Am I feeding my bunny too much?

[Jtt]

Hi, I adopted Lucas a week ago and ever since then it appears as if he has put on a lot of weight.

I've been feeding him an unlimited amount of both Timothy hay and an unlimited amount of Alfalfa based pellets, at the moment I am not giving him any treats (veggies, fruits, etc). He seems to prefer to eat his pellets over his hay and only considers eating the Timothy hay when I take the pellets away from him.

I try to let him out of his cage daily but he appears to prefer to just sit in his cage grooming himself all day.

He is approximately 3.75 months old at the moment.

Am I doing something wrong regarding his diet? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[fantaysah]

well I don't have an answer... mine suck up a lot of pellets and im currently fighting them over eating their hay! seems a lot of bunnies didn't get the memo that they are supposed to love it. I have tried mixing herbs/fresh grass in it and it worked once... back to anti-hay attitude... i will let you know if i figure something out but trust me your not alone!

 

[LakeCondo]

Have you tried different brands of hay? Sometimes a change helps. Also sometimes hiding the pellets in the hay slows down the pellet eating & increases hay eating.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

You're supposed to give unlimited food til six months and then follow the directions on the package as to amount/weight of rabbit.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Unlimited feedings is not always recommended for every rabbit. It greatly depends on the activity level of the rabbit. If he is a larger breed of rabbit then feeding 8-10oz of pellets is a normal range but if it's a smaller breed then feeding that much can have HUGE effects on the rabbit. If he is truly overweight I suggest cutting back on his pellets and regulate them. Maybe filling his bowl with a small amount in the morning and afternoon would be a good start. Start keeping track of his weight and seeing how much he is gaining.

 

[Jtt]

Thanks for the help everyone, it is much appreciated.

 

[majorv]

Unfortunately, not all rabbits can self-regulate their feed intake. A rabbit that is more sedentary that gets unlimited pellets and eats it all will be overweight. My Polish can be like that. A couple of my 3 month olds were hitting senior weight (the weight of a 6 month old), but then some of them know when to stop eating and they aren't overweight....so I agree with Sarah that you can't say that100% of the timeyoung rabbits should get unlimited pellets. Try to get your bunny to move around because exercise willhelp keep the weight down.

 

[fantaysah]

I agree

 

[tamsin]

Getting a rabbit into the habit of eating hay is much much more important that unrestricted pellets. Rabbits, even youngsters, don't need pellets! Those cute little wild babies grow up just fine on grass - they don't crack open a bag of pellets and scoff them until they are full

I would restrict the pellets now, split them into two feeds and don't worry if his bowl sits empty for awhile. If you're worried about underfeeding then start about 50g of pellets per kg of rabbit per day, but cut down to half that as an adult.

Not eating hay has so many serious health consequences so getting a young bun into the habit of that as the main diet will set them up well for the next 10 years!

Remember exercise is important too

 

[LakeCondo]

Someone in another topic wrote that pellets provided the fiber that hay gives, so isn't really necessary. If only that were true it would make life easier for some rabbit owners. But they need the long strands of fiber, not just pulverized fiber.

 

[beatrixpoppy]

I feed my guys unlimited hay and a portion of food in the morning, sometimes they munch away all the hay other times they just like to make a bed out of most of it or hide under it

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

If he's only 3.75 months, he should be growing alot. That's what little bunnies do. Unless he looks really chubby I wouldn't worry about it. What kind of bunny is he and how much does he weigh currently? I wouldn't worry about limiting a young bunny's pellets.

 

[wendymac]

I give mine all unlimited hay and pellets. I haven't had any trouble with overweight animals. French Lops have no maximum weight, and mine are big but solid. Californians have a max weight, but they're all in the "ideal" range. The only one I'm going to have to watch is Kitty's Trisha doe. She is a massive rabbit, and I can see her eventually going over the max weight. That'll just mean more exercise for her.

 

[EdwardForDaWeen]

I thought the same thing. Shiro is about 9 weeks and was on an unlimited pellet/hay diet but now he's at 1/4 cup pellets a day and unlimited hay due to weight gain.

 

[majorv]

What I know is that we used to freefeed all our rabbits and we had Brits, Tans and Himalayans. When I got my Polish I did the same thing. I soon found that I had doeswho were over max weight and the kits were getting too big, too fast. Now I limit theamount of pellets they get each day but I compensate by feeding them twice/day. The bucks don't overeat, go figure. :?