My bunny wieghes like ten pounds. i have no idea what to do. If i gave her a limited amount of food, i would starve my other bunny (they live in the same cage;they're bonded).Does anyone have any ideas:??
messes002
messes002
over wieght bunny
- Thread starter messes002
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AmyBunny
Well-Known Member
What breed is she?
Is she spayed?
What kind of pellets do they eat? Do they also get lots of hay?
I would feed them seperately. Rabbits only need 1/4 cup of pellets per 5lbs of body weight. But you will need to ease her food down SLOWLY - if you do it too fast, she could get fatty liver disease. So cut back by about 1Tbsp every 3 days.
Is she spayed?
What kind of pellets do they eat? Do they also get lots of hay?
I would feed them seperately. Rabbits only need 1/4 cup of pellets per 5lbs of body weight. But you will need to ease her food down SLOWLY - if you do it too fast, she could get fatty liver disease. So cut back by about 1Tbsp every 3 days.
fuzz16
Well-Known Member
I would look at the type of food your feeding. Is it the small world feed?
Depending on her breed she may not be overweight. I have an 11lbs bunny whose not overweight at all. Do you have a picture?
Depending on her breed she may not be overweight. I have an 11lbs bunny whose not overweight at all. Do you have a picture?
AmyBunny
Well-Known Member
Increase the hay for sure. Make sure it's Timothy hay, and they can have unlimited amounts of it. It's good for their teeth, digestion, etc etc and won't make them fat 
we got one rescue that came to us looking like a blob with feet. She was a mini rex, but she was a little over 8 pounds. We completely cut out pellets for a couple of months and gave her unlimited timothy hay. Also, started her up slowly on fresh vegetables as we thought her previous caretakers were probably just giving unlimited pellets. Also get two feed dishes and give them their pellets a couple of times a day in small amounts and don't let one hog them all.
right now i give the bunnies unlimited amount of food. i could try to just give them hay but I am not around all the time so im afraid that they would run out and then get really hungry and then they ( i know this sounds odd )but then they dont like to let me let them out and i dont have a lot of greens
But ill try(maybe)
But ill try(maybe)
Small World Animal pellets from Walmart is a very unhealthy food.
You could buy a 50 lb bag of plain alfalfa pellets from a feed or farm store that would be 100% healthier than Small World.
If you continue to feed unlimited amounts your rabbit will not lose weight.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12160&forum_id=17
You could buy a 50 lb bag of plain alfalfa pellets from a feed or farm store that would be 100% healthier than Small World.
If you continue to feed unlimited amounts your rabbit will not lose weight.
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12160&forum_id=17
If you are in an urban area you may need to start ordering food off the interent or if you want small bags you can look for oxbow BBT pellets (or at this point any plain good alfalfa pellet ... ) in good pet stores rathet than dept stores
if you are in semi rural or rural you can get good deals at farm stores with brands like Purina or manna pro and there are a lot more out there. There are different types of the same brand of these foods for specific purposes (breeding and showing formulas don't work for the indoor pet )
before you buy anything you need to remember that if the rabbit is not a very young rabbit that you want preferably aPLAIN pellet ( no seeds, corn or junk in it)with low protein content, low calcium content and high fiber content.
An alfalfa pellet is OK if you measure and feed small amounts of it.
many of us prefer to feed a timothy pellet
if you are in semi rural or rural you can get good deals at farm stores with brands like Purina or manna pro and there are a lot more out there. There are different types of the same brand of these foods for specific purposes (breeding and showing formulas don't work for the indoor pet )
before you buy anything you need to remember that if the rabbit is not a very young rabbit that you want preferably aPLAIN pellet ( no seeds, corn or junk in it)with low protein content, low calcium content and high fiber content.
An alfalfa pellet is OK if you measure and feed small amounts of it.
many of us prefer to feed a timothy pellet
xKuchiki
Well-Known Member
My boys get ZuPreem Timothy Pellets.. and like angie said department stores like Wal-Mart is not where you should look for rabbit food, are there any pet stores in your area like PetSmart, Petland ect.? You may want to try getting them onto plain alfalfa/timothy pellets, some good brands are ZuPreem and Oxbow. Do you have a scale? How much do your rabbits weigh exactly (or close)?
fuzz16
Well-Known Member
feed stores are great for feed, and most will order anything you want. tractor supply or anything like that.
oxbow and purina both have really good rabbit foods.
and your rabbits cant be freefed past a certain age because they dont really need it. like said, unlimited hay is best for them. And excercise in terms of run time never hurts
oxbow and purina both have really good rabbit foods.
and your rabbits cant be freefed past a certain age because they dont really need it. like said, unlimited hay is best for them. And excercise in terms of run time never hurts
nicolevins
Well-Known Member
Cut down on the pellets and keep feeding hay. Make sure the pellets aren't to high in fat. Contact your vet.
tamsin
Well-Known Member
Diet wise the main portion needs to be hay. Each of your rabbits should eat a pile roughly the size of their body every day.
Dry food should be very limited, its fine if their bowl is empty most of the time as long as they have hay. None of my rabbits even have a bowl! I would feed one egg cup of dry food per day per rabbit and all the rest hay. It sounds like they are eating a lot of dry food at the moment so decrease in gradually to that quantity over a week or so to make sure they are eating the hay.
As long as your rabbits have hay to eat all the time they won't starve. Think about wild rabbits, they mostly just eat grass and are perfectly healthy
Dry food should be very limited, its fine if their bowl is empty most of the time as long as they have hay. None of my rabbits even have a bowl! I would feed one egg cup of dry food per day per rabbit and all the rest hay. It sounds like they are eating a lot of dry food at the moment so decrease in gradually to that quantity over a week or so to make sure they are eating the hay.
As long as your rabbits have hay to eat all the time they won't starve. Think about wild rabbits, they mostly just eat grass and are perfectly healthy
GorbyJobRabbits
Well-Known Member
Honestly, you should post a pic of the rabbit... because if its suppose to have that body frame, then.... it doesnt need to loose weight.
You can't just expect a rabbit to loose weight if you have no idea on the type it is.
and if you're afraid of starving the other rabbit, because they share a cage, then its about time you move them. Thus why i will always think its a bad idea to have rabbits sharing a cage/being fed together.
You can't just expect a rabbit to loose weight if you have no idea on the type it is.
and if you're afraid of starving the other rabbit, because they share a cage, then its about time you move them. Thus why i will always think its a bad idea to have rabbits sharing a cage/being fed together.
aurora369
Well-Known Member
Many people have rabbits requiring different diets housed to together. Separate during feeding to make sure each is getting the appropriate amount of pellets/veggies, and then put back together. A bunny really only needs a little bit of pellets, it is more of a vitamin supplement for a pet bunny than the staple of their diet. My bunnies eat their pellets in about 15 minutes, then eat hay the rest of the day.
Hay should make up the majority of the diet. I put huge handfuls of hay in my bunnies litter boxes and have a large hay rack so that if I am gone all day, they will not run out of hay. I also buy hay by the bale because buying in the little petstore bags would bankrupt me in no time! Some feed stores will also sell parts of a bale or let you take lose hay that has fallen from the bales, if a bale is too much for you to store.
I have a very chubby mini rex, and she and her partner only share 1/4 cup of pellets a day. So only 1/8th cup a day for each bun. They eat a lot of hay, probably twice their body size in hay a day. But, they are happy and at a much better weight now.
Also, permanently separating bonded rabbits is very detrimental to their mental health. They become very, very bonded to their cage mates, and to be separated can cause major depression and anxiety. Best to just separate for pellet feeding or feed in different dishes.
--Dawn
Hay should make up the majority of the diet. I put huge handfuls of hay in my bunnies litter boxes and have a large hay rack so that if I am gone all day, they will not run out of hay. I also buy hay by the bale because buying in the little petstore bags would bankrupt me in no time! Some feed stores will also sell parts of a bale or let you take lose hay that has fallen from the bales, if a bale is too much for you to store.
I have a very chubby mini rex, and she and her partner only share 1/4 cup of pellets a day. So only 1/8th cup a day for each bun. They eat a lot of hay, probably twice their body size in hay a day. But, they are happy and at a much better weight now.
Also, permanently separating bonded rabbits is very detrimental to their mental health. They become very, very bonded to their cage mates, and to be separated can cause major depression and anxiety. Best to just separate for pellet feeding or feed in different dishes.
--Dawn
tonyshuman
Well-Known Member
You can tell somewhat of whether or not they're overwight by feeling the body condition. A fat bunny will feel flabbier and less toned. I agree that switching the food and adding more hay will be helpful. More exercise can help too. For a bunny of medium size, I wouldn't feed more than 1/4c of pellets per bunny each day. If you want to feed one bunny less than the other, try distracting one while you feed the other. You could brush him, hold him, let him run in the grass, etc. Bunnies usually eat all their daily pellets in about 10-15 minutes too.
