question about sign in P&H

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Ms_Fi

There's a sign in the local P&H that explains that the food bowls are sometimes empty because of advice they've taken from a rabbit society. This sign is on all their pens so rabbits and piglets alike.

Now, I thought that piglets should have food available at all time but I'm only a newbie so happy to be told different - so who's right, me or P&H?
 
You are right. Pigs need food 24 hours a day as they are natural grazers. So hay is most important, followed by mixed veg and then pellets.

I'm not sure for rabbits my own rabbits are different from the pigs they tend to eat more of a night but will eat veggies of a day and hay although not as much as the pigs do. :)

I think P @ H are just trying to cover their back for allowing food bowls to be empty.
 
My rabbit does not have access to food all the time because he has a eating obsession and got a bit fat so on advise we limit his intake. He has hey 90% of the time for grazing but gets a set amount of pellets a day and when there gone they are gone! Oh and he gets his veg in the morning, again when it's gone its gone. He is now maintaining a good weight, aparently its odd for a rabbit to eat more than they need to the extent mine did and its not like he gets no exercise he is just greedy LOL
 
My rabbits would eat too much if i gave them unlimited pellets but it is different for piggies. Pets at Home shouldnt be using the same info for rabbits and piggies... Maybe you could advise them of this and tell the manager?

One question i have always wanted to know is that do Pets at Home feed their animals veg? I never see any down
 
I've always thought (certainly for piggies at least) that with regards to dry foods piggies should be fed twice a day (at a regular time if poss.) with servings worked out for each pig depending on their weight. i go on roughly a handful per piglet, twice a day.

So maybe if the dry food bowls are empty at 3pm, they're getting ready to give them dinner at 5pm. Hopefully you catch my drift.

Now hay is obviously a different story. They need tonnes every day! We all know how important it is for our little ones. They should also be supplying veggies every day, with a wide variety etc.

So perhaps (and I don't often like siding with P@H) it is fair that sometimes the bowls will be empty. I don't continually, all day, top up my pig's dryfood, and I doubt any of you do.
 
Rabbits should always have food *** there guts can slow down without the food and go into stasis which can be fatal. As for piggies I do not know about pellets but mine always have hay *** would they not do roughly the same thing?
 
ArthurDougal said:
Rabbits should always have food *** there guts can slow down without the food and go into stasis which can be fatal. As for piggies I do not know about pellets but mine always have hay *** would they not do roughly the same thing?
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Rabbits dont always need pellets though... They need to be able to graze during the day... They should graze on hay or grass... If rabbits eat too many pellets they do not eat their hay which is essential for their teeth and gut to keep moving...
The way rabbis teeth wear down when they are fed pellets are not the same as when they eat hay. That is why a lot of pet shop rabbits fed on soley pellets and not enough hay have teeth problems.

Mine would eat till they are stuffed if i left a massive bowl of pellets on the floor, they would be fat and have bad teeth... As it is they have hay to munch on during the day and nibbly bits and one bowl of pellets in the evening (veg in the morning)...

Guinea pigs and pellets are different for some reason when it comes to veg pigs will eat till they cant eat anymore but pellets are there to fill in the gaps. It takes my 3 piggies 3 days to eat a tiny bowl of pellets as they have hay constantly and veg during the day...
It would take my rabbits 1/2 hr to eat a full bowl of pellets if i let them...
 
Don't know about rabbits guts slowing down. I just follow what our vet advises and he is normally very very good.

As for my local Pets At Home, I often see fresh veg down and piles of hey, on the odd occasion food bowls may be empty.
 
So we all agreed that Pet at Home should be providing lots and lots of hay more so than pellets...
 
I would agree that the sign is applicable for rabbits but not guineas, my rabbits get their pellets at teatime every day, veg for breakfast and they have constant access to both grass and hay but too many pellets can lead to problems in rabbits.Some people i know only give their bunnies an eggcup of dry food a day mine get a very generous handful each.
 
See, I thought it was just to do with the rabbits but when I asked they said it was the piglets as well.

Will try and get a photo of the sign tomorrow so I can show you what it all says.
 
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