Towards the end of last year I started to do some reviews on a few of the market leaders in the extruded pellet dry feed industry. Supreme Pet Foods were very forthcoming and keen to assist me with my reviews and so sent me some bags of their Science Selective rabbit feed and guinea pig feed to test out with my animals.
Since beginning my review the recipe for the rabbit Science Selective has now changed. It now includes a higher percentage of fibre which is very much a good thing. Therefore I can only comment on and review the earlier product, but it is in essence the same feed.
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| 5kg bag |
It's very important to gradually add a new food into a rabbit's diet so their digestive system doesn't become upset. Rabbits tummies are sensitive things so a slow change over is key when switching to a new brand.
Before I started the gradual implementation I wanted to see the initial reaction to this food against its competitors: Mr Johnsons which I reviewed earlier and the Burgess Excel which is the current feed for all my animals.
I was keen to use Lucy as primary tester as she's definitely one of the more difficult bunnies when it comes to food. Having rescued her from a home prior ours, Lucy came to us unaccustomed to a good diet of pellets or vegetables. We have since moved her away from a muesli food diet to a pellet feed.
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| Lucy, the very hairy Lionhead! |
I laid out a small quantity of Supreme Science Selective to the far right, Mr Johnsons in the middle and Burgess Excel (Lucy's usual food) to the left. This is what happened:
Lucy has literally taken to the Science Selective very well, in fact it didn't take long at all to change her dry food over completely. To this day she is eating a full portion of Science Selective everyday and no longer eats Burgess Excel. She's definitely decided which food she prefers to eat!
The Nitty Gritty
When I first opened the Supreme Science Selective I was surprised by how different to the competitors the food compared. Mr Johnsons and Burgess Excel were similar nugget form where the Science Selective are more curly sausage shaped; thin biscuits around 1.5cm long.
Fibre - 19% (23% new recipe), Protein - 14%
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| Curly and sausage shape pellets |
Initially I expected Lucy to experience problems eating these pellets as she has a history of dental problems; malocclusion. At times it seemed she struggled to get hold of the long shapes in her mouth and would drop them after trying to reel them in. Personally I would say the shape is the only drawback to this food and too large. Having continued with the pellets Lucy has acquired a knack of eating them and quite happily guzzles her way though.
I am happy that Lucy is eating this food now. She appears more content with it, enjoys eating it and contains a higher level of fibre at 19% (or 23% by the new current recipe) compared to Mr Johnsons Everyday Advance 17%.
Perhaps even more positively, Lucy's teeth have now established a healthy state and she's not needed dentistry for some months now. Is this down to the Science Selective? Could well be.
Becky x
