Burgess Pet Care

Small animals make great pets. In the UK alone there are around 3 million small animals kept as pets, ranging from rabbits and guinea pigs to rats and ferrets. Rabbits make up around half of this figure and they are in fact the 3^rd most popular pet behind cats and dogs.

Despite their popularity rabbits and rabbit food are still very much misunderstood. The PDSA recently declared a “Diet Disaster for UK Bunnies” as many owners continue to feed a diet lacking in fibre and packed with sugary, unhealthy muesli and muesli style mixes.

Rabbits need to eat lots of fibre in their diet and they can get this by eating fresh greens and leafy green plants. Luguminous plants such as alfalfa would form a staple part of their diet in the wild. Hay should be offered to your pet rabbits on a daily basis and they would typically consume as much as their own body size in hay every day. Yet, in truth around 42% of owners either do not feed this or do not even understand that hay should be offered as food.

Keep Chewing

Each small furry has different dietary requirements, but rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rats and chinchillas all have one thing in common and this is the fact that their teeth are open rooted and grow continuously throughout their life. To help keep their teeth in good shape these animals need to be provided with food to gnaw on; Excel Gnaw Sticks are perfect for this!

Leafy Greens

In addition to hay and nuggets you should offer your fibrevore a variety of leafy fresh vegetables; leafy fresh greens in particular are great. Good options include parsley, kale, spinach and romaine lettuce. Veg high in starch, such as potatoes should be avoided.

Vitamin C

A guinea pig should not be fed nuggets intended for rabbits. Guinea Pigs cannot make their own vitamin C and this can lead to conditions such as scurvy. You should therefore feed specialist guinea pig food in addition to hay/grass and vitamin C rich vegetables.

In the wild, rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas have a naturally fibrous diet consisting mainly of grass, with occasional herbs, twigs and bark. However, none of these natural foods are particularly rich in nutrients, which is why these animals have evolved specifically to be able to digest fibrous foods and extract all the nutrients they need.  It is therefore essential that as pets these animals are provided with the right diet.

That is why we have called these pets “Fibrevores”, as this name reflects their nutritional needs. The wrong diet will lead to health problems for these pets and can be fatal.

Rabbit, grazing in the wild

What is often not understood is that Fibrevores need two types of fibre in their diets – digestible and indigestible fibre. Burgess Excel call the correct ratio of these two types of fibre “Beneficial Fibre”.

The Burgess Excel Feeding Plan has been designed to offer your Fibrevore the perfect daily balance of fibre and nutrition. To find out more about the Excel Feeding plan please click here.