A better rabbit food?

[brindyzoeycandy]

Is there a brand of rabbit food out there better than Oxbow Bunny Basics? I don't like that it has Wheat Middlings in it; I am switching my piggies to KMs Timothy after this bag of Oxbow is done, and I wish I could find a good, timothy-based rabbit pellet without wheat middlings. Any help?

[CavyCrazyLady]

Oxbow is the best one I know of. If anyone else has a better one I would love to hear about it and try it out.

If you don't find one though, have you thought about going pellet free?

[brindyzoeycandy]

I'm trying to find some, but I really can't find any.

I have heard of going pellet-free, but I know that it can be really difficult.

[Silverbeat]

HAFF diet [pellet-free] is great for some bunnies, and not so great for others. My two rabbits would have serious poop-related issues if I tried going pellet-free. I feed them Sweet Meadow and occasionally I give them a treat of 1 tsp of oats, or a few pellets of hay stretcher, which is alfalfa-based. My rabbits are both about 5 lbs, I give them 1/3 cup each.

[brindyzoeycandy]

I've heard that compact breeds of rabbits shouldn't be pellet-free or get severly-reduced pellets, and both of my bunnies are very small and full-grown. I looked up Sweet Meadow's pellets and it has Wheat Middlings in it as well. I don't want Wheat Middlings in any of my animal's food.

I've heard Supa is a good brand - is this true?

[Silverbeat]

Just wondering, why are wheat middlings bad? I have never heard or read anything about them being bad.
Edit: here is what I came with when I looked for ingredients: Supa Rabbit Excel
It doesn't look any better than pellets, in my opinion.

[brindyzoeycandy]

Wheat Middlings are literally the stuff they sweep off the floor and is just an inexpensive by-product/filler. I was actually looking up for a new feed for my horse when I found out just exactly what wheat middlings are.

[mmas4]

Is it hard to do the HAFF diet with rabbits? My older bunny, Maddie, produces lots of cecal poops when she is fed too many pellets. Right now between her and Minnie they get 1/4 cup oxbow pellets but she is still making too many cecal poops.

[Silverbeat]

It can be. The emphasis of a HAFF diet should be on hay. One of my rabbits eats a lot of hay, but the other isn't as crazy about it. Both have an issue with runny stool when there is too much wet food in their diet.
When you say she is making too many cecals, what does that entail? Are they getting left around her cage?

[mmas4]

The poop gets all over my carpet. Then I have to get the carpet steamer (I dont know what its called) and clean my carpet.

[Silverbeat]

Is she eating any of her cecal pellets? How is her appetite/poop otherwise?
When cecal pellets are "left around," unless someone is stepping on them and mushing them into the carpet--I have never seen a rabbit do this, not even in an environment where there were literally dozens of rabbits all running about together--they shouldn't even make a stain. If you just pick them up gingerly with a paper towel, they leave no mark or smell.
Sometimes a rabbit will forget about her cecals, which is bound to happen once in a while. But she should be eating at least some of them.
Rabbits: The Mystery of Poop
Uneaten Cecals?

[mmas4]

I have no idea if she is eating any of them. I will walk into my room and find a new spot where they were mushed into the carpet. She has a good appetite. I feed her and Minnie about 5 cups of veggies and she eats about half and I will see her eating hay throughout the day and I have to replace their hay daily. She does have normal poop otherwise.

[suzilovespiggie]

I use Purina rabbit pellets, called Mazuri. I use the straight pellets. I don't know if there is wheat middlings or not. I do know they do not use the additive that causes cancer.

[brindyzoeycandy]

I just looked it up - along with Wheat Middlings it also is an alfalfa-based pellet.