Pet Habitat South Africa

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29 Mar 2015

Choosing A Pellet Food

Posted By : Guest

Pellets are a smaller but important part of your guinea pig, chinchilla or rabbit's diet. They are designed to be concentrated sources of fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals to help ensure that your pet is getting all the nutrients he or she needs.

When feeding pellets, it is important to remember that a rabbit, guinea pig or chinchilla's natural diet contains a high volume of low nutrient food. They are grazers by nature and in the wild they spend much of their days munching on grass and grazing for food.

While pellets enable owners to protect their pet's health and give them the range of nutrients they need, they are ultimately a low volume of high nutrient food that runs contrary to the diet in the wild. Therefore, it is important to follow feeding guidelines closely to make sure that they receive as balanced a diet as possible.

Mixes vs Pellets

Mixes, also known as "muesli," are dry food mixes that are primarily cereal-based. They contain brightly colored processed pieces and a variety of whole ingredients including oats, corn, beans, dried fruits and nuts- all of which are unnecessary and, in some cases, very unhealthy for rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas. They are made with colours and textures that are designed to be appealing to humans, not with your pet's nutrition in mind. They tend to be lower in fibre and higher in protein than their pellet counterparts, which is the opposite of what a guinea pig, rabbit or chinchilla needs.

Also, feeding a mix allows your rabbit, chinchilla and guinea pig to pick and choose what they like to eat. If they do not eat all the parts of the food, then they are not receiving a balanced diet full of all the nutrients they need to stay healthy. For these reasons, these mixes are NOT AT ALL recommended for your pets.

Pellet foods are usually grass-based using such hays as timothy or alfalfa. The hays and ingredients are processed into uniform 'pellets' for your pet to eat. These foods tend to be higher in fibre and lower in protein than muesli-style mixes and complement your pet's nutritional needs much more closely. While they may look more 'boring' compared to bright-coloured and multi-textured mixes, they most closely resemble what your rabbit, chinchilla or guinea pig needs and most find them perfectly tasty. These pellet foods are recommended for you to feed to your rabbit, guinea pig and chinchilla.

Choosing a Pellet Food

Pet stores have shelves packed with all types of rabbit, guinea pig and chinchilla food, each claiming to be better than the next. There is “gourmet” and “premium,” there are foods saying they are “fortified with vitamins” or that contain “all natural ingredients.” But which do we trust? With so much of their nutrition riding on this choice, it is important that we find a pellet that has a healthy blend of grass base, fibre and vitamins. Don’t be tempted by the advertising. Instead, take a close look at the ingredient list and nutritional analysis on the back of the bag to get a more accurate idea of the health of a particular food. Here is what to look for:

Fibre
The fibre content is the most important part of a food's nutritional content, which is why rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas are now classified as Fibrevores. This is to highlight the enormous importante of fibre in the diet, and not just any kind of fibre. The food needs to contain high quality beneficial fibre (mixture of both digestible and indigestible Fibre) and note this is not the same thing as Crude Fibre. Fibre is essential for healthy digestion. As our rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas tend to not move around as much, they need fibre to help keep their system moving to move things through their gut and prevent gastrointestinal problems such as blockage. So, the higher the fibre content, the better. Look for at least 20%, but the ideal would be 25% and up.

Protein
Rabbit's generally need a low to mid-range protein content in their pellets. Look for around 12-14%. The exception is if you have a very young rabbit (under 5 months) or an angora breed rabbit. Younger rabbits need a higher protein level (around 16%) to support their rabbit growth. Angoras need a higher protein level (around 16%) to support their long fur.

Fat
Rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas should have very little fat in their diet. Look for around 3.5% to 4.5%.

Calcium
Rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas need very little calcium content in their diets. Look for around 0.5% to 0.9%. However, if your rabbit has or has a history of having bladder, sludge or kidney problems, try to find the lowest calcium content you can, ideally as low as 0.5%.

Quality of Hay Used to Make Pellet

In general, timothy hay-based pellets are better for adult rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas. They contain more fibre and less calcium and protein, and is appropriate for a balanced adult diet for your fibrevore. Alfalfa/lucerne-based pellets tend to contain more protein and calcium and less fibre. This is appropriate for younger guinea pigs, rabbits and chinchillas, but can also be appropriate for disabled pets that have a reduced appetite and that may be struggling to keep on weight.

In South Africa, in particular, there are many locally made pellets made from poor quality lucerne and is found in majority of pet stores and supermarkets. These cheaply made rabbit pellets are extremely low in fibre, do not contain any additional vitamins or minerals and should not be fed to rabbits, guinea pigs or chinchillas. Many of the so-called guinea pig and chinchilla food mixes found in South African pet stores are made up of these poor quality rabbit pellets. It is time pet owners begin to learn how to read the information on nutritional labels very carefully. There are even cases where the nutritional information on local food labels are fraudulent, where the protein, fat and fibre content were made up without being sent to a laboratory for testing.

Think about your pet's particular condition when choosing between a timothy hay-based and an alfalfa/lucerne-based pellet and consult your veterinarian.

The Foods We Recommend

Please find below a simple guideline to help pet owners understand the high levels of beneficial fibre required by guinea pigs.

1. High Quality Feeding Hay

High-quality, feeding hay should make up 85-90% of your guinea pig's diet. You should make sure it is freely available and replaced with fresh hay every day. Bunny Nature timothy and meadow hay from Germany provides the highest quality by offering a wide variety of plants such as timothy grass, meadow fescue, meadow foxtail, ryegrass, red fescue, bluegrass, bentgrass, cocksfoot, creeping red fescue, german ryegrass, dandelion, silverweed, chickweed, yarrow, ribwort, white clover, red clover, birdsfood trefoil. This hay provides maximum taste and nutrients to rabbits through its diversity of plants. It is rich in fibres, crunchy & dust-free.

2. Bunny Nature Trimellos®

The patented Trimello® shaped pellets from Bunny Nature should be fed as a supplement to feeding hay or grass to ensure your guinea pigs get all the vitamins (includes 600mg of Vitamin C) and minerals they need. These Trimellos® are made with 42 different plants from natural meadows, just as nature intended. This food does not contain any added preservatives, flavour enhancers, added sugar, colouring or flavouring.

3. Bunny Nature Botanicals, Enjoy Nature Snacks & Crunchy Crackers

These delicious, natural and healthy snacks can be fed in small amounts either by hand to help bonding, left in housing to keep your guinea pigs occupied or sprinkled through feeding hay to encourage foraging.

4. Fresh Leafy Greens

Guuinea Pigs can be fed fresh leafy greens everyday as a treat to add variety and provide additional nutrition such as fresh grass (not lawn clippings), dandelion leaves, plantain, herb robert, rose bush leaves, nasturtium, wild geranium, strawberry and raspberry leaves, hazel tree leaves & branches, willow tree leaves & branches, apple tree leaves & branches, Hawthorn, brambles, goosegrass, blackthorn, nettle (dried), cauliflower leaves, celery leaves, green pepper, kale, mint, romaine lettuce (not iceberg lettuce), spring greens.

The following should be fed only occassionally in small amounts: Apple (pipless), banana, savoy cabbage, turnip, carrot tops, swede, spinach, parsley, basil, dill, oregano, coriander.

5. Fresh Lukewarm Water

A plentiful supply of fresh lukewarm water should be supplied daily. Change it daily in warm weather and ensure it hasn't frozen over during winter months.