Is Oxbow Bunny Basic/T OK?

[eycamry]

Okay... I am giving up on my picky girl who only eats Alfalfa hay. She is on Mazuri which is also a alfalfa hay-based diet. I was wondering if I can feed her Oxbow Bunny Basic/T which is a timothy hay-based diet for rabbits. I do not know any other good timothy pellets other than Kaytee's Timothy Complete Chinchilla. If chins can have PANR, it should be ok for them to eat Oxbow BB/T, right?

 

[Brittney]

From what I have read, and I may be totally wrong, Tradition is a timothy based pellet, so it American Pet Diner.

 

[eycamry]

Yes, I just googled. APD has a timothy based diet for guinea pigs/chinchilla. Does that mean I can also feed my girl Oxbow Cavy Cuisine? :hmm: I could not find much info on Tradition though.

 

[starleomach]

Why not feed Oxbow chinchilla? why the cavy or rabbit when chinchilla is available

 

[emily.j.roth]

Oxbow BBT is timothy based versus PANR, which is alfalfa based. The ingredients for the Oxbow are here: http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=1536

and PANR is here: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20191&postcount=20

the main differences (from what I can tell) is the amount of fiber (25-29% for BBT, 17-20% for PANR) and the minerals/vitamins. The fiber thing isn't necessarily bad in my opinion, but the minerals/vitamins worry me a bit. I don't know that chins need that much in terms of minerals in their diet, and there seems to be quite a bit in the BBT.

 

[equus_peduus]

it should be ok for them to eat Oxbow BB/T, right?

Does that mean I can also feed my girl Oxbow Cavy Cuisine?

Yes and yes. The local vet school's exotics department favors the former approach, a good general practice/exotics vet I know favors the latter. I personally do a 50-50 mix of BB/T and ChinDeluxe, but my boys both eat grass hay well, so don't have the alfalfa hay problem.

Have you tried other grass hays than timothy? I use orchard cos I could get it cheap locally, and the chins seem to love it more than any hay I used previuosly. From what I've heard, some chins seem picky about the brand chosen as well (though I assume this is partly due to regional growing variation leading to a difference in flavor).

 

[Tanya]

Tradition pellets are formulated with alfalfa meal.
And I think they changed the ingredient list , on the bag that I have they list grain by-products as first ingredient (weird). I tried to contact Dr Ed and ask about this, but he did not call me back. I just gave up because I am not using it any more.

The problem with timothy based pellet is that most chins do not like it much.

The thing About Bunny Basics T is that it's low in Calcium and phosphorus. It says Ca min 0.35% , Phosphorus min 0.25%. Does not say max.Chins can get enough Ca from Alfalfa hay but what about phosphorus? Alfalfa is low in phosphorus (middle bloom Calcium 1.24%, Phosphorus 0.22). It's believed that chins need either 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus or equal amounts of calcium to phosphorus in their diet for healthy bones and teeth.
Did you try American pet diner mountain grass? My chins really love it.
Or try getting 2009 hay, 2008 hay probably does not taste very good.APD says that it will be available in October, not sure about Oxbow. Kleenmama already sells 2009 bluegrass.

 

[eycamry]

Thanks everyone. I am going to mix some Oxbow CC or BB/T into Mazuri. This way she will be intaking some timothy hay and still be getting enough nutrients. I have tried a lot of different hays, and am still ordering different brands. But meanwhile I want to get her started on some timothy hay as she is not eating any. AZchins was so nice to send me some wonderful timothy hay which my other 3 girls all went crazy for, but this girl just would not touch it.

When I said "I gave up", I did not really mean it .

Why doesn't Oxbow make timothy based chinchilla pellets? :hmm: