!
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products

Sonn84

I feed Oxbow to my bunny. I get mine from drs foster and smith it isn't too expensive since I can't find anything but rabbit chow and small world here.

Eyssa

Bunny raw diet... I may just have to do that, and I'll check with my grocery store to see if they have any fruits or veggies they're throwing out. Eight bunnies is a hefty bunch to feed! My dad is getting irritated with me and tells me that I need to get rid of them, but after seeing my neighbor's rabbit I'd rather not send them out to a place that'll mistreat them.

Anyway, I honestly have never seen timothy hay in at Walmart. O.o They only have Small World Rabbit pellets and some extremely rich (crappy) snack-filled food, like I said before. Not good at all. The only other food there is a huge bag of guinea pig food, but I have no guinea pigs, lol. :P

I'll check out Oxbow, too. I may just have to buy online; I'm just worried about shipping prices.

Thanks for all of your input!

Willowy

Oh, I forgot. If you have a Target locally, they have pretty decent rabbit food and timothy hay. Animal Planet brand, I think.

BunnyMomma

I find it interesting momto7dogs that your link to the Tractor Supply website is for Manna Pro Rabbit Feed. Do you even know who makes the Small World Rabbit Feed that Wal-mart sells? Manna Pro does! Somehow I doubt you even read the label completely.
Two of the very best feeds on the market are regional feeds one is Bluebonnet Rabbit Booster 16 available in the south-central states http://bluebonnetfeeds.com/viewproduct.php?id=57 It is the best rabbit feed Tractor Supply sells. The other is Kings Cloverleaf Complete 16% available in California. http://www.king-brand.com/cat_prod_l...=&newproducts=
Most rabbit feeds are alfalfa based and will be called nutritionally complete and state no other feed is required. However for better gut motility feeding Timothy Hay 2-3 times a week is advisable. The best I have used is Oxbow.

Dog_Shrink

We feed Manna Pro to our show bunnies and suppliment with timothy hay from the feed mill. Other breeders recommend Purina and another that I can't recall. If you're feeding a lower quality rabbit pellet you can suppliment with calf manna.

BooLette

I second this. It's the best for them. If they aren't adults then mazuri is the best as it's alfalfa based, which is recommended for babies.

BunnyMomma

We have used Nutrena but without good results. We dealt with poor condition issues and they just didn't like it that well. Others will swear by it. Often the neutrena was dug out of the dishes and wasted. I drive a three hour round trip to get Bluebonnet for our show rabbits and it is worth it to me. Our rabbits are healthier and in better condition. They get Timothy Hay twice a week and only minimal supplement feeding as needed with a whole grain mix (no corn) we make up that also includes calf manna & show bloom.
The best way to determine the best feed is to study what goes into feed & why. Every major brand out there has good qualities to it. Personally a locked formula is best in my opinion. That's why I have used King's then Bluebonnet. We only changed from King's because we moved halfway across the country. Consider what you are feeding for (pet, breeding, show, meat) as different animals have different requirements. Personally I think even pet rabbits deserve the same quality feed as any show rabbit. Then also consider what they like. The best feed on the market is no good if the rabbit will not eat it.

Eris13021

i agree with the tractor supply food. My bunnies got nice and plump from eating it and they looked so healthy and happy.

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