The Rabbit House» rabbit-products Archives – The Rabbit House

Rabbit Food – Don’t Believe the Marketing

Tamsin — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 05:17:31 +0000

Grass - The most natural food a rabbit can eat!

I’m just in the process of updating an old article I wrote that includes a list of rabbits foods that offer at least 18% fibre, and around 12-14% protein – the ideal combination for rabbit nutrition. It’s great to see how much the range of high fibre pelleted rabbit foods has increased in the last few years. There are even customised options available now for young and senior rabbits with nutrition tailored to their needs. A few of the leading manufacturers like Burgess, Supreme and Oxbow are also making a big deal of promoting the importance of fibre and hay in a rabbit’s diet.

That’s a really great step forward for rabbit health and welfare, however, there are still a lot of food manufacturers that aren’t so good. These are often the foods that come in lovely bright packaging and promise to be be “gourmet”, “premium”, “fortified with vitamins”, or contain “all natural ingredients”, but read the small print on the back and they have ridiculously low fibre levels or they are full of biscuits and half dead looking chopped up bits of hay (yes technically it’s fibre but no self respecting rabbit would actually eat it). I wonder how many owners fall for the marketing without realising the consequences that these foods can have on their rabbits health.

Take ‘Betty Miller Complete Food for Rabbits‘ as an example, which claims to be “as close to natural feeding as you can get”. Sounds like a great promise until you realise it’s only 15% fibre and Betty Millers years of “observing rabbits in the wild” have lead her to the belief that wild rabbits eat “grasses, cereals vegetables and bark”. Now hold on a minute, cereals, vegetables? That sounds more like reading Peter Rabbit than observing real wild rabbits. A rabbit’s natural diet is grass, grass, ‘weeds’ (dandelion, plantain, clover etc.) and grass. I can’t honestly say I’ve ever seen a wild rabbit tucking into peas, carrots, whole grain flour or soya. Whilst these ingredients aren’t anything like “natural” they aren’t particularly unusual things to find in rabbit food. The reason why I’ve used this food as an example is because rather than just neglecting to mention the importance of also feeding hay, their literature actively advises not feeding grass or hay alongside their dry food:

“The majority of manufactured rabbit food is complementary which means you must add hay or grass to make it complete. Betty Miller’s Complete Food means you do not need to add anything. The food is all your rabbit needs to keep it in tip top condition.”

The problem with dry food is that it is a very concentrated form of nutrition (it packs a lot of nutrients into a small volume of food), the exact opposite of a rabbit’s natural diet (a high volume of low nutrient food) i.e. grass. Which is why the majority of manufactured rabbit food is complementary (not complete) and manufacturers recommend it should be fed along side grass and hay. It’s not a fault in the food design, it’s a sign that manufacturers recognise that grass and hay are the most natural foods for a rabbit to eat not carrots and peas. Dry food should be feed as a compliment to hay/grass not a substitute. A balanced rabbit diet should look something like this (note the teeny portion of dry food):

On the left a wild rabbit’s diet: a large amount of grass plus a range of other plants. On the right a pet rabbits: a large amount of hay or grass, a moderate amount of other fresh plants or veg and only a small amount of commercial dry food.

I expect as most people read this their bunnies are tucking into giant piles of hay, but there are lots of new and less experienced owners that will believe the marketing of pet food manufacturers and not realise the serious consequences that it can have to their rabbits teeth, digestion and behaviour.

So please, don’t listen to the marketing of companies like this. Check the nutritional analysis, get advice from people not trying to sell you their product and above all feed your rabbit lots of hay or grass (or both)!

Rabbit Boxes

Tamsin — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 03:11:40 +0000

Boxes make brilliant rabbit toys, Scamp always has a cardboard box or two or three but they aren’t so good for outside as they tend to melt when it rains. So, Gypsy has a wooden box, the sort you get veggies in (another freebie from a farm shop). It was looking a bit grotty though…

Then I remembered there was a spare rabbit box sitting around with no rabbit in it! I brought it originally for when Scamp was exercising on the balcony. Unfortunately we had to stop that (short version of the story – 4′ barrier… ladder to remove rabbit from roof… 5′ barrier… ladder to remove rabbit from roof… 6′ barrier… ladder to remove rabbit from roof… 7′ barrier… rabbit from roof & banned from balcony). The cat that adopted it for awhile but it has been unused for months now after she passed away. Despite being outside for a couple of years it’s in great condition, the little legs and felted roof meant the blanket inside was totally dry. So after a clean out I moved it to Gypsy’s run.

She was totally unimpressed in the way of a rabbit woken from a mid-morning nap for a reason that did not involve food i.e, she took one look and went back to bed. I’m sure she’ll get more excited later.

The great thing about boxes is they are multi-purpose, not only is it an extra snug hideaway but that top is just right for sitting on and fits next to her shelf perfectly.

Ps. Tune in Monday for some rabbit welfare news from the RSPCA.

Pps. That reminds me, I’ve added email/rss subscribe links to the left there. I’m not sure what the most popular methods are for keeping track of blogs so if you have any other suggestions for widgety things can you let me know.

Rabbit Carriers

Tamsin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:07:03 +0000

Awhile ago Scamp’s transport case had a little accident. By accident, I mean I underestimated Scamp’s chewing abilities, again. I left the carrier in the kitchen as he was enjoying popping in and out and sitting on top. In hindsight perhaps I should have considered his previous box redesigns but it is (was) a fairly sturdy carry case. As cases go I thought is was quite nice, Scamp thought there was something missing though. It only had one exit… you can probably see where this is going. Yes, Scamp’s secure rabbit transporter now has an emergency exit.

I should point out, at no point was Scamp shut in the carry case. He was not a poor trapped bunny that wanted to escape. Nope, he just felt that the large doorway a few inches from he tail was not the best route out and proceeded to make his own exit.

Need less to say, that means a new carrier. Whilst emergency exits are usually good for health and safety, they are no so good when trying to get a rabbit to the vet. I considered going for an all wire mesh one but I think they are too open for a rabbit to feel secure and the risk of him sticking a leg through the wire is too high. After a bit of browsing I decided on this carrier from Wilkos:

It has all the basics: solid sides for a feeling of security, wire door (no point in plastic ‘mesh’ with a rabbit), plenty of ventilation holes, and it splits into two so it takes up less room when not in use. All that for £14, which isn’t too bad if someone eats it again!

I’m trying to expand the advice for bunny owners on The Rabbit House, so you can read my tips on rabbit carrier selection here.

Rabbit Toys: Nut Knot Nibbler

Tamsin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:27:09 +0000

Super Pet claim the Nut Knot Nibbler is:

a great big ball of fun…Â Pets will nibble and gnaw this wooden chew toy to reach an all natural surprise inside – a real walnut! … a perfect chew toy for rabbits

I thought this was going to be a hit. It got quite a bit of initial interest and a few nibbles but it soon became another of those chew toys that get totally ignored. A walnut might be a great motivator for a pet rat but I’m not sure natural, walnut, and rabbit are really words that go together?

I think the problem with wooden chews is by the time the woods been dried, shaped, coloured blue, and wrapped in plastic it’s so far from an actual tree it’s lost all its tastiness. The bark also seems to be a rabbit’s favourite part and most toys don’t have any.

A nice fresh apple branch gets much more interest. This ones had all its bark stripped:

If you don’t have your own apple tree then ask around and see if you can find a friend/neighbour with one or ask on freeads/freecycle. Just make sure they don’t spray with pesticides.

Rabbit Toys: Food Ball

Tamsin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:36:52 +0000

Scamp takes a lot of entertaining and a rabbit food ball (sold by Rosewood Pets and various other companies) is one of his top toys. Unlike some other rabbit toys that get played with a bit and then ignored this has kept his attention. Though, that may have something to do with the food I keep filling it with.

It’s a very simple toy; a wire ball with a chain to hang it up and a bell on the bottom. One side has a section of wire missing so it’s easy to fill with goodies. It’s too small to hold enough hay to be useful, but it is perfect for stuffing with veggies.

The wire restricts access so that food has to be nibbled as the ball swings and you can adjust the height to make the activity more easy or difficult as required. If your rabbit is really clever, hang the ball up high so it’s only just in reach or only in reach when stood on a box.

Making rabbits work hard for food is great enrichment. It stops them getting bored and eating your wallpaper instead, and it also encourages them to be active, stretching and jumping to get what they want.

In this photo I’d wrapped Scamp’s veg up in paper before putting it in the food ball to make him work extra hard. As you can see, shredding the paper to get the treat is giving him a good work out.

Rabbit Toys: Treat Balls

Tamsin — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:00:44 +0000

Over the last few years the range of toys available for rabbits has grown enormously. Of all the products available, I think the absolute best is: the treat ball. A treat ball is a hollow ball you fill with dry food/treats that has a small hole. As the rabbit pushes the ball around the food gradually falls out the hole. What’s so amazing about this? Rabbit’s are grazing animals and would usually spend hours every day eating. The treat ball helps mimic this by stretching a bowl of food, that would usually be eaten in ten minutes, out in to an hour long activity. It’s great for getting your rabbit more active and preventing boredom, both of which will help your rabbits over all health. There are various treat balls available. The most basic (and smallest) are designed for cats and are about 2″ diametre. They split in two to fill/clean.

The other type of treat ball is sold in various sizes for rabbits, cats and dogs. They have an opening at the top which can often be adjusted to control the amount of food that falls out. If your rabbit is a chewer avoid brands with raised patterns around the ball that could be chewed off.

What to Put in Your Treat Ball

The name treat ball is a bit misleading. You should not fill your rabbits ball with extra treats, otherwise your rabbit may get fat! Instead put your rabbits normal dry food in to the ball. This should be a portion of its normal amount, not extra. Once your rabbit has the hang of it, you can put all your rabbits dry food in the ball – and throw out your food bowl.

Teaching Your Rabbit to Use It

Some rabbits are quicker at others to pick up how to get get the food out of a the ball. Start by placing the ball with the hole down and a few pieces of food next to it. As your rabbit tries to get the food the ball will move knocking more food out. You may have to help your rabbit a few times until they understand what they need to do. If the opening is adjustable start with it on the widest setting. Once your rabbit has the hang of it they’ll soon be chasing it around super-fast!