How To Store Rabbit Pellets

How To Store Rabbit Pellets?

Good Day Lagomorph Lovers! Our topic today is bunny food storage, specifically: How to Store Rabbit Pellets.

Have you ever dug into your container of rabbit pellets and pulled out a scoop of pellets that are moldy mess? That’s happened to me! Rabbit food storage is an important topic for bunny owners.

So, let’s talk about best practices for how to store bunny food for your buns.

The embedded video about feed storage containers from Country View Acres is a winner!

Rabbit Food Storage

Why do we care about how to store rabbit food? Well, a proper storage container system helps us take proper care of our rabbits and is more economical.

The best practice is to store the rabbit pellets in a cool, dry place. Moisture is bad as bunny pellets will absorb moisture and then begin to mold. And Heat is bad as heat will make the pellets breakdown faster and mold will grow faster in heat!

A proper rabbit feed storage system helps, here are our suggestions:

  • Keep the food cool and dry – this is best for maintaining nutritional value of the rabbit pellets and for shelf life.
  • Keep Moisture out of the Pellets – If the pellets absorb moisture, then they will begin to mold.
  • Decrease Mold Content – Mold exists before you can even see it.
  • Decrease the Possibility of Mites, Weevils, Mice, and Other Pests – it is possible that mites or weevils get into your bunny pellets during manufacturing or during shipping.
  • Increase Efficiency – purchase only quality feeds that help decrease wastage of food and subsequent waste of money.
Good Rabbit Food Storage Save Money

Rabbit Food Storage Containers

There are some best rabbit pellet storage containers offered online and at your local pet stores. When looking for a proper rabbit food storage container remember that the container needs to be airtight!

Note that some rabbit feed storage containers include a measuring cup, a very helpful accessory for measuring out bunny pellets! “Vittles Vault” is one brand of bunny food storage container that we recommend.

Now once you have a great container store it in a cool, dry environment. Most outbuildings, sheds and barns are not climate controlled so their temperatures vary tremendously from summer to winter. In addition, they and may have a moist environment and may not be an ideal pellet storing location.

Further, if you’ve purchased several airtight bags of rabbit pellets, then you may place the unopened, airtight bags into a typical plastic (e.g., Rubbermaid) storage bin or large tote rather for easy storage!

There are also many options for dealing with large amounts of pellets bought at once: after opening an airtight shipping bag of rabbit pellets you may opt to pour the bunny pellets into one or more Ziploc bags and stow the Ziplocs full of rabbit pellets in the storage bin. Or, you may opt to pack several airtight bags of rabbit pellets in a spare, heavy plastic or metal garbage can with lid.

Finally, if your barn or outbuilding is often visited by a rat or squirrel then you may want to opt for the traditional galvanized metal garbage can with a tight-fitting lid as they can chew through plastic totes if they are desperate!

We have used several metal garbage cans with lids for years at our hobby farm, for everything from rabbit pellets to hay, to hog feed, steer feed, chicken feed and turkey feed. So this is a method we recommend!

Hint: Don’t place the pellet storage container (trash can, large tote, etc) on a dirt floor. Instead, we recommend placing your storage containers on a pallet, so the bottom of the storage container is not in direct contact with the ground. Direct contact with the ground can cause some condensation to occur on the inside of the container.

What NOT to Use for Rabbit Food Storage Container – Our Recommendations

  • Do not pour your rabbit pellets into a cardboard box. A cardboard box is a poor rabbit feed storage container as it invites pests and does not seal the pellets from moisture.
  • Do not pour your bunny pellets into a plastic garbage bag.  Pests can still smell the pellets, so even the well-sealed garbage bag invites pests and doesn’t really seal well against moisture.
Rabbit Food Storage of Pellets

How Much Rabbit Food To Buy?

We buy bunny pellets in 50-pound bags from the local mill. However, most people will be buying rabbit pellets online and have them shipped to their front door or will buy them from their local poet store.

Whatever your purchasing situation is, try to match it to your rabbit food storage capacity. If you have several good bunny food storage containers then you can buy enough to match that capacity; especially if you find a good price or a bargain.

Overall, we suggest not trying to store rabbit pellets for more than 5 or 6 months.  Your feed may already be several months old by the time you buy it.

Great Video – Feed Storage Ideas for Homesteaders and Hobby Farms by Evan and Rebekah at Country View Acres

Final Thoughts

There you have it, we have covered how to best store rabbit pellets as well as various ideas about rabbit food storage with a few of our personal recommendations included!

When it comes to storing rabbit pellets, it is most important to realize that properly storing bunny feed is essential to maintaining nutritional value, keeping out pests, and saving money.

We constantly strategize to reduce feed spoilage and increase the efficacy of our bunny food storage system and recommend buying and storing no more than 5 months of rabbit pellets. Remember that rurnover or churn of rabbit feed is a good thing and the fresher, the better!

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