Natural Nibbles Flower & Herb Nibble Cubes

A rabbit's teeth never stop growing, and neither do a guinea pig's. What wears them back is not a chew toy but the long sideways grind of working through stalky, fibrous material for hours at a stretch - which is why boredom in a small herbivore and dental trouble in a small herbivore are so often the same problem wearing two different hats.

These are forage pressed into a hard cube: parsley stalks, coriander stalks, dill stalks and marigold flowers, compacted enough that the animal has to work at one rather than swallow it. The declared analysis is crude protein 11.5%, crude oils 2%, crude fibre 17.5% and crude ash 2.5%. It comes as a 250g bag, and Natural Nibbles suggest hand-feeding them rather than tipping them into a bowl.

• 250g bag
• Parsley stalks, coriander stalks, dill stalks and marigold flowers
• Crude fibre 17.5%, crude protein 11.5%, crude oils 2%, crude ash 2.5%
• Compressed into a hard cube, so it takes chewing
• A complementary treat rather than a feed
• Suits hand-feeding

The fibre figure will tempt you to treat this as more than a treat. 17.5% crude fibre is respectable for something in a treat bag and nowhere near what a rabbit or guinea pig needs across a whole day; that work belongs to unlimited hay and nothing here replaces it. No feeding quantity has been supplied at all, so there is no guidance on how many cubes a day is sensible. No vitamin C figure is declared either, which is worth knowing if you keep guinea pigs and were hoping this contributed. Introduce any new forage slowly with a small herbivore - a sudden diet change is a gut problem waiting to happen.

Who it's for: keepers of rabbits, guinea pigs and other small herbivores who want something hand-feedable that is stalks and flowers rather than sugar, and anyone whose animal turns its nose up at plain hay-based treats.