Taking away pellets and just go with a veggie

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Hermelin

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My rabbit have started to go up in weight after he stopped growing, I have a harder time feeling his bones and he’s bottom it’s starting to be always dirty which it never had been before. His droppings looks good when he’s not eating pellet but when he get his 1 teaspoon pellet he get too much soft droppings which he should eat up, don’t remember the name in English for those droppings but a couple hours later he get the fiber rich droppings again.

It have been a long winter so the veggies are quite expensive right now and I only buy eco friendly for him but he only gets veggie sometimes because I don’t have the budget this month because he have been to the vet and also got 3 different vaccinations.

I was thinking to take away the pellet and just let him have veggies instead, he have always free acess to hay and I always fill his hay rack up everyother day. Will it help with his weight and let him lose the fat while keeping him at a healthy weight.
 
Going pellet free is always an option however, that then requires a very healthy variety of daily greens to be sure he is getting all the nutrients he needs. It would also need to be consistent - every day. Not just "sometimes."

Netherland Dwarfs can weigh up to 2.5 lbs. He's only 7 months, so he has been a growing juvenile and is just now becoming an adult.
 
I’m just thinking because he’s starting to have trouble cleaning himself and he’s 8 months now :3 don’t think he should put on more weight because a rabbit should be able to clean himself without trouble and I can’t feel his spine only his hipbones.

He will get greens everyday if I change the diet and he will have access to different sallat, spinach, herbs and leafy spices as his main diet, everything will be leafy greens. Won’t change the diet this month because on I spent a lot of money on the vet and his vaccinations.
 
or he wil just get half a teaspoon of pellets because right now he get too many soft droppings which make his bum dirty and he dosen’t eat it. And he have a harder time cleaning himself.
 
Some of my rabbits are on a pellet free diet because two of the rabbits in the group get a messy bum if they get any amount of pellets, and one will actually get sick from them. I free feed grass hay(timothy right now) and a few select leafy greens. Right now it's just romaine as I can't vary their diet too much because of one rabbits particular needs. I don't know how necessary a variety is, regardless of what the pet rabbit sites always say. I've only ever been able to feed a select few leafy greens and my rabbits haven't ever had a problem because of it, and it's pretty much been this same diet for years.

Rabbits are a lot like horses in regards to their digestive system and dietary needs, and most horses only eat hay or grass and are fine. I'm of the opinion that as long as you are feeding a good quality grass hay that isn't too old or been out in the sun leaching the nutrients out of it, that rabbits can get the majority of their nutrients from their hay and that veggies are just an extra supplement.

Though if you do feed a pellet free diet, you need to make sure your bun has access to a salt lick and uses it. You also need to ensure good hay eating and monitor for excess weight loss that puts him at an unhealthy weight/body condition.
eta: Also monitor amount of water consumption. If it increases significantly along with severe weight loss, the lack of pellets may be to blame.

The other option for you would be to try a different brand of pellet to see if that helped at all. I know that some pellets are known for causing issues(depending on where you are). What kind are you feeding him now?
 
He’s getting a pellet called selective, I was thinking I can use the pellet just a little in the veggies, maybe just give him 5 pellets. So he get the salt, I know many rabbits start to abuse the salt rock and my rabbit it’s crazy when it come to something to eat and licking. I need him to lose a little weight so he can clean himself again without trouble. He started to have trouble when he stopped growing, I know he will just fill out now because he it’s a dwarf.

He always eat a great amount of hay which it’s timothy mixed with another grass type , because here we don’t have just timothy hay and buying oxbow it will have to travel from another country which won’t be nice on the environment and really expensive. I’m soon going to buy hay from a farmer instead, they have better hay quality.
 
I've never had a rabbit overuse a salt lick. Like most animals, they just lick off what they need and that's it. My group of six rabbits, are still using the same salt wheel I put in there at least 3 years ago, but I guess your rabbit could be different and have a salt obsession. I'm not sure your rabbit will get the necessary amount of sodium from just a few pellets, but maybe he'll be ok. I would just keep a close eye on him and make sure he isn't losing too much weight or start chewing on or licking odd things, as this could be an indication he's trying to get the salt he needs.

I don't recall mushy poop being a common problem with selective. I do know that many rabbit owners have reported burgess causing these sorts of issues. So this is why I asked, in case you were feeding burgess. Your rabbit must just be sensitive to pellets.

I'm not sure where you are located, but if you are in the UK, there are several good hay suppliers for pet rabbits, with a good variety of different hays, though this of course will be more expensive than just finding a farmer or farm store to buy a good quality bale of grass hay. It doesn't have to be timothy. Any grass hay will do, as long as it's not spoiled and is good quality, and your bun also likes it and will eat it.
 
I never had this trouble when he was growing a lot, I’m thinking he’s getting too much pellets right now because he get a lot of appendicitis droppings. My rabbit it’s the food crazy one and I dosen’t trust him with a salt rock because of his attitude. Maybe I should just half his pellets and he will lose the extra weight during time.

It’s so hard measauring up food for him when he’s so small and it’s really easy overfeeding him.
 
The soft poops are called ceotropes I don’t think Ive spelt it right but that is the main word
 
In my country we say night droppings or appendicitis droppings in my language. Thanks for telling me ^^
 

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