How can I tell if my house rabbit is over weight?

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ashleyann13

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Hello everyone, I was just curious how can I tell if my little bun is over weight? She's 7 months old and hopefully being spayed soon! What is the ideal weight for a dwarf lop? In the pictures I've attached she's sitting eating some hay.ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1397787822.862811.jpgImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1397787868.776315.jpg
 
A healthy weight for a full grown Mini Lop is 5-6 lbs and for a Holland lop, 3-4 lbs. A few of my Hollands are under 3 lbs though.
 
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She looks a bit fat but it could be fur. Its hard to tell. Whats her daily diet like?
 
With rabbits, you really do have to go based on feel rather than breed. Breeds can vary, even within the breed. A dwarf lop might have a weight range of 4-6 pounds (just a guess), 4 pounds could be ideal for one rabbit and 6 could be quite fat. The rabbit could be within the breed limit, but still not be a healthy weight.

You need to get a good feel of her. You should be able to feel the ribs and spine, but they should not be prominent. A layer of fat is not good either. Rabbits don't carry weight on their skeleton like a dog might, so feeling boney isn't necessarily bad as long as it isn't too much. They should not be too squishy either and that tends to be fat. It is fairly easy to distinguish fat from muscle when you feel them.

If she is going to be spayed soon, that means a vet visit. You can ask the vet if she feels a good weight.
 
I can't tell if she is fat or not, but you might want to review her diet since she just about an adult rabbit now. On BioMiami site it says many vets are recommending that rabbits only be fed 1/8 of a cup of pellets per 5lbs- that sounds very low but I'm sure its based on the fact there are a lot of fat pet rabbits out there. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html
 
I fern her 1/8 cup of pellets every morning the. A handful of shaved carrots and a couple broccoli pieces at night
 
Its really good that you aren't feeding too many pellets, and she gets hay too right? She probably is very healthy. :)
 

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