# What brand of pellet do you feed your bun?



## briemommy (Dec 28, 2012)

I'm looking for alfalfa pellets (for now) AND timothy pellets (for later) .

We've started clicker training and I want to use pellets instead of tons of sweets. The banana chips work but the amount limits the training time.

I need brands that have LONG PIECES. The pellets I have now barely fit between my fingers with enough room for her to take it from me.

Recommendations, anyone?


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## whitelop (Dec 28, 2012)

I feed Sherwood Forest. http://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/sherwood-forest-natural-rabbit-food/
Its alfalfa AND timothy mixed together. It doesn't have all the sugar and other stuff they put into the other pellets. My bun is getting used to it, but so far so good. 

Plus, they have long pieces, not the little tiny pieces. (I know what you mean about nubs, you have to hold them between your fingernails!) 
What are you feeding her now?


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## JBun (Dec 28, 2012)

I've fed small world alfalfa pellets to my rabbits in the past, and it's pretty good for a low cost pellet. It also doesn't have corn as an additive. I just got mine at walmart, and I never had a problem with fines and the pieces are a decent size. If you do switch foods, do you know about transitioning to new foods?
If your rabbit likes carrots they are a better lower sugar treat than fruit, so you'll be able to use more than you would with fruit. You could shred some and use little shredded pieces as treats.


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## ldoerr (Dec 29, 2012)

I currently feed Oxbow but will be switching feeds next time I need food. It is to expensive according to my parents. I do not know what I will be switching to, but something that I can get locally for sure.


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## briemommy (Dec 30, 2012)

Thanks for the suggestion, Morgan. I ordered a sample today so hopefully we will get to try it soon. The product looks REALLY good! :thumbup

I'm not sure what we are feeding her right now. The BF picked up a pre-paper-bagged bag of pellets from the feed store where he got the litter. It was close to work for him, and neither of us knew anything about rabbits at the time. I've been pellet hunting at all the local pet stores but I didn't like the ingredients in most of them. Bleh.

Jbun, yeah, I'm familiar with the food switching process. We had to do it when we first got her. The breeder was nice (or responsible) enough to give us a small bag of what she was feeding and we slowly switched it out.

I never thought of the carrot shavings idea. Am definitely going to use it once I introduce her to it! Such a great idea. I hope she likes carrots. 

:bunny19

These icons are so awesome. :rofl:


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## Imbrium (Dec 30, 2012)

I also feed sherwood forest and LOVE it because it's so healthy! I've been hand-feeding the pellets a fair amount lately and almost all of them are long enough to do so with ease.

btw, don't be put off if your bunny seems to dislike the sherwood at first - mine would always eat all their old pellets (whatever the breeder was feeding) and leave the sherwood in the bottom of the bowl but eventually go back for it. I stuck with it, though - I saw it as the rabbit version of a parent forcing their kid to eat veggies... it's the healthiest food I could find, so they were going to have to learn to like it! it took about a month before they were diving into it as eagerly as they did their previous pellet.


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## LakeCondo (Dec 30, 2012)

If you feed Sherwood Forest, know that it contains 50-100% more calcium than do Oxbow or Kaytee. So if your rabbit isn't needing that much calcium [ie juvenile, long-haired, lactating] I would watch out for sludge in the urine. You can do this easiest if you have a litterless litter box as I do. Then the urine is separated from the poops & can be poured out into a glassed, lidded jar & left for a while to see what precipitates. The amount of sugar in Oxbow or Kaytee is trivial & doesn't do the harm that excess calcium does, in my opinion. Sherwood Forest also has lots of fat in it.

A good treat that you can hold in your hand is dried banana peel. Wash the skin before peeling the banana, then cut it into strips & let dry for a few days.


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## Korr_and_Sophie (Dec 30, 2012)

I feed Oxbow pellets and my rabbits do great on them, shiny coats, good weight and lots of energy. 
While my rabbits will eat them and do get excited when getting fed, I don't think they would accept them as a treat. Your rabbit might be different. The pellets are long.


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## Ape337 (Dec 30, 2012)

Hello. I feed Oxbow bene terra organic. Just offering another option 

Pros: Organic, no molasses, no alfalfa

Cons: very expensive! $10.00 for 3 lbs, contains barley and wheat but I don't know if it's harvested before it goes to seed or not.

2 of my buns eat it. They are good weight, and no digestive issues. My third bunny doesn't eat pellets because he can't tolerate any at all. I think it's a good pellet for a healthy bunny. I hand-feed some pellets to my buns too and some of them are long enough to do it easily. But this is an adult food (over 1 year). Good luck picking out your pellet :wiggle


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## LuluBunny (Dec 30, 2012)

My Lulu eats Oxbow, but the pieces are small. I have small fingers so I do sometimes use them as treats but that might not be right for you.


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## Nancy McClelland (Dec 30, 2012)

Small world from Walmart and Oxbow timothy for one that doesn't tolerate alfalfa.


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## KittyKatMe (Dec 30, 2012)

I have tried Sherwood Forest but I think that fat and calcium are worse than a small amount of added sugar. I recommend Oxbow Young until 7 months then switch to 1/2 Young and 1/2 Adult or Organic, then take out Young completely at 1 year. My Mini Rexes and Lionheads flourish on this diet. Small World Rabbit, Kelly's, Templeton, Show Health, etc are good feeds if bunny only gets a very limited amount and gets plenty of fresh greens.


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## briemommy (Jan 2, 2013)

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

I do like Oxbow overall as a brand, so I'm also going to look up the Bene Terra Organic.

For those who feed Sherwood, what do you think about the recommendation to use it so soon? I thought the general consensus was to feed baby pellets until 6 months.


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## briemommy (Jan 3, 2013)

LakeCondo said:


> If you feed Sherwood Forest, know that it contains 50-100% more calcium than do Oxbow or Kaytee. So if your rabbit isn't needing that much calcium [ie juvenile, long-haired, lactating] I would watch out for sludge in the urine. You can do this easiest if you have a litterless litter box as I do. Then the urine is separated from the poops & can be poured out into a glassed, lidded jar & left for a while to see what precipitates. The amount of sugar in Oxbow or Kaytee is trivial & doesn't do the harm that excess calcium does, in my opinion. Sherwood Forest also has lots of fat in it.
> 
> A good treat that you can hold in your hand is dried banana peel. Wash the skin before peeling the banana, then cut it into strips & let dry for a few days.



I knew I had forgotten something. This is a bit off-topic, but Orlena, would you mind sharing a bit about litterless litter boxes?


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## Imbrium (Jan 3, 2013)

briemommy said:


> Thanks for the feedback, everyone!
> 
> I do like Oxbow overall as a brand, so I'm also going to look up the Bene Terra Organic.
> 
> For those who feed Sherwood, what do you think about the recommendation to use it so soon? I thought the general consensus was to feed baby pellets until 6 months.



my girls have been on the adult sherwood formula since 12 weeks old and are perfectly healthy. they got alfalfa hay until 6-7 months, when I started weaning them onto grass hays.

as for comments about the higher calcium in sherwood... the total calcium is a fraction of a % higher, which isn't much at all... and the link between calcium content of foods and calcium-related health problems is dubious at best (I've even heard that from Geoff, the rabbit-savvy vet that hangs out in our infirmary section). calcium problems/sensitivity is most likely a genetic thing rather than anything caused by diet.


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## erinmoveit (Jan 3, 2013)

briemommy said:


> I knew I had forgotten something. This is a bit off-topic, but Orlena, would you mind sharing a bit about litterless litter boxes?




I second this! It intrigued me...


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## briemommy (Jan 3, 2013)

Well, the Sherwood Forest sampler came and just as predicted by some of you, Brie thinks she's too good for it. Oh, the first few pieces she gobbled up because it was new, but I started the transition with a small amount of it and lo and behold, the feed store pellets were gone first. We're almost out of the feed store stuff though, so she has no choice.

So we're down to sugar vs. calcium, then? I know about calcium being linked to urine, which means the small intestinal/bladder issues, but what about sugar? Diabetes?


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## Imbrium (Jan 3, 2013)

I *really* doubt there's enough sugar in regular pellets to cause diabetes even in the long term, considering it's ok to give bunnies a little tidbit of fruit each day... the issue is more that some bunnies' digestive systems don't deal with sugars very well (plus, there's no benefit to consuming sugar).

it took mine a month, but they can't get enough of the sherwood pellets now. speaking of which, I need to go order another box, hehe... meant to do that this morning.


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## missyscove (Jan 3, 2013)

Diabetes is very rare in rabbits. 
I too feed oxbow and have been very happy with it. I find that they're long enough for me to offer as treats (well, maybe not the bottom of the bag) but I will also offer treats out of the palm of my hand.


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## Elliot (Jan 5, 2013)

LakeCondo said:


> A good treat that you can hold in your hand is dried banana peel. Wash the skin before peeling the banana, then cut it into strips & let dry for a few days.


I would reconsider this unless you are using organic. ALL bananas except organic are gassed at your grocery store to ripen. This is also going to be where any pesticide is.


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## sugarbunnies (Jan 5, 2013)

I formerly used Oxbow, but like many others said, it is WAY too expensive. I transitioned my buns to Sherwood. Now, every time I wake up (I feed them after I wake up, bad habit they are in now), they literally start trying to make me trip the way they circle around me trying to get fed. When I pop open that container, they can hardly contain themselves. Then they DIVE into their bowl like I was starving them.


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## erinmoveit (Jan 5, 2013)

Sounds like I should be looking into Sherwood? My buns are NUTS for their Oxbow, but I don't like the higher sugar content. They have an edible log in their cage that already has a ton of sugar, but it's the only thing i can do to keep them from eating themselves out of a home (literally). What's the best online store to get it at?


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## Imbrium (Jan 5, 2013)

the only place it's available is directly from the company's website - http://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/sherwood-forest-natural-rabbit-food/ (this also means the food is literally produced fresh within DAYS of being sent to you (it comes with a "made on" tag)). you can get a 2 lb sample for the cost of shipping, though if you're willing to commit to it and convince your rabbits to like it, it's cheaper per pound to skip the free sample and go with the 19 lb box.

the best way to store a big box of the food is to divide it into gallon ziplock bags, press as much air as possible out of them and keep the bags in the fridge (NOT the freezer). I use one of those cereal tupperware containers to store the pellets that I'm currently feeding from and refill it from the fridge as-needed.


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## erinmoveit (Jan 5, 2013)

Thanks, A TON! You have given me so many cheaper option in the past 24 hours! I have plenty of their Oxbow left, it would be super easy to transition them from Oxbow to Sherwood!


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## Trixie (Jan 5, 2013)

We use Oxbow and we are very happy with the health of our bunnies. My vet always comments on how beautiful my buns coats are, how clear and clean their eyes are and they weigh exactly what they should for their breed.  

Sherwood looks like you can only order it if you live in the US.


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## Trixie (Jan 5, 2013)

Opps, I stand corrected they do ship to Canada.


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## mimosa (Jan 5, 2013)

I use Oxbow (the one in the blue bag) at my vets recommendation. Harriet seems happy and content with it. 

It is expensive and I've been planning to try Sherwood, but I keep forgetting to order it before I run out.


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## Ape337 (Jan 5, 2013)

A question about Sherwood:

What do they mean on their website that they don't want you to suppliment your bunny with any other food besides unlimited pellets? What in their definition is, "any other food?". Just asking.

Oops! I looked again and found my answer. They recommend free choice pellets, no treats, no suppliments, no hay. Really?!?!

https://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/feeding-instructions/


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## Ape337 (Jan 5, 2013)

briemommy said:


> So we're down to sugar vs. calcium, then? I know about calcium being linked to urine, which means the small intestinal/bladder issues, but what about sugar? Diabetes?



Any form of sugar can cause digestive problems like gas, which can lead to stasis. It's the same chance we take if we feed any type of fruit, or simple carb like a cracker, or a Cheerio. I really think the sugar debate is getting blown way out of proportion like the calcium debate. If I feed Humma a slice of apple, he will be just fine, a 1/4 c of Oxbow with molasses not listed in the first 5 ingredients on the label? He will be fine. 1/4c of Sherwood? He will be fine. The same goes for my other bun Faith.
If I fed either of these 2 foods to my bun Freckles he would probably die. Fruit? Probably die. Simple carbs? Death. But Freckles is not a healthy bunny.

There's my long-winded point. If your bunny is healthy, sugar and calcium content may never cause a problem. If your bunny is sludge prone, you watch calcium in pellets, hay, and veggies. If your bunny has issues like my Freckles, you don't take a chance with any pellets or fruit at all....ever.

But I do think pellets should be rationed to prevent fat bunnies. Which is the point of my last post. And I don't agree with not feeding hay either, which is also the point of my last post.

Whew! Sorry for the long post. eace


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## missyscove (Jan 5, 2013)

Ape337 said:


> A question about Sherwood:
> 
> What do they mean on their website that they don't want you to suppliment your bunny with any other food besides unlimited pellets? What in their definition is, "any other food?". Just asking.
> 
> ...



That's what bothers me about the Sherwood pellets. I think the long strands of fiber provided by their hay are important for not only their digestion but also to help wear down their teeth (and keep them busy). My buns split 1/4 cup of pellets between them (although I may increase that slightly since Cricket is a bigger bunny than Sherlock was) so I'm really not concerned about the small amount of molasses that's in the Oxbow pellets.


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## whitelop (Jan 5, 2013)

I feed Sherwood, but I don't agree with not feeding hay. My bun gets Sherwood AND hay. I don't believe that any pellet is a "complete" diet and I think its a load of crap to have ANY pellet labeled as such. But they all say it. I like Sherwood because its fresh and it smells good. But if we're getting into the specifics of pellets, I'll openly say that I don't love any pellets. 

But I would like to say that I agree with April, we all put a lot of pressure on whats in the food we feed our buns. The sugar content, the calcium content. I agree that as long as your rabbit is healthy and isn't prone to sludge issues, weight issues, or GI issues, then pretty much any pellet you choose to feed is going to be okay. Unless its like a Fiesta Mix, which that is total crap, lol.


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## Trixie (Jan 5, 2013)

Not a good thing for them to be saying feed nothing else with these pellets! Are they more geared towards breeding rabbits? Anyone know? I don't know much about the company but I am learning more by the moment lol.


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## Imbrium (Jan 5, 2013)

Ape337 said:


> A question about Sherwood:
> 
> What do they mean on their website that they don't want you to suppliment your bunny with any other food besides unlimited pellets? What in their definition is, "any other food?". Just asking.
> 
> ...



for obvious reasons, *every* company that sells pellets would like their pellet to be a "complete" food, because that means they sell more pellets.

a LOT of us feed sherwood and I don't know of a single person who feeds it according to the manufacturer's instructions.

sherwood food (and oxbow essentials, for that matter) are so high in fiber (much higher than the average rabbit food) that from a purely nutritional standpoint, hay probably isn't necessary because the pellets have nearly the same amount of fiber that hay does. however, not all fiber is created equal - pellets are very easy to chew and the fiber is broken down into short pieces, whereas the fiber in hay has secondary benefits - it does a great job of wearing teeth down and the longer fibers do a better job of keeping the digestive system running smoothly.

pellets are also very dense and rabbits like to snack *constantly*... feeding veggies and hay in addition to the pellets keeps them happily snacking for much of the day while maintaining a healthy weight.

much as I love sherwood, I would *never* feed a pellet-only diet - I feed sherwood in the same strict amounts that I would feed any other pellet.


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## 1357bunnylover (Jan 5, 2013)

I don't know if you can get these pellets in America but 'Science Selective pellets' they are really long. It's what I feed my bunnies, and they have 25% fibre! Another good one (again I don't know if it's in America) it's called 'Fibafirst' it is in very long strands and are supposed to be more beneficial for bunnies teeth, they are 30% fibre and it's what I give my bunnies as treats


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## lauratunes12 (Jan 5, 2013)

Yes, we feed Sherwood. The first day I mixed Faith's pellets, she ate all the Sherwood Forest first, and did that as long as we mixed them. As soon as we stopped mixing them, however; she would just dump them out and dump her water on top. I knew she eventually would eat them, and she is now. It just takes some persistence.

Edit: she does still get unlimited Timothy hay and on occasion a treat of alfalfa hay.(we still had half a bag from when he was a baby)


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## mochajoe (Jan 5, 2013)

What grain to feed your animal is a great debate across the board...I have goat, horses and chickens as well. I have numerous conversations with "experts" about all my feed. Everyone has to do what works for them and for their animals. Having said that however, hay is an essential part of a bunny's diet! By nature, bunnies are herbivores who rely on constant grazing and a high fiber diet! Pelleted grains have come a long way....but they really CAN'T provide a bunny what they need like hay can!!! Bunnies NEED hay to be the happiest, healthiest bunnies they can be!!!


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## JBun (Jan 5, 2013)

The problem I've found with too much sugar in a rabbits diet is that you probably won't know that your rabbit has a GI problem until they actually get GI stasis, and then it might be too late. My first rabbit that had it, died within 2 days of showing symptoms. I had no idea she had sugar problems, so I fed her a very little piece of fruit, and the next day she was sick. Unless you understand all the warning signs of a possible digestive problem, and are very very observant, you may think you have a healthy rabbit and feed it treats as if it were healthy, and then before you know it you have a sick rabbit. I've read several posts by people that thought they had a perfectly healthy rabbit and all of the sudden their rabbit was sick with stasis. I'm by no means saying no treats for rabbits, but that GI stasis can happen unexpectedly because of the rabbits diet, and if you have ever had a rabbit with it, you know there is good reason to be somewhat cautious. So yes, sugar and calcium aren't a big deal a lot of times, unless it's your rabbit that happens to get sick.


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## Ape337 (Jan 6, 2013)

JBun said:


> The problem I've found with too much sugar in a rabbits diet is that you probably won't know that your rabbit has a GI problem until they actually get GI stasis, and then it might be too late. My first rabbit that had it, died within 2 days of showing symptoms. I had no idea she had sugar problems, so I fed her a very little piece of fruit, and the next day she was sick. Unless you understand all the warning signs of a possible digestive problem, and are very very observant, you may think you have a healthy rabbit and feed it treats as if it were healthy, and then before you know it you have a sick rabbit. I've read several posts by people that thought they had a perfectly healthy rabbit and all of the sudden their rabbit was sick with stasis. I'm by no means saying no treats for rabbits, but that GI stasis can happen unexpectedly because of the rabbits diet, and if you have ever had a rabbit with it, you know there is good reason to be somewhat cautious. So yes, sugar and calcium aren't a big deal a lot of times, unless it's your rabbit that happens to get sick.



Oh yes, that's quite true. I had absolutely no idea that my bunny Freckles has a sensitive GI tract. His poos were abnormal from day 1 with me. So I took him to the vet the 1st week to see what was up. At first my vet thought it was stress from the extensive travel he had to go through to get to me from Florida. This turned out not to be the case. Even though he rarely was given a small piece of carrot, and 1/4c of Oxbow essentials pellets (veggies and hay of course) we found that he can't tolerate any sugar/carbs at all. He is on unlimited hay and small amounts of veggies. Even critical care gives him poopy but and large, dark poos.

We really just never know.


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## BugLady (Jan 6, 2013)

I use Oxbow Natural Science - has the best ingredients of anything I've seen for sale around here. My buns love it! 

They share about 1.5 cups per day in addition to their unlimited timothy hay (from a nearby farm), and fresh veggies twice per day.


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## Imbrium (Jan 6, 2013)

what size and age are your rabbits? that's a lot of pellets for most breeds to be getting as adults (they should be getting 1/4-1/2c per 5 lbs body weight per day), but is ok for rabbits under 7 mos and very large breeds...


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## mochajoe (Jan 7, 2013)

As a horse and bunny owner, I am not sure why anyone would want to add molasses "aka" sugar to their pets' diet! I know horses, that if given grain with molasses also known as sweet feed would be bouncing off the walls! I don't want either my horses, nor my bunnies bouncing off the walls because of what I am feeding them. I guess that is the "back to basics" in me....bunnies and horses.....although humorously my horse weighs 1100 pounds and my bunny doesn't even weigh 3 pounds are very similar! They do very well on the basics.....I think of what wild horses and wild bunnies do......they don't eat pelleted feed....much less sweet feed...they eat grass and plants...and drink lots of water! My personal opinion...less is more! My horse and my bunny get oodles and oodles of hay with a minimal amount of grain....my horse gets occasional treats and my bunnies get green leafy veggies daily along with "treats' on occasion! Regardless of what I do, or my opinion, or what anyone else does, or what their opinion is.....everyone has to do what works for them and for their bunnies....as we all know, what works for one may not work for another....what one likes another may not! Case in point, my Reeses does NOT like carrots! LOL And as someone posted earlier....I think the whole thing of feed has gotten blown out of proportion.....both in the horse world AND the bunny world! Okay....I am done blithering now.....LOL Enjoy your bunnies!!!


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## LakeCondo (Jan 7, 2013)

Imbrium said:


> as for comments about the higher calcium in sherwood... the total calcium is a fraction of a % higher, which isn't much at all... and the link between calcium content of foods and calcium-related health problems is dubious at best (I've even heard that from Geoff, the rabbit-savvy vet that hangs out in our infirmary section). calcium problems/sensitivity is most likely a genetic thing rather than anything caused by diet.



Sherwood Forest has 0.7 to 1.2 calcium, while Oxbow Adult Essentials has has 0.35 to 0.80. Using the minimum figures, SF would have twice the calcium. Using the maximum figures, it's 50% more. So this is quite a bit more calcium; too much in my opinion.


Lucile Moore never mentioned anything in Rabbit Nutrition about calcium problems probably aren't caused by diet. She DOES write that a rabbit not fed pellets for any length of time is not going to stay healthy. We want our rabbits to live longer than wild rabbits do.

The amount of molasses in most pellets is trivial. It comes way down on the list of ingredients. And it;s easy to reduce sugar in a rabbit's diet. Just control the treats.


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## briemommy (Jan 8, 2013)

Ok, now I'm really scared about sugar. For the GI stasis thing... Is it a built up condition? Like I'll feed Brie a piece of dried banana a day and suddenly her intestinal tract decides enough is enough? Or is the bun born with the condition?


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## JBun (Jan 8, 2013)

Not every rabbit will be so sensitive to sugars, but it's still not good to feed a whole bunch of sugars to your rabbit. I have some rabbits that have no problems with a few treats, and I have other rabbits that can't have even one treat. So it really just depends on your rabbit. You can avoid creating alot of digestive problems, by always slowly and gradually introducing new foods to your rabbit. That way you are giving your rabbits digestion time to adjust to the new food with out overwhelming it's system suddenly. Then you will also be able to see if your rabbit reacts badly to something before you are giving it a whole bunch of a new food. The best way to figure out if something isn't good for your rabbit is to understand what normal rabbit poops look like. That will often be the first sign something isn't sitting well with your rabbit. If the poops start coming out really small, irregular sized or shaped, mushy, or slow down or stop, then you know somthing is wrong. Also getting to know your rabbits normal behavior helps too, that way if your rabbit has an upset stomach then you will be able to see the subtle signs. I have a rabbit that I haven't been able to feed pellets cause he would get stasis from eating them. But it had been a while and he was doing pretty good, so I thought I would very slowly reintroduce pellets and see how he did. It had been a month and a half and I had him up to about a 1/6 cup a day, but I noticed that after eating he just wasn't sitting quite right when he was laying down. It looked like he was feeling uncomfortable, plus his poops were irregular shaped too. So I stopped the pellets and he's feeling fine now and his poops look a lot better. 

Not all buns are going to have problems, in fact most don't, but every now and then someone has a rabbit that is sensitive to foods, and you just want to know what to look out for in case you happen to have one of those rabbits.


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## BinkyBunny (Jan 18, 2013)

JUST ordered a nice 12 lb box rabbit food from sherwood forest and go the 2lb free sample in baby rabbit for Bing  CANNOT WAIT TO TRY IT!


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## JBun (Jan 18, 2013)

You know about transitioning slowly onto a new food right? I feed sherwood too, and just be prepared for them not to like it. It's kind of the equivalent of feeding kids veggies. It's good for them, but they may put up a fuss about eating it. One really good thing that I've noticed about feeding my rabbits sherwood, is that they stink a lot less. It used to be when I opened the rabbit room door at cleaning time, that I was hit by the all too familiar ammonia smell from the pee, and I clean every day! Since feeding the sherwood, it hardly smells at all in there  

Bing is almost 11 weeks old isn't he? You can actually just start him on the maintenance and show food as well. On sherwoods site, they recommend switching them over to the m/s feed at 12 weeks. You could probably just give him a little bit of the baby feed each day, just to use it up.


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## BinkyBunny (Jan 18, 2013)

Enlighten me about the transitioning...Bing is on Kent Sho right now I think? He came that way.


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## JBun (Jan 18, 2013)

I probably do it a lot slower than some people, but I've had to deal with too many digestive problems, so I err on the side of caution. I will gradually switch over to a new feed, over about 2-3 weeks. This doesn't work very well if you are feeding unlimited pellets because you have to be able to make sure that they are eating all of the new food that you add, and not just continuing to eat the old food. So if you are doing unlimited then you will have to dial back the pellets a little so they are finishing their pellets at least a few hours before their next feeding time. I start adding in the new pellets in a very small amount, like a pinch of them, which would probably be about 1/4 tsp. I do it at each feeding for about 2 days, just to make sure the new food doesn't cause any sort of immediate digestive problem. After that I gradually increase the amount of new food each day by about 1/2-1 tsp. and decrease the old food by the same amount, so that at the end of the transition period you will no longer be feeding the old food. I determine how fast to do the transition depending on how sensitive my bun is to the change. If I notice any changes in the rabbits poop, then I increase the amounts much more slowly. If you feed about 1/2 cup of food a day, then increasing by 1/2 tsp. each day will take about 4 weeks to transition, and 2 weeks if you increase by 1 tsp. a day. If you feed more than 1/2 cup a day, then you could add more than a tsp. a day so that it still only takes 2-3 weeks to switch over, as long as your buns poops stay normal and there aren't any digestive problems in the changeover.


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## KittyKatMe (Jan 19, 2013)

About the free-feeding pellets.... Oxbow doesn't recommend that, they recommend 80% hay and veggies. That's why I like Oxbow and probably won't try Sherwood. But I use Organic which has 0 sugar or molasses and less calcium than Sherwood. I highly recommend it.


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## JBun (Jan 19, 2013)

Oxbow's organic food is slightly different than most other rabbit foods in that it uses barley as a grain source instead of the wheat or corn most commonly used in other rabbit foods, and sunflower and canola meal instead of the soybean meal usually used as an added source of protein. It still does have sugars though, but instead of molasses, it uses fruit as it's sugar source.


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## KittyKatMe (Jan 19, 2013)

JBun said:


> Oxbow's organic food is slightly different than most other rabbit foods in that it uses barley as a grain source instead of the wheat or corn most commonly used in other rabbit foods, and sunflower and canola meal instead of the soybean meal usually used as an added source of protein. It still does have sugars though, but instead of molasses, it uses fruit as it's sugar source.



Yes, but then again, it's lower on the list than the sugar in Bunny Basics T. Plus, the cranberry used does have antioxidants.


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## Ape337 (Jan 19, 2013)

I'm happy with bene terra organic food (oxbow).:biggrin2:

Ingredient #14 on the label is organic cranberry, #15 is organic blueberry. Yep, these are sugar sources. I'm ok with that. The food is green, smells wonderful, and my buns love it. My buns do very well on the label feeding recommendations. Faith eats 1/8c a day, Humma eats 1/4c a day based on recommendations for their weight. And I like that the label states that 75% of a rabbits diet needs to be grass hay, which is something I agree with.

I won't knock other foods anymore because really, I see there's more than 1 way to raise bunnies. This way works for me, and my bunnies are happy and healthy. I recommended this food because I like it. Others on here recommend the foods they like, it works for them.

I'm just glad to see all the owners on here that are so passionate and caring about giving their bunnies the best lives that they can. And be so willing to help others make choices for their buns. :group2:


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## KittyKatMe (Jan 19, 2013)

:yeahthat:


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## Elliot (Jan 20, 2013)

KittyKatMe said:


> About the free-feeding pellets.... Oxbow doesn't recommend that, they recommend 80% hay and veggies. That's why I like Oxbow and probably won't try Sherwood. But I use Organic which has 0 sugar or molasses and less calcium than Sherwood. I highly recommend it.


Wow, it is pricey. I just looked it up and for me it would be $30.10 for 6 lbs of organic Oxbow, vs $25.50 for 12 lbs of Sherwood.


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## BinkyBunny (Jan 22, 2013)

Any good links with prices on that lovely oxbow formula?


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## Elliot (Jan 24, 2013)

Google is your friend.
http://www.bingalingstore.com/oxbow-beneterra-organic-rabbit-food-3-lb/
http://store.binkybunny.com/bene-terra-organic-rabbit-3-lbs-p63.aspx
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=19816


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## BinkyBunny (Jan 24, 2013)

We prefer Bing in our house


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## natural rabbit food (Jan 28, 2013)

Hi,
We need to give some clarification about the level of calcium and fat that is used in Sherwood Forest Natural Rabbit Food. 

Recently many have raised questions and concerns on a few forums about why the 8% fat content in the baby food and why the amount of calcium in the adult food. The short and simple answer to these questions are best answered by David Sherwood on these webpages:

https://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/baby-rabbit-food/

https://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/timothy-hay-for-rabbits/

https://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/crude-fat/

https://www.naturalrabbitfood.com/rabbit-food-ingredients/

There are several other pages as well, but the above will help answer these questions/concerns best.
My name is Bob Stephenson and I am David Sherwoods partner here at Sherwood Forestfirst about the amount of calcium.

Many are concerned, especially by those that raise certain breeds and worry about coat condition, sludge and other problems that have shown up using certain brands of rabbit food that may have too much calcium (or the wrong type). 

In short, it is just not the amount of calcium, but the ratio between the phosphorus and calcium that is present in the feed, and how this affects growth, muscle tone, coat condition, etc. 

David Sherwood has done his homework when he formulated all 3 styles of feedhe is a research junkie, a biologist and now about done with his Phd. in related fields. He has raised rabbits for years, and spent 1000s of hours reading thru 100s of published scientific documents written over the past several decades about rabbit nutrition. 

In other words, science has revealed over the past 40 or 50 years what should and should not be in the ideal rabbit food, but has not been used in national or regional brands of rabbit food, up until now. 

We have 100s of customer reviews/testimonials from those that raise all breeds and we continue to receive these weekly from long time customers as well as those that have tried a sample or box and are impressed with the results and improvements they see. 

Please know that we do not pay or reimburse anyone that submits a review to our store, email, facebook page or website. These are all given voluntarily and without compensation. 

The question is also raised about why the baby food has 8% fat, when other brands only use 2 or 3%. The baby rabbit food page link above explains this in detail, but the quick answer here is that young rabbits dont have the ability to digest starch (grain) until much older and will sometimes experience varying levels of diarrhea eating pellets with too much starch. As most brands use wheat and other grain by-products as part of their formula, the result is often poopy bottom and other related nutritional problems.

The key for baby rabbits is to use a food formulated that mimics what type of nutrition they have been getting while nursing. The L/G (baby rabbit food) is high in fat derived from whole oil seed, rich in vitamin E, and is like Mommas milk, so the transition from milk to a pellet goes very smoothly. Baby rabbits need a diet that is high in fat, low in sugar.

For those that want the larger bags, I should also mention that we are working on getting the 50 lb. bags of the foods in retail locations nationally this year and would be less per pound this way than what you see on our online store. 

Thank you,
Bob Stephenson
Sherwood Forest Natural Rabbit Food


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## BinkyBunny (Jan 30, 2013)

natural rabbit food said:


> Hi,
> We need to give some clarification about the level of calcium and fat that is used in Sherwood Forest Natural Rabbit Food.
> 
> Recently many have raised questions and concerns on a few forums about why the 8% fat content in the baby food and why the amount of calcium in the adult food. The short and simple answer to these questions are best answered by David Sherwood on these webpages:
> ...



Love your food and love your service :biggrin:!


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## Elliot (Feb 11, 2013)

Thank you for answering many questions about your formulas Bob. We have been using Sherwood Forest pellets for just shy of a year and we like them. Or I should say Elliot likes them. Keep up the good work!


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