After reading a post from The Rabbit House, Rabbits3 decided it was time to have more fun with food, plus they want to try out for the BunSoccer League. So, with the aid of my credit card, they purchased some food balls ( actually they are called Snacky Snack balls but we don't put snacks in them...) from HERE. You could think of food balls as a sort of rolling pez dispenser for pellets. The pellets are paced in the ball through a half circle door. At first I left this all the way open so they would get the idea that you have to roll the ball and the pellets drop out. Now that skills are being mastered I close it up to about half way so they have to work a little harder.
Tyler gives a short demo how to demo on how to "nose" the ball.
Why not just have the bowl of pellets? Having read the aforementioned post I did begin to think about this. Firstly, I am entirely guilty of making life easy for the Rabbits3 as far as food goes. Doubtless a habit leftover from my care giving years with Bandit, who required special food at regular intervals. Young healthy buns can take a challenge! Secondly, from a health standpoint it is better for the gut of the rabbit not to be inundated with pellets all at once. As we all know GI Stasis is the number health problem in the rabbit community. Certainly in the wild a rabbit's feeding habit is a here and there sort of affair. Of course we do not have wild rabbits, but their digestive system is basically the same. Plus pellets are not a natural food; nutrient dense they require really very little chewing compared to the amount of chewing required for the same nutrients obtained from grass or foliage, fresh or dried. Just as in humans, digestion starts in the mouth with mixing enzymatic rich saliva with the food to start the process of cellular breakdown (digestion). Are the pellets eaten en masse receiving their required dose of saliva for proper breakdown? This is just me thinking, there is no study on this as far as I know and I could be absolutely full of doots.
Sydney show her technique for extracting pellets from the ball. She calls it "delegation". Amelia calls it something else.
We got three extra balls as give-a-way! To be eligible you need to have a rabbit and you need to let me know in the comments that you want to be in the drawing. Winners will be announced next Bunday.
Here is the latest hottest story in the bonding of Rabbits3. This morning I woke up to what I supposed was chewing sounds. My sleepy brain thought "Somebun is really going to town on the pellets." Soon the realization crept in that no pellets had been served, therefore somebun had broken into the pellets and served themselves. They would eat themselves silly or sick. Switching on the light I shot my glance around the headboard and saw not a feast but a love fest with Amelia as the center of attention; both Tyler and Sydney were working away at her ears while she tooth purred loud enough to wake the dreaming. Having lost an opportunity yesterday to photograph Sydney grooming Amelia, I grabbed camera and shot as quickly and quietly as I could. As you can see the picture doesn't quite capture Sydney's involvement, you'll have to take my word for that. Despite her apparent recognition of Amelia as a fully accepted element of Rabbits3 Sydney still choose to chase and pull out a bit of fur just 20 minutes later. Sydney is a bun of fiery passions.
