Tiny Friends Farm Russel's Carrot & Timothy Mix

Put a bowl of several different things in front of a rabbit and it will eat them in order of preference, not in order of what is good for it. That is the single most useful thing to know about any mixed ration, and it decides how you feed this one rather than whether you buy it.

This is a complete food built as a mix rather than a uniform pellet. Timothy hay leads the composition at 22%, followed by flaked peas, wheat, flaked maize, soya bean hulls, extruded maize, flaked carrots at 4%, whole oats, flaked wheat, soya bean meal, extruded locust beans, linseed and alfalfa meal, with soya bean and sunflower oils and calcium carbonate. It analyses at crude protein 14%, crude fibre 12%, crude oils and fats 4%, crude ash 5%, calcium 0.6% and phosphorus 0.4%, and carries a full vitamin and mineral pack including vitamin A and vitamin D3.

• 2.5KG bag; a complete food for rabbits of all breeds
• Timothy hay 22%, flaked carrots 4%
• Crude protein 14%, crude fibre 12%, oils and fats 4%, crude ash 5%
• Calcium 0.6%, phosphorus 0.4%
• Feeding guide: 60-70g a day for an average 2.5kg adult rabbit
• No added colours and no added sugar, per the maker

Where the name flatters it. Two things. The bag is called Carrot & Timothy: timothy hay really is 22%, but flaked carrots are 4%, so half the name is a garnish rather than a headline. And the selling copy talks about real carrots and leeks — there is no leek of any description anywhere in the published composition. Then there is the shape of the food itself: because the components are visibly different from one another, the fibre figure printed on the bag is the fibre in the bag, not necessarily the fibre that ends up in the rabbit. Complete food or not, hay should still be the bulk of the diet, and the feeding guide says as much.

Who it's for: owners of adult rabbits who prefer a mixed ration to a uniform nugget, who are already feeding unlimited hay alongside it, and who watch what actually gets left in the bowl.