Apples Ought To Be Their Comfort Food

Apples!!!

Cotton and Charcoal love fresh apples and they been given tiny slices on daily basis during night time. 

See how they would stretch their bodies just to get a bite!

Stretcccccchhhhhhhhed! 

Treats Testing by Humans!

I was shopping to top-up their treats recently. I always love this brand of treat because it's large enough to hand feed my boys and they always love them regardless of the flavour chosen which is rare!

For the first time, the PLC staff told me not to get this brand because their treats are very sweet. Really? She looks like she knows her stuffs well. She said she tasted most of the pets treats. Wow amazing. 

Ok so I decided to try those treats I bought for them too. Why not? Ok, this product especially the pineapple is very sweet! As sweet as syrup! Will not buy this flavour again. 

Watch out for this space on list of treats I tried and their sweetness. :) 

Treats Up Bunny's IQ 100 Folds!

I can't remember if I uploaded this clip of Cotton cleverly lifted and gently placed down the pen fence before.

So here it is, all in the name of treat! Enjoy!

Training Mi-yeon for treats

I was told by Mi-yeon's foster parents that she does not beg for food and has an attitude. To retrain her proudness or Taming of the Shrew, can be a challenging task for me.

Training Mi-yeon to get her treats from hands is not easy due to her attitude. Previously, she took treats from our hands for a very short while. After a week of training, she responded better - she took treats from us longer and more. (see video).

However, we do not want to disrupt Cotton's exercise progress so recently, we do not give treats to both of them in the pen. Uncle Hubby will exercise with Cotton with his treats whilst I am training Mi-yeon to take her treats from my hands by standing up on her back legs. By taking treats from my hands by standing up on her back legs is begging for food. :p So far, she is doing well with her 1-1 training with me. Hope she can one day hopping with Cotton for their exercise treats together.

Playing Treats with Mi-yeon

We are still in the midst to train Mi-yeon to respond to her name with treats.

We started off at Mi-yeon's pen before the barrier fence was removed. Things seems positive until the barrier fence was removed.

It's tough to do treats with 2 bunnies so our routine treats and exercise with Cotton has to be disrupted.

Sweet side of Cotton

Cotton is sweetest and physically close to me voluntary when I'm feeding him with treats.

 

After finishing his treat, he will revert to his aloof self again. Tsk tsk 

Food supplies

Presently, food for Cotton is building up and taking up our kitchen space! Just the pellets itself, there are 3 brands!

He's also taking 2 kinds of Timothy Hay - oxbow and APD Gold. On top of that, he has his daily supplements - Senior Support, Muliti-vitamins and Skin & Coat, and his cookie. 

I have also ordered more treats for Cotton and they are pending for delivery. These treats will be his weekends treats. 

I hope to fatten up Cotton abit so that he be chubby enough and not able to squeeze under our bed. Hahaha 

Shhhhhh do not let Cotton knows my fattening plan for him :D

Tempting Cotton...

What happens when you try to tempt a normally calm and glutton old bun?

Watch this video!

 

APD Timothy Gold Hay and his other new food

I read on many online reviews about Timothy Hay and came to know about APD Timothy Gold Hay. There are a lot of rave review about it such that some even claimed that their bunnies will not accept other brands of hay after eating this. Seriously? Not exaggerating, are they?

Proven! They are right!

I did an experiment to see if Cotton would love the Gold Hay as claimed by website reviewers, so I stuffed the Gold hay into his Timothy Ball. Previously, I stuffed some normal hays in the Timothy Ball and Cotton does not really take much, however, not anymore. The Gold Hay was gone the next morning from the Timothy Ball....totally gone and there was no mess at his litter box, inside or outside his playpen. Where did the Gold Hay? Cotton must have eaten them all, right? I repeated it again today and stuffed the Gold Hay into the Ball and when I returned home from work today, the Ball was empty. Again, no mess found. I think Uncle Hubby has to work harder from now onwards to sustain Cotton's expensive taste for premium hays. :p
 

Another fave hay added to Cotton's must-have food list

Back of the packaging

Stuff fully the Timothy Gold Hay into the Timothy Ball

Cotton also loves his Multi-Vitamin tab and I feed him one tab/day and hand-feed him along with his Senior Support during his exercise cum play time. Cotton now has much more running to do. :p

Oxbow Mult-Vitamin

On every Sunday mornings, while Uncle Hubby and I will have our McDonald's big breakfast, Cotton will have his bowl of treats as breakfast too. With the PLC member promotion for Burp (buy 3 for the price of 2 @ $6), it is surely a good deal. I feed half a pack to Cotton each time due to high blood glucose condition. Also note that Burp! does not indicate the ingredients but I would assume molasses is present, otherwise it won't be called a treat. These 3 packs will last Cotton for the next 06 Sundays.  

Cotton's Sunday treats

Updated on 06-Apr-2014: The portion for a pack of Burp! is apparently not enough for Cotton to eat twice so the 3 packs supply will only last him 3 Sundays instead. 

The size of 1 pack of Burp!

As long as Cotton finishes his food, I do not mind spending on him. I do not advocate food wastage. :D

Updated on 20-April-2014:

Hays, Pellets and Treats!

I decided to do an entry about Cotton's hays, pellets and treats and their ingredients, of course!

Let's start with his Hays. Timothy Hay for sure as I read almost every online information that at least 80% of any adult rabbit's diet should be hays and is always readily available. I bought the 40oz size Oxbow brand from a nearby local pet store. The store owner really gives competitive prices but because the store is small, there's not much varieties and stock to choose. The store only has 1 bag and I have to take or leave it. I was charged $20 if I recalled correctly. 

But Cotton doesn't seem to eat as much and as fast as he previously would. Or maybe his twice a day daily dose of fresh vegetables resulted him to eat lesser hays? I don't know yet but his water intake also proportionally decreases. I was told that Cotton drank lots of water previously because he was eating a lot (his only food then) of hays. Hays being dry, he will naturally drink a lot of water after eating so much hays. 

However, I read about 'freshness' of hays and the more green it is, the better. I was at another larger pet store yesterday after work and saw that their packs of 40 oz are very green and greener than my first pack which I just bought 2 weeks ago. So I bought one more pack at the larger store ($24 before less 5%) home to compare. Can you guess correctly which pack is which? 

Answer: Lower pack is bought from larger store and is greener, right? Now I am trying to clear his existing hay stock as soon as possible..... 

 

Let's move to his pellet. I bought Oxbow Adult Rabbit Food pellets and apparently pellets typically comes in one size - 4lbs. I am using this purely as treats or giving at small amount (1/5 of party plastic cup size) once a week basis. This pack will last me a long time and Cotton loves it (not surprisingly) because it contains molasses. Oxbow also have another type of pellets for Adult Rabbit under Essential category. I decided to buy the Natural Sciences version because it contains Orchard Grass and Oat Grass which means I can save on getting other types of hays without the concerns about freshness and at the same time, Cotton can also gain more vitamins from the pellets. It's definitely a win-win choice for me. 

Update on 29-Mar-2014: The old pack of Oxbow is finally finished and the new pack is opened. Really lots of green hay and Cotton loves them. 

 

The ingredients for the Natural Science pellet:

Timothy Grass, Orchard Grass, Oat Grass, Oat Hulls, Canola Meal, Whole Yellow Pea, Whole Barley, Tomato Pomace (dehydrated), Cane Molasses, Flax Seed, Yeast Culture (dehydrated), Sodium Bentonite, Salt, Lignin Sulfonate, Calcium Carbonate, Dried Rosemary, Dried Thyme, L-Ascorbyl-2-Monophosphate (Vitamin C), Inulin, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Folic Acid, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Riboflavin Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Biotin, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Magnesium Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate

Guaranteed Analysis

• Crude Protein (min) 12.00%
• Crude Fat (min) 3.00%
• Crude Fiber (min) 22.00%
• Crude Fiber (max) 26.00%
• Moisture (max) 10.00%
• Calcium (min) 0.40%
• Calcium (max) 0.80%
• Phosphorus (min) 0.35%
• Copper (min) 35 mg/kg
• Vitamin A (min) 19,000 IU/kg (min)
• Vitamin D (min) 900 IU/kg (min)
• Vitamin E (min) 190 IU/kg (min)
• Omega 3 Fatty Acid (min) 0.45%
• Omega 6 Fatty Acid (min) 0.90%

 

I also bought for Cotton to try Oxbow Lavendar Chamomile Medley Simple Rewards treats. Why Lavendar and Chamomile flavour is because I hope the aroma scent will able to calm Cotton more after each combing session. Although the manufacturer recommends 1 spoonful per day, I only uses it after each combing session or playing time with him. The package even sealed tight unopened, Cotton could still scent it and attempted to bit it opened until I stopped him. The Lavendar scent is very obvious.

 

Ingredient for this treat:

Timothy Grass, Orchard Grass, Brome Grass, Wheat Straw Meal, Rapeseed Meal(Brassica napus), Whole Yellow Pea (Lathyrus aphaca), Whole Barley, Tomato Pulp, Chamomile, Lavender, Cane Molasses, Chicory Powder, Flax Seed, Yeast (heat-killed), Salt, Dried Rosemary, Dried Thyme, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin A Supplement, Folic Acid, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Proteinate, Riboflavin Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Biotin, Manganous Oxide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Magnesium Sulfate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Carbonate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate

Guaranteed Analysis

• Crude Protein min 12.00%
• Crude Fat min 3.00%
• Crude Fiber max 23.00%
• Moisture max 12.00%

 

 

To let Cotton exercise a bit via running is during play-time. Uncle Hubby and I have set a play-time session with Cotton on every evening after our dinner....that would be somewhere 7-8pm. Previously, we have used his Senior Support supplement (breaking the tab into smaller pieces) to feed him from our hands but he has to shuttle run between us (about a distance 0.5m long). He will sniff and pick the treat with his mouth from my fingers and eat it, and after that, he will have to go to Uncle Hubby's side and repeat it. Then back to me again. It's also a good time to let Cotton familiarize that his name is Cotton as we always call to him for his attention after he taken the treat from one of us.

I have always this question in my mind if too much molasses intake would be harmful to Cotton since his glucose level was high in the Feb-2014 blood test. So I google and found a scientific journal which concluded that incorporation of molasses at 5% in rabbit diet is OK. Of course it is not cheap to include molasses into rabbit food so basically, you eat what you pay for.

  

 

To increase the varieties of the play-time treat, I bought cookie snacks. So far, he loves it.

 

 

Cost of some items:

 

1 x	APD Senior Rabbit Tropical Cookie   - Weight: 1.75oz	SG$6.40
1 x	Oxbow Natural Science Adult Rabbit Food   - Weight: 1.8kg (4lbs)	SG$20.90
1 x	Oxbow Hay Cakes   - Size: 453g (1lb)	SG$12.80
1 x	Pet Link Rabbit/Chinchilla Wooden Stick Tunnel   - Design: House	SG$7.70
1 x	Oxbow Simple Rewards Lavender-Chamomile Medley   - Weight: 70g	SG$7.10

 

Update on 29-Mar-2014: I bought the Hay Cakes so that if I brought Cotton out, at least I can feed him with the hay cake for convenience and little or no mess in the carrier. But Cotton does not like his hay cakes. I tried to insert pellets into the cake but it's not possible to do that as the cake is too tightly compressed. I rubbed some banana onto the cake but Cotton did not take the bait. There goes my $12.80. 

I wanted to buy APD Timothy Golden Hay which I read on reviews that it contains a lot of green hays and most of the owners who tried it said their buns will not take other brands anymore. But I cannot find the brand at the larger pet store and so decided to try this brand as well. I intend to mix this together with Oxbow hay for Cotton. This brand is not cheap and costs me $14 before less 5% at 15oz size. 

Update on 29-Ma-2014: Cotton loves this first cut Timothy hay! I mixed this with Oxbow hay and Momi hay is drier and harder than Oxbow. Cotton enjoys both but he has finished most of the Momi serving within the 3hours. 

 

I think I will also cut down the amount of fresh vegetable frequency to maybe 2-3 times a week so that Cotton will eat his hays. He seems to eat lesser of his hays these days and expecting treats from us as well. Naughty Cotton. I worried he may turn to picky eater if we are not careful.

Grooming Cotton's matted fur without Trancing!

My 2nd attempt of grooming (combing to be exact) Cotton without trancing him was again a success. He seems to respond to me saying if he doesn't allow me to comb him, then will let outsiders to do so. Then he wiould lie down flat on his belly for me to let me comb him. His matted fur was mainly at his rear and tigh areas. Some of the matted fur was stained with brownish stain of urine! The duration seems slightly longer than the first round like I could comb him non stop for 10mins or so before he hopped back to eat some hays and coaxed him to lie flat again. 

Honestly, it's pretty tiring session as I have to squat and bend over to comb his rear. I have not try letting him rest on my legs and I comb him. Still, it's a good progress between Cotton and me. 

I have used slicker brush ($14) and a big teeth metal comb ($7) to comb Cotton. I tried to save some monies but using plastic human comb and the teeth just wouldn't penetrate well. At the end of the combing session, Cotton is treated with a bowl of his fave pellet treat! And after eating his treats, it's rest and relax time again for him.