Tips for a chubby bunny?

Hi fellow bunny lovers! My bunny, Bailey, is a tad chubby - do you guys have any weight-loss tips for him?

~SOME INFO ON MY CHUBBY BOY~
- He lives indoors in an enclosed room with toys (tunnel tubes, hay toys cardboard house)
- He gets a teaspoon of pellets in the morning, about 2 cups of veges at night (mostly leafy greens and herbs) and oaten hay all day.
- I give him dried fruit pieces and dandelions as treats. Are these fatty for him?
- I don't feel confident to let him regularly exercise outside nowadays, because of myxomatosis.
- I wish he could exercise around the whole house - but I'm not allowed.

Any help would be much appreciated

Are you in Australia? Is he de sexed?

BaileyBoy said:

Hi fellow bunny lovers! My bunny, Bailey, is a tad chubby - do you guys have any weight-loss tips for him?

~SOME INFO ON MY CHUBBY BOY~
- He lives indoors in an enclosed room with toys (tunnel tubes, hay toys cardboard house)
- He gets a teaspoon of pellets in the morning, about 2 cups of veges at night (mostly leafy greens and herbs) and oaten hay all day.
- I give him dried fruit pieces and dandelions as treats. Are these fatty for him?
- I don't feel confident to let him regularly exercise outside nowadays, because of myxomatosis.
- I wish he could exercise around the whole house - but I'm not allowed.

Any help would be much appreciated

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- First off decrease pellet intake and increase hay but veggies I think is fine. Depending on the type of pellets you feed him, they can make bunnies really fat if fed in large quantities. Some vets recommend not feeding pellets to rabbits as it is not necessary.
- Limit treats to about 1-2 pieces a week, not a day.
- Your rabbit should be vaccinated against myx and RHD, indoor rabbits should get at least one booster a year, outdoor twice a year.
- He should really be having the very least 2 hours of exercise A DAY. This is the most important, it will not only lose wieght but it will make your bunny a lot happier than before.

Please make sure you vaccinate him against myx and RHD because it can still be transferred by clothes into your house and this will not make you afraid of bringing him outside.

One teaspoon of pellets is barely enough like it is so I would not decrease that. Dried fruit is fattening...he needs more exercise. Just curious why you think he's overweight?

It is not an absolute necessity to feed rabbits pellets at all. After all they were invented for farmers to fatten baby rabbits. (I thought it said two tablespoons, my bad, I wasn't wearing my glasses at the time

But yeh a teaspoon is not enough really, give him at least 1 tablespoons 2 max.

You cannot vaccinate a bunny against myxomatosis in Australia (that's if you are situated in Australia).

You should post a pic and show everyone why you think his over weight.

Also I agree with above ^^ that is not much pellets at all, stop feeding dried fruits so much (they are fattening)

If your in America then you can vaccinate your bun against myxo... I'm in Australia and can cant vaccinate against myxo but still let my bunnies out.. They live outside and never had an issue

MC Bunnies said:

If your in America then you can vaccinate your bun against myxo... I'm in Australia and can cant vaccinate against myxo but still let my bunnies out.. They live outside and never had an issue

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Actually it is England where myxo is a threat and the vaccine is available. It is practically unheard of in the US. It is very rare for myxo to infect a bunny here and it has only been seen in a couple states. The vaccine is not readily available in the States and rabbits here typically do not get any vaccines.

(I thought that the vaccine was recommended and available in Australia.)
Here's a thread:
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/showthread.php?t=79919

Oh, it is only the CRD vaccine available in Australia? Here is another thread on vaccines in Australia with info from Azarene, who lives there.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/showthread.php?t=78391

How much does Bailey weigh? Has a vet said he is chubby, or has something else brought this to your attention?

Dried fruits tend to be very low in nutrition and high in fat, it would be better to give him small pieces of fresh fruit as treats, but if you're not giving them often this may not be the problem.

Exercise is extremely important for rabbits so even if he just gets to explore your room for a couple of hours a day this will benefit him over all.

Only CRD is available here sadly I have never had a case of myxo or calci but I still vaccinate. If you are found with the myxo vaccination on your property you can face fine up to 44000

I agree on cutting out the dried fruits for now, as that could be contributing, however it could also be the oaten hay. Does the hay you get have quite a lot of seed heads in it? The oaten seeds themselves I'm told can be quite fattening (and there's also a risk they can get stuck in the fur or throat and cause issues) so if there's quite a lot of them, it's worth pulling out the stems with seed heads before feeding the hay. It's the main reason I don't buy oaten or wheaten hay when possible, because I don't like feeding all those seeds. If you can find a good quality meadow hay, it usually has little to no seed heads in it. Otherwise, it sounds like you're doing everything right, perhaps just encourage more active exercise (eg. get him to work for his pellets or something similar).

Are any of the pictures on Bailey (love the name- will be naming my next dog that)'s rabbit registry recent? If so, he doesn't look at all overweight- lops tend to be larger in bone, which can make them appear chunky.

MC Bunnies said:

Are you in Australia? Is he de sexed?

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Yes, and yes: He's a desexed Aussie bunny

KKM said:

Are any of the pictures on Bailey (love the name- will be naming my next dog that)'s rabbit registry recent? If so, he doesn't look at all overweight- lops tend to be larger in bone, which can make them appear chunky.

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Hi The photo is from many months ago - he's gained weight since then. I'm pretty sure he is on the chunky side because when he lies down, I can see a lots of tummy , and when I pick him up I can feel how big it has got. He's not dangerously overweight or anything, but yeah, he's definitely on the plump side:happybunny:

Azerane said:

I agree on cutting out the dried fruits for now, as that could be contributing, however it could also be the oaten hay. Does the hay you get have quite a lot of seed heads in it? The oaten seeds themselves I'm told can be quite fattening (and there's also a risk they can get stuck in the fur or throat and cause issues) so if there's quite a lot of them, it's worth pulling out the stems with seed heads before feeding the hay. It's the main reason I don't buy oaten or wheaten hay when possible, because I don't like feeding all those seeds. If you can find a good quality meadow hay, it usually has little to no seed heads in it. Otherwise, it sounds like you're doing everything right, perhaps just encourage more active exercise (eg. get him to work for his pellets or something similar).

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I found this very interesting to read. Bailey's oaten hay does have a lot of seed heads. I had no idea they were fattening, though:?

BaileyBoy said:

I found this very interesting to read. Bailey's oaten hay does have a lot of seed heads. I had no idea they were fattening, though:?

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The oaten hay itself is fine, but it's the seeds that I believe are high in calories. It can be especially a problem since bunnies seem to absolutely love the oats and will often eat all of them up before eating the part of the hay that's better for them. I know if I accidentally leave some oat seeds in Bandit's hay he'll sniff them out before he eats anything else. So it's mainly a matter of just pulling out all the obvious seed heads before feeding the hay if you can.

We had a rescue mini rex that was 9 pounds--she looked like a blob with ears. Cut out all the pellets and gave her veggies twice a day and unlimited orchard grass and a little bit of herbs as a treat. It took over a year, but we got her down to 5 pounds and she was a little over 15 when she passed to the bridge. The mistake most make is they let the bunny train them.

I agree with others and think its the oaten hay seed heads that are probably to fattening for him because everything else you mentioned doesn't sound that fattening.