Burgess launching a new 'Complete' food for piggies (and rabbits)

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Abi_nurse

Abi_nurse

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This month Burgess are launching there new brand of food cubes for guinea pigs and rabbits as a complete food. I'm not sure when the launch date is but i thought i would make people aware that its on its way.

The Cubes are designed to be a complete diet for piggies as they contain timothy hay, a few pellets and herbs together. I do think this is a good idea, however, i dont want the general public to think that every pet shop bought food can be thought of as 'complete' as there is no such thing in the world of piggies/rabbits etc. It is unfortunate that many people these days think its ok to feed rabbits and piggies on nothing more than just a mix or pelletted diet. Hopefully something like this will help out those unfortunate pets, but it will not stop the problem.

Interesting to see what you all think?

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x.
 
Are they kinda like hay cake style things?

Mine don't understand the concept of hay cakes...

I might be tempted to buy some (or get a free sample!) to use as something different as an occasional boredom breaker, but I don't think I'd feed it as a main food.
 
I'm not sure, they look like hey cake things with pellets in the middle and herbs on top. I think theyre going for the complete diet thing, because so many pets are not being fed a correct diet.

x.

Ps this page is out the Veterinary Times
 
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Abi_nurse said:
I'm not sure, they look like hey cake things with pellets in the middle and herbs on top. I think theyre going for the complete diet thing, because so many pets are not being fed a correct diet.

x.

Ps this page is out the Veterinary Times
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Was there any more info on the page about it, or was it just an advert?
 
these look like fun :) I would probably add a few to the top of their regular dry food or scatter a handful around their cage, obviously along with their veggies.. maybe like a extra snack for the day :p
 
Looks interesting, I gather the nuggets will be the regular tasty nuggets and the hay their own brand of timothy? If so it looks to me like Excel have just added a few of their old products together into a cube? ?/ I'll probably buy some all the same though lol rolleyes
 
I will be interested to see how cost effect it is... Are they suggesting that piggies eating this will not need veg? :)
 
Old cynic that I am think that its about the money - bit like first there was the creme egg and then there were creme egg bars ,then splats
 
I'm a bit concerned that because there is a complete food for Guinea pigs and rabbits that people will think it's fine to keep them together.

IF it wasn't why would they have a food that's for both rabbits and guinea pigs? :...
 
I was under the impression there would be a complete cube food for piggies, and then a seperate complete cube food for rabbits... ONly because there are two different boxes in the advertising picture?
 
flintstones said:
I'm a bit concerned that because there is a complete food for Guinea pigs and rabbits that people will think it's fine to keep them together.

IF it wasn't why would they have a food that's for both rabbits and guinea pigs? :...
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Connie said:
I was under the impression there would be a complete cube food for piggies, and then a seperate complete cube food for rabbits... ONly because there are two different boxes in the advertising picture?
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Theyre seperate foods, not a complete food for piggies and rabbits. One for each. I wouldnt imagine such a good company doing a complete food for both.

Amanda1801 said:
Was there any more info on the page about it, or was it just an advert?
Click to expand...

It was just an advert. I'm sure i will get more infor soon though. And they have some new stuff coming in March but wont say what at the moment.

x.
 
flintstones said:
I'm a bit concerned that because there is a complete food for Guinea pigs and rabbits that people will think it's fine to keep them together.

IF it wasn't why would they have a food that's for both rabbits and guinea pigs? :...
Click to expand...


It would be handy for me, as it is, I buy 2 seperate foods, for bunny and piggies, it will be a lot easier buying just the one. ;)
 
I don't personally think these will work (well at least not how burgess intend them too). I also saw the advert in the trade press and decided to email them my concerns. The cubes are intended to be an entirely complete diet and not to give hay etc. I do not like the idea because guineas (and bunnies) need a constant supply of long fibre to munch on. If they finish the cube and you don't notice for a few hours (especially at night), they are going to potentially get digestive problems from lack of fibre. I can't personally see my animals enjoying having a "cube" as their only source of food.
Here is the response I got from burgess

Many thanks for your email regarding our new Excel Food Cubes, I am pleased that you have taken the time to contact us with your questions, as it’s extremely important to us that the improved feeding messages we hope to achieve with pet owners through these cubes, does actually get through and is clearly understood.

I appreciate your concern, however, I would firstly like to reassure you that these cubes have gone through extensive testing with rescue centres, colleges and universities to make sure that they are in no way detrimental to the current eating habbits of rabbits and guinea pigs that have previously been fed The Excel Feeding Plan in its component parts.

Further to this on the feeding guide (which we recommend owners to look at on the front of pack) we clearly display via the diagram that one cube is to be fed per 24 or 48 hour period – depending on the size of the rabbit. As with the existing excel food, feeding guidelines are just that – and will always depend on the size of the rabbit. However, with the reassurance of all the different groups we’ve worked with on these cubes we feel the message is clear that the foods are meant to be portioned controlled, and therefore fed once a day, in the same way most pet owners currently provide a fresh supply of hay every day.

On top of this we have carried out research with consumer groups and vets as to what they understood when it came to feeding the cubes. Everyone was clear that the cubes were meant to be fed once a day – as opposed to the whole lot being put in at once.

We even asked some of the larger animal welfare charities including the Rabbit Welfare Association and The Blue Cross to test these products and they both gave us their support that these cubes promote the right messages for dental, digestive and emotional health. In fact as a result of this we made sure we further stressed in 2 places on the pack that owners should ‘Always make sure your rabbits have a food cube and fresh water available’…….and ‘Remember to ensure you always provide your rabbits with bedding material’. This is aimed at ensuring people check their bunnies daily and therefore do not forget or neglect them.

Finally, and this may be slightly anecdotal, many of us have rabbits at Burgess, two of them were filmed eating a cube over a two hour period. If you would like I can send you the video via yousendit.

You will be pleased to see that each rabbit over the two hours didn’t devour the whole cube in one go. In fact after periods of eating, resting and playing with it, they’d only eaten a third of it between them in a 2 hour period. Therefore it would have taken one standard rabbit around 6 hours to get through the same amount (bearing in mind one of the rabbits in the film is a giant consuming twice as much as a standard rabbit), and 18 - 24 hours to eat the whole thing.

As I say we really do value and appreciate your feedback, and the points you have raised are very important, but they are issues that we took into consideration at development stage, and we are confident that they pose no risk and we have addressed them in our communication on pack.

I hope I have been able to provide the reassurance that you seek, but if you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards
Consumer Care
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To be honest, I'm surprised that such a large contender in the rabbit and guinea pig nutition market is advocating such a lazy, "one size fits all" type of feeding!
 
These cubes may be a complete diet but in my opinion nothing beats seeing your piggy popcorn in delight as you give them a pile of fresh hay. I really hope that owners don't all jump on the bandwagon, in my view these cubes aren't a natural way of feeding at all and I for one will be continuing the good old fashioned feeding of unlimited hay, rationed pellets and plenty of fresh vegetables daily. I have also emailed Burgess regarding the future development of a timothy based pellet that is lower in calcium as sadly in the UK we have nothing timothy based, it's all lucerne! I would love something like the Kleenmama pellets that are available in the US.
 
Surely their molars will get overgrown if owners think they don't have to put hay in with them and what about boredom?!
 
I dont think that I would use these cubes but thats because I'm a saddo who actually enjoys worrying that Rabbit is stealing Roo's peppers :... .

I think it is a good idea for the piggies and rabbits owned by those who are not willing to find out how to feed their pets properly, I would prefer to know that a guinea pig had a cube which would give them hay pellets etc. for most of the day rather than them having no hay and a handful of pellets to last them all day.

I try to get people to feed the right things to their piggies but some of them dont seem to want the hassle (then dont get a piggie!) and it would be a good thing to have the cubes to recommend to those people but I hope that they dont turn into a top seller for burgess because it must be rather boring for the piggies too.
 
I saw this in a magazine at work too, would like to try it but not sure if mine would like it as they're not that keen on hay cookies.
 
I might give them a go along side their normal pellets, veg and hay as more of a "treat".

I might even consider it as replacing one of my bunnies meals (they get a handful of pellets in the morning and same again for tea).

It all depends on the cost though!
 
lynda1 said:
I dont think that I would use these cubes but thats because I'm a saddo who actually enjoys worrying that Rabbit is stealing Roo's peppers :... .

I think it is a good idea for the piggies and rabbits owned by those who are not willing to find out how to feed their pets properly, I would prefer to know that a guinea pig had a cube which would give them hay pellets etc. for most of the day rather than them having no hay and a handful of pellets to last them all day.

I try to get people to feed the right things to their piggies but some of them dont seem to want the hassle (then dont get a piggie!) and it would be a good thing to have the cubes to recommend to those people but I hope that they dont turn into a top seller for burgess because it must be rather boring for the piggies too.
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While I agree with the above, I imagine that these "type" of people are the kind of people who wouldn't shell out for a product that's in reality, probably going to be quite pricey!
 
I like the idea of a cube, not as a full time food but as a treat - a nutritionally balanced occasional treat

I wont feed my gang any of this honey coated full of colourings type treats that are marketed at piggies and rabbits
 
I think it's a good idea maybe as a treat but in not sure about it being a complete food. I like hearing my piggies wheeking when I pick up their bag of food and their popcorning when I give them a pile of hay:)) I suppose it would be better if pet shops used them, at least they would be getting something
 
I would only use it as an occasional treat if we did try it. Why on earth would you give them one block of the same food everyday? There doesn't seem to be any point to having guinea pigs if you don't enjoy watching them get excited about different foods and devour them at different speeds, or watch them impatiently tapping their paws while waiting for you to change their hay ( okay, they don't but they would if they could! ) and then diving in! That's half the fun of having piggies. ;)
 
When my girls were rescued they had been fed on rabbit food mallethead and I've weaned them onto Gerty food which I was given by the rescue people.
It's ok but I would rather they go onto a pellet food with a good reputation. I plan on weaning them onto Burgess Excel but I might get some of this new stuff as treats and boredom breakers. rolleyes
 
I am still confused about whether this is supposed to be instead of veg aswell? I cant imagine being fed an odd looking cube of exactly the same thing every day... no matter how nutritionally balanced it was.

Needless to say, My piggies will not be fed on these on a regular basis. (as everyone else say, treat only!)
 
Connie said:
I am still confused about whether this is supposed to be instead of veg aswell? I cant imagine being fed an odd looking cube of exactly the same thing every day... no matter how nutritionally balanced it was.

Needless to say, My piggies will not be fed on these on a regular basis. (as everyone else say, treat only!)
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I suppose you could email Burgess and ask them. Maybe on the box it will state something about veg?

Its a contraversial food, i agree to the fact that i think i will be feeding it as a treat and staying with the unlimited hay, bowl of pellets a day and mixed veg. However, baring in mind on the veterinary front, i have seen so many people who are incapable of doing the hay/pellet/veg diet. And although i agree, if you cant look after your pet correctly, dont get one. But people will continue to do so. Sadly i dont think i will be not seeing rabbits/piggies on poor diets or puppies fed hot dogs and goats milk. It will still happen. But even if a few people take up the cube diet rather than not feed properly then i think its worth it. I'd rather a poor neglected piggie/rabbit be fed cubes than not a proper diet at all. The only quiery is the cost i suppose.

x.
 
Oh yes, I do think it will be helpfull to people who do not currently feed propperly, but how many people take it up will really depend upon how costly it is. Most people who feed only musli (not hay or veg) to their piggies buy a very cheap brand. I cant imagine people who buy a very cheap brand going out and buying these... Although that would be an ideal world ofc.

I just assumed they would still need veg due to it being difficult to get enough vit C into them without.
 
I've bought the occasional bag of all in one cubes from the Hay Experts and also from Zooplus. My boys are a bit sniffy at them (but then all they want is grass even in February) but the girls love them and come out and steal their cube when it arrives. I only don't feed them all the time because I like the piggies to have variety, so they get both sorts of excel (with B&O being the most popular), plus some wagg mixed with either type of pellet sometimes, as well. Plus the ones I get are pretty pricey! But I would defo be interested in getting some to try - me being the perfect slave
 
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