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31 May 2022

What Are The Best Pellets To Feed Rabbits?

Posted By : Guest

Filed Under : Nutrition | Rabbits | Rabbit Food | Bunny Nature

Rabbit pellets are a complementary addition to your rabbits’ diet and can be a source of nutrition when fed correctly. Originally, pellets were developed as a cheap way to feed livestock and these earlier foods tended to be high in fat content and lacked the high quality nutrition needed to support long term health and wellbeing.

However, good-quality, high-fibre rabbit pellets are now more widely available. They often contain a base of grass with additional herbs and are supplemented with vitamins and minerals. Functional ingredients such as prebiotics may also be added to help support a healthy digestion.

Do Rabbits Need Pellets?

Given properly, and in the correct amounts, high-quality rabbit pellets offer a variety of vitamins and minerals that can support good health. They should be provided as part of a balanced diet. Rabbits need a high fibre diet made up of 85-90% high quality feeding hay or fresh grass, 10% rabbit safe fresh greens, 5% rabbit nuggets, or pellets, and the occasional healthy treat. Your rabbits should also have constant access to fresh, clean water.

Overfeeding rabbit pellets, or giving poor-quality pellets, can cause health issues such as obesity and digestive problems.

How Many Pellets Should You Feed Rabbits?

Rabbits should be fed around 85-90% good-quality feeding hay and about 5% pellets. By offering hay, some fresh leafy greens and pellets it will ensure your rabbits get enough beneficial fibre to promote good health as well as enjoy a variety of foods and textures which they would find in the wild through their foraging behaviour. It’s important to feed the correct amount of pellets for rabbits based on their type and weight. It’s also vital that rabbits have constant access to fresh drinking water.

What are Rabbit Pellets Made From?

The best rabbit pellets are made from grass and other beneficial ingredients, which are compressed so they can be easily included in your rabbits’ diet. Although they make up only a small portion of their feeding needs, they’re still an important factor. The vitamins and minerals included support healthy eyes, skin and coat and promote digestion when given as an addition to a balanced diet.

Including pellets also helps prevent selective feeding, where rabbits choose only the high-sugar parts of their feed. This is often seen in rabbits who are fed muesli and has been shown to increase the risk of a number of health problems.

There are two main types of rabbit pellets: cold-pressed and extruded. This relates to the way they’re manufactured.

Cold-Pressed vs Extruded – What Pellets are Best for Rabbits?

What are Cold-Pressed Pellets?
Cold-pressed rabbit pellets are made at low temperatures and with high pressure to formulate the ingredients together.

What Does Extruded Rabbit Feed Mean?
Extruded pellets are manufactured at higher temperatures, similar to the process of cooking, thus destroying anti-nutrients and increasing food safety. The cooking also increases the digestibility of the food which can help reduce the risk of digestive issues.

What Should I Look for in Rabbit Pellets?

The best rabbit pellets should consist of high-quality natural ingredients and contain no artificial colourings or preservatives. They should also:

Include grass as their main ingredient
Contain the correct balance of vitamins and minerals for your rabbits
Be high in beneficial fibre.

Some pellets also contain a prebiotic to support digestion and you should always ensure you choose the right pellets for your rabbits’ age: junior, adult or senior.

It’s important to remember that rabbit pellets are not a replacement for hay or fresh grass but are intended to be a complementary part of the diet.

Bunny Nature makes rabbit pellets with unique trimello shape and recipe that contains an even higher content of grass, plants and herbs (50-60%) that originate from your pet's natural habitat.

Bunny Nature Rabbit Pellets

Bunny Nature is a family owned business in Germany that is founded with love for animals. Their goal, which they continue to pursue to this day, is to produce optimal and healthy food for small animals, which is perfectly tailored to their original natural habitat and needs. This company works closely with leading veterinarians specialized in rodents and integrates scientific research into the production of rodent food and accessories. Bunny Nature was one of the first manufacturers to develop a low-sugar diet for small rodents, which minimizes the risk of diabetes.

The CEO of Bunny Nature says: "When developing and producing animal-friendly food, we always put the animals first. We look at where they come from, what they eat there, what their social behavior and eating behavior look like. It is not only important to provide that information and understand their nutritional needs, but it is also essential to apply this knowledge consistently when choosing the right food. That makes all the difference."

Bunny Nature Trimello shaped pellets offers the following benefits:

Biological diversity: contains 42 - 63 different plants from natural meadows
Balanced recipe for long healthy life: 75 important ingredients that are correctly dosed
3 fibre mix: 3 different fibre lengths for tooth abrasion and healthy intestinal flora
Optimal protein & energy content: perfect supply for entire body
Optimal crude fibre to starch ratio: protects against fattening
Organic, non-GMO ingredients

What Is So Special About Ingredients Of Bunny Nature Trimellos?

Most quality rabbit pellets contains only 10-15% timothy grass. Bunny Nature trimello-shaped pellets on the other hand contains 60% plants and herbs from natural meadows. This is a very impressive and unique ingredient list making Bunny Nature trimellos most likely the best formulated rabbit pellets in the industry today.

Bunny Nature trimellos contains between 42-63 different plants such as:

timothy, meadow fescue, red fescue, meadow foxtail, blue grass, cocksfoot, cow parsley, rough dandelion, meadow chickweed, common yarrow, lady's mantle, vernal grass, field clover, ribwort, meadow sage, meadow trefoil, tall fescue, meadow bellflower, caraway, meadow knapweed, common hornwort, bedstraw-meadow thistle, soft tristle, common dandelion, tussock grass, true meadowsweet, field hornwort, wood strawberry, bird's vetch, gemander speedwell, meadow pippweed, true bedstraw, downy meadow oats, common horsetail, field horsetail, white bedstraw, white cranesbill, fat meadow daisy, field widow's-flower, cuckoo's-flower pink, common loosestrife, field-speedwell, tall oat grass, meadow rye, medium plantain, greater meadow-knap, narrow-leaved vetch, forget-me-nots, meadow saxifrage, lesser burnet, creeping cinquefoil, cowslip, nodding campion, lesser meadow-grass, grass stitchwort, meadow goats-beard, stinging nettle, fragrant speedwell, red clover, bush vetch, geneva goutweed, goutweed, daisies, oat peel bran, sunflower seed extracted, linseed extracted, apple pomace, carrot pomace, wheat bran, rape seed extracted, fennel seeds 0.5%, papaya dried 0.25%, camomile blossoms 0.25%

What Other Foods Should Rabbits Avoid?

Contrary to popular belief, rabbits should never be fed a muesli-based diet. Research by the University of Edinburgh in 2013 revealed that muesli style diets can increase the risk of a number of health issues. This is because muesli style diets can encourage selective feeding, where rabbits will often reject the nutritious parts of the mix, which can result in:

Obesity
Dental issues
Digestive problems – the gut can stop working altogether in serious conditions
Uneaten sticky droppings, attracting flies that lay eggs and cause flesh-eating maggots.

There are lots of foods that are great for our rabbits. High quality feeding hay is easy to buy in store, or online. And you will be able to find high quality rabbit pellets too. While fresh greens only make up 10% of your rabbits’ diet, they are an important part. Greens provide rabbits with nutrients, as well as replicating foods they would forage for in the wild. Some healthy, rabbit safe greens options include savoy cabbage, dandelion, green beans, and cavolo nero. All easy to forage or to find in your local supermarket.

Unfortunately, there are some plants that are toxic for rabbits. These include:

Foxglove
Bluebell
Rhubarb Plants that grow from a bulb e.g. tulips and hyacinths
Hemlock
Garlic
Onions

If you believe your rabbits have eaten any of these listed above, speak to your vet.

What Rabbit Food do Vets Recommend?

The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund and the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) agree that the majority of your rabbits’ diet should be fresh feeding hay or grass (around 85%). 10% should be leafy greens and 5-10% of their diet should be made up of high-quality rabbit pellets. Fresh water should always be available.

Rabbits don’t need to be given any other types of food, other than the occasional grass or hay-based treats.

Let Bunny Nature help you look after your rabbits

Give your rabbits a healthy, balanced diet and incorporate Bunny Nature Trimellos to help them thrive. Ensuring you include a high-quality feeding hay – choose from our selection of Newhay and Bunny Nature Feeding Hay – a small amount of fresh, leafy greens, and some occasional tasty Bunny Nature rabbit treats.

Make sure fresh drinking water is always available and your rabbits will enjoy a nutritious diet that promotes good health and wellbeing.

Tags : What Are The Best Pellets To Feed Rabbits? Rabbit Food South Africa , Rabbit Pellets South Africa