New bun parent

Hi, I just had a new bunny, Fiffy who is about 10weeks old. I would hope to seek some advice from you all if possible. Thank you.

Hello! Feel free to ask if you have questions ^^

Welcome to the forum!

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Dear all, thank you.

I would like to check if you all have any advise on the quantity of pellets and alfalfa that I should be giving my bunny.

I have been feeding her growth pellets and a mixture of hay(Alfalfa, Orchard & Timothy)

However I'm not sure how much is the quantity for the pellets for her. As she don't seems to eat Hay if I feed her pellets so I have to timely give pellets like 2 tablespoonful every morning and 1 spoonful at night.

And when Alfalfa is available, she will finished them as well. So I'm not sure she is having enough. Once I even have her drinking so much water not sure if it is to replace her diet.

When I gotten her it was advise that she is 8weeks old now is about 9-10 but she is about 480g Now.

Considering she is growing, she's supposed to be able to eat a lot of pellets right now. But indeed a lot of bunnies just won't chose the hay if pellets are available. 2 tbsp and 1 spoonful doesn't sound like much for a baby but her weight doesn't mean much without her breed and at that age rabbits grow ridiculously fast (I remember Aki could fit in the palm of my hand when I got her and then I felt like she was doubling in size every week ^^). Rather than limiting the quantity, I would limit the time. I would try giving her a bowl of pellets for like half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening with hay all the time. If the drinking a lot was only once, it might be circumstancial but if it becomes a habit, I would take her to a vet - rabbits don't drink to replace food in my experience and that might indicate a health issue. Also, with hay being available all the time and normally consumed all day and night, there is no reason for the rabbit to feel hungry (in a natural setting , rabbits don't eat pellets... they eat grass and plants).

Thanks Aki for the advise. How about Alfalfa? Though I place a mixture of hay, I'll put in some in the morning and some at night, I somehow realise that she only choose to eat the Alfalfa and not much of the rest of the hay.

You really do need to be giving a greater quantity of pellets due to the growing needs of the baby. When I fed my baby buns, to make sure they were getting enough nutrients from pellets as well as eating enough hay for good digestive function, I would feed enough pellets that it would last most of the day but that they would run out of pellets about 3 hours before their next feeding, and I fed twice a day 12 hours apart. So I fed enough pellets to last 9 hours. Then in those last 3 hours the bunnies would eat their timothy hay before I gave them pellets again.

If the pellets contain alfalfa and are a high protein pellet(16% or higher), then you really don't need to worry about providing too much alfalfa hay if you are making sure to feed enough pellets, and can mostly just feed the grass hay along with the pellets, though you do need to make sure your bun is eating the grass hay well enough in those few hours before giving pellets again. I would maybe only give a little bit of alfalfa as a treat.

If you haven't been feeding the baby bun very much pellets, then you shouldn't just suddenly increase the amount. It would be better to gradually increase the amount over several days to give the bunnies digestive system time to adjust to the change. While you are gradually increasing the amount of pellets, I would probably continue to feed a bit more alfalfa hay so the baby bun is getting enough protein, and just gradually decrease the amount of alfalfa hay as you are increasing the amount of pellets. And keep a close eye on the baby buns poop to make sure it doesn't get mushy. And always make sure the baby bunny doesn't run out of grass hay.

The reason that it is important for baby rabbits to get enough pellets is because of the extra nutrients they need for growing. Yes technically they could survive without pellets like wild rabbits do, but the problem with this when it comes to domestic rabbits is that wild rabbits can pick and chose which plants they eat so that they can ensure they are getting the needed nutrients, such as baby bunnies being able to eat early growth grass that is much higher in nutrients and protein than the typical hay that most domesticated rabbit eat.

Feeding a baby bunny a no or low pellet diet just isn't usually doable for most pet owners. Pellets are an easier way for us to make sure that baby rabbits in particular, are getting enough nutrients for growing. It is possible to feed a low or no pellet diet to domestic rabbits(I have one adult rabbit that can't have pellets), but it usually requires very careful planning, monitoring, and extra effort to make sure the rabbit is getting all the needed nutrients each day. If the pellets caused mushy poop or other poop irregularities, then that would be one reason to provide a low or no pellet diet to a baby bunny, but again it just has to be done carefully so the baby bun is still getting all the nutrients it needs for growth.

Tellojello said:

Thanks Aki for the advise. How about Alfalfa? Though I place a mixture of hay, I'll put in some in the morning and some at night, I somehow realise that she only choose to eat the Alfalfa and not much of the rest of the hay.

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I never gave alfalfa to any of my rabbits. I only ever gave normal timothy hay and never had any problem. If your pellets are adapted for growing rabbits and you give enough of it, it should be enough. You'll have to stop giving it when the rabbit is grown up though.
Honestly, I think you have to give more pellets for now (you'll be able to decrease the amount when you begin to introduce vegetables - there again, we don't all agree, I've always began to introduce vegetables as soon as the rabbit was settled in the house, so around 9 weeks and never had any problem or a single upset stomach but I wouldn't have done it with a petshop bunny). In the end the pellet / hay thing depends on the rabbit. A netherland dwarf doesn't have the same needs than a giant breed and some rabbits are able to regulate themselves if you leave them with a big bowl of pellets all day while others will stuff their face with them and won't touch a single piece of hay. Aki was really reasonnable and had a free access to her pellets, but she was eating her hay really well and was eating her pellets sparingly. It was impossible to do the same with Tybalt, who would just empty the bowl and not eat hay and thus got a limited access to the pellets (he still really gets excited about them though, he begs shamelessly when I take the package out in the morning).
Keep a close eye on the litterbox, that's not very glamourous, but it's still the best indicator of your rabbit's health ^^.