Bunny always hungry.

[cheezling]

Ever since I started limiting Schnuffel's pellet intake (after the episode where he was producing cecal after cecal and I rushed him to the vet), he is always hungry.
He's always begging for pellets (I offer them to him a few times a day in very small quantities and I offer them as treats). I feel bad because I read that young bunnies should be fed unlimited pellets (he's only 3 moths old). At the same time, I worry about him having digestive issues.
He goes so crazy over the pellets that the first few bites, he actually makes this funny growling kind of noise. And once, he almost jumped out of his pen when I was fetching the pellets (the bag makes a crinkly sound and he knows when I'm about to feed him). If I have the pellets in my hand he will follow me around the room everywhere.
Am I starving him?
He does have access to unlimited hay at all times but although I've had him for almost a month now, I feel that he hasn't really grown much.
He is very active (particularly in the evening and late at night), binkies and races up and down the room a lot. He seems happy but I want to know that I'm doing the right thing.

EDIT: I feed him Beaphar Care+ pellets for Junior Rabbits. I am not really spoiled for choice here in terms of pellets. He also has a muesli mix by Vitakraft which he was fed at the pet store and I mix the two together. Both these appear the be the best ones I can find around so it'll be hard for me to get my hands on another type unless I order it online from another country (which will be very pricey).

 

[Imbrium]

have his poops gone back to normal, and if so, are you starting to introduce veggies?

also, what kind of hay are you feeding? alfalfa (aka lucerne) is higher in protein and more calorie rich - it's not good to feed it to adults, but it's great for babies/juveniles (especially if you're having to limit pellet intake).

can you guesstimate the amount of pellets you're feeding him per day? also, do you know what he weighs by chance? I would say to give him at *least* 1/4c pellets per day, up to 1/2c if he's tolerating them well. with the muesli mix, those have colorful bits/stuff other than pellets in them, right? I'm gonna google your foods and see if one or both or just certain things in them could be the cause of his troubles...

 

[Imbrium]

ugh, nothing has a GA available, wtf. I find lots of places to buy the beaphar pellets, yet NOTHING that tells me how much protein, fat, fiber, etc. is in it. I did manage to find an ingredient list on amazon, though... eww - Cereals, derivatives of vegetable origin, seeds, vegetables, minerals, yeasts, Yucca schidigera, algae (spirulina 0.01%). there's gotta be a better alternative.

does the vitakraft stuff look similar to this: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...=1236174345&catargetid=1570187507&cagpspn=pla or this: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/food/rabbit/vitakraft_rabbit_food/307126 ? if so, do your bunny a favor and stop feeding him that crap (or at least pick out everything but the pellets) - that could *easily* be the cause of all the cecals.

 

[Imbrium]

edit: never mind, I thought you were in the UK because the beaphar pellets were bringing up UK sites, but I just noticed you're in Dubai >< back to researching!

ok, found something!

normally, I don't recommend zupreem because I don't like the corn in the ingredients - oxbow essentials and sherwood forest are better foods that are readily available in the US. that said, zupreem is still a good, well known brand and the GA for their food looks great - the corn is the only negative thing about it. it is unquestionably many steps up from the brands you're currently feeding (and looks to be cheaper than the beaphar, too).

I found out that it was available and found a couple places to buy it by googling "pet stores in Dubai", hehe...
http://www.abvcstore.com/rodents1/rodent-food/rodent-maintenance1/zup95050
http://www.dubaipetstore.com/Zupreem-Natures-Promise-Premium-Rabbit-Food-62-696-465-p.aspx

if you want the detailed health info on it, you can look at the description on petco's site: http://www.petco.com/product/109509...&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:filter=51515428195#

I can't imagine there's anything available to you over there that's better than the zupreem unless by some miracle you can find oxbow essentials.

 

[cheezling]

Thank you so much for all your help. Means a lot to me!
His poops are back to normal. He does produce a couple of cecals every now and then and doesn't eat them but it's nothing compared to the amount he made that day.
I actually feed him Timothy Hay by Zupreem and Alpine Meadow Hay by Vitakraft (I haven't come across alfalfa hay here either).
I will definitely get him the Zupreem pellets. I have seen them and the only reason I didn't get them is because I thought that the junior rabbit food would be better but obviously, that's not the case.

 

[Imbrium]

the occasional cecal is totally normal at his age - Gazzles used to leave me 3-4 a day when she was his age

are you buying hay from a pet store? if so, it's probably a TOTAL rip-off (I know it is here). if you have the space to store a bale, that's by FAR the better way to go. heck, if you only have the space to store half a bale, you could ask them to cut one in half for you and even if they charge you for the entire bale, it's probably still tons cheaper than the pet store! here, it's like $3-6 per lb at the pet store and $1 for 7-8 lbs at feed stores.

this place looks really promising, and they sell both alfalfa and timothy hay by the bale:
Gulf Equine Feeds
Contact Person: Harry Tregoning
Mobile: +97155-2027147
http://www.gulfequinefeeds.com/products_3.html

 

[cheezling]

Thank you so much!
And yes, I do use pet store bought hay. Thanks for the link, by the way.
I actually live really close to an equestrian club so I could ask if they would be willing to sell me some hay. Is Timothy hay the standard for horses? I just want to make sure in case they try to sell me something else.
If I can't find it there, I will try contacting the guy from the link you sent me.

 

[Imbrium]

ANY horse-quality grass hay is acceptable for rabbits of any age and horse-quality alfalfa is acceptable for bunnies under 7 mos (though with "cereal" type hays like oat and wheat, you need to pick out the seed heads as the excess carbs and calories are bad for bunnies) .

 

[PaGal]

My bun also grunts when he eats. He also grunts when he's running around and at times grunts when he grooms himself. With him it is a happy sound. Some buns will grunt when feeling grumpy.

Buns typically are more active in the mornings and evenings. He sounds like he is feeling well and is happy. Sometimes young buns will miss eating a few cecals, probably because they get distracted.