Small Animal Pellets & Nuggets

Thirty small animal pellets and nuggets for rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice, from Oxbow, Burgess, Vetafarm and Beaphar. A pelleted food is the concentrated part of a small herbivore's diet — it carries what hay on its own does not — so it is measured out to a daily ration rather than left down without limit. Hay stays the bulk of what a rabbit or guinea pig eats; the pellet fills the gaps around it.

Match the species, not just the size

Rabbit and guinea pig foods are not interchangeable. Guinea pigs cannot make their own vitamin C and have to take it in through food, which is why every brand on this page runs a separate cavy line — Oxbow Essentials and Garden Select Adult Guinea Pig Food, Burgess Excel Guinea Pig Nuggets, Vetafarm Cavy Origins, Beaphar Nature and Care+ Extruded Guinea Pig Food. Rats and mice are omnivores rather than grazers and get their own formulas again: Oxbow Garden Select Adult Rat Food, Garden Select Mouse & Young Rat Food and Vetafarm Rodent Origins. Buying whichever bag is closest to hand leaves a gap that only shows up slowly.

Life stage and body condition

Most of these ranges split by age. Oxbow Essentials runs Young, Adult and Senior in both rabbit and guinea pig. Burgess Excel covers the two ends with Junior & Dwarf Rabbits Nuggets Mint and Mature Rabbit Nuggets Cranberry & Thyme. Beaphar splits both its Nature and Care+ Extruded rabbit foods into junior and adult. A growing animal needs more from its food than a settled adult does, and the senior and mature lines are built for animals that have slowed down. Burgess also makes Indoor nuggets for rabbits and guinea pigs kept inside, where there is less room to move, and a Rabbit Nuggets Lite for animals carrying more condition than they should.

Brands and ranges on this page

The three words on the bag describe how the food is made. Oxbow's Essentials, Garden Select and Organic Bounty ranges are pressed pellets. Burgess Excel calls its pressed pieces nuggets and makes them in one uniform shape, so an animal cannot pick out the parts it likes and leave the rest — the Mint, Oregano and Natures Blend versions are all built the same way. Beaphar's Care+ line is extruded, a lighter and more open piece than a pressed pellet. Vetafarm's Cavy Origins and Rodent Origins are Australian-made pellets. Whichever you move to, change over gradually across a week or two; small herbivore guts do not cope well with an abrupt switch.

• Small animal grass & hay
• Small animal treats
• Small animal habitat accessories
• Oxbow
• Burgess
• All small animal supplies