Tana, my vet says that alfalfa can give gerbies too
much gas- you might want to check the ingredients of
your rabbit pellets.
I mix my own food too - here's what I put in mine(the
mix has roughly 15% protein and 6% fat:
40 g. rolled oats
60 g. Healthy Snacks dog treats
3 g. flax seed
50 g. unpopped popcorn
35 g. Quinoa
30 g. Amaranth seed
3 g. raw pumpkin seeds
114 g. rolled barley flakes
115 g. Millet
My (and my vet's)suggestions on mixing food are:
Acquire as many certified organic products as you can
to avoid exposure to nasty pesticides, etc -
particularly if you are using dried grains normally
used as bird feed.
I also personally feel more comfortable NOT using
grocery store pet food brands that contain toxins such
as ethyoxiquin (sp?), and other nasty preservatives
banned (at least in the US) from most human products.
The debate rages on whether or not the amount in pet
foods can cause cancer, liver damage, etc (some of
these chemicals are used as rat poison!)but I'd prefer
to be safe rather than sorry with my little "kids".
The dog treats I use contain natural preservatives.
Store unused ingredients in the freezer to prolong the
life of their nutritional value.
Include at least one "catch-all" ingredient that
includes in itself several grain products and vitamin
enrichments. A basic animal multi-vitamin can be
helpful if you don't have a product already enriched
(suggestion of my vet).
My vet also voiced a concern once about using rice and
some dried legumes because they can swell in the
stomach.
Use as many ingredients as you can.
I have other recipes that I've used too, but I think
this one is the best so far (but it's also the newest
- I'll keep you posted).
By the way, ingredients I've discovered my gerbils
DON'T like are: bulghur wheat/cracked wheat,
spelt,and kamut. Dried corn and popcorn are tolerated
but only after everything else is gone. Their favorite
things (aside from sunflower seeds) are pumpkin seeds.
Molly
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