1/2 cup of pellets a day?

[momto1]

Our little Lester is about 7-8 weeks old now (roughly we really aren't sure if he was 4 or 5 weeks when we got him).

When we first got him he barely ate any pellets but now he is at about 1/2 cup a day! He's one the Purina Advanced Show Formula pellet: http://www.rabbitnutrition.com/OurProducts/Products/ShowFormula/default.aspx. The website says to free fed young rabbits. I am worried maybe he's eating too much though. He is offered unlimited timothy and orchard grass as well and he eats tons of that too.

Is this too much food for him? His poop and everything is looking good though I haven't noticed any issues with that. He just seems to have grown really fast, he's probably doubled in size since we got him and we've only had him about 3 weeks. Do they normally grow that fast? What age is he considered an adult and should I start feeding him the adult amounts?

 

[SweetSassy]

He should be on unlimited alfalfa pellets. My buns are 4 1/2 months old and I don't even measure. I keep their bowl full. They get unlimited til 6 months old. I wouldn't keepLester limited. He won't eat too much. He's a growing bunny. :biggrin2:

 

[aurora369]

As you've noticed, baby bunnies grow fast! And that is the main reason for allowing them unlimited pellets until they are about 6 months old. They need all the calories and nutrients in order to develop and grow. Once they reach 6 months, you can slowly start to decrease the amount based on his final adult weight.

Don't worry about over feeding a baby bun. The only thing to worry about over feeding is treats, no matter what age, it's not healthy to have too many treats.

It is good that he is eating lots of hay with his pellets. That means he's getting lots of fibre in his diet. You can offer him different kinds of hays to keep it interesting. At this age it is okay to get alfalfa hay along with any other kind of grass hay (timothy, orchard, blue grass, local, oat, ect).

--Dawn

 

[momto1]

the only reason I know how much he is eating is because I using a measuring cup as a scoop and it's 1/4 cup scoop I feed him 1/8 cup about 4 times a day.

Ok good I know he's suppose to get as much as he needs but I was worried that he was eating too much it just seems like his appetite skyrocketed all of a sudden so I am assuming he's going through a growth spurt.

 

[SweetSassy]

I would just fill it up (the bowl)

Filling it 4 x's a day is alot.

 

[momto1]

he seems to like his food fresh. If it's been sitting for awhile he loses interest. So we'll just give him a little at a time. His bowl is HUGE it'd take him days to eat all those pellets!

 

[anneq]

My bunnies also eat Purina Advanced Nutrition Show Formula and their condition is great!

 

[elrohwen]

When my Holland Lop was growing he would eat about 1/2 cup per day (he had unlimited, but he wouldn't eat over the 1/2 cup usually) so that sounds about right. Now he's 6 months and is down to 1/4 cup plus a little bit before bed (maybe 1/16th cup) and he acts like he's starving ;-) I started reducing his food at 5 months and gradually got him down to where he's at now. I've also increased the amount of veggies as he's getting a lot less pellets (and I'm finding he eats a lot more hay as well).