Feeding a Bonded Pair of Different Ages

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hokankai

hokankai

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I have a 2 year old who is bonded to a 10 week old (she grew up around him) and feed them separately. Fortunately the adult doesn't like to jump up, so the baby eats on top of a box in the cage.

I'm currently feeding 1/3 cup of alfalfa pellets twice a day to the baby and 1 Tbsp Oxbow pellets twice a day for the adult. They have unlimited hay.

Am I feeding baby enough? I'd give her alfalfa hay, but there's no way to put it in the cage that will prevent the adult from eating it, and he can't have the extra protein. Not only that but he's a hog and would probably eat all of it.

Is this an adequate diet for the 10 week old for growth? I'm reading about unlimited pellets, but when I did that she refused to eat her hay at all.
 
You can probably tell if she's getting enough pellets by how fast they get eaten. You'll of course want to slowly increase the amount to allow for her bigger size.

Is the male neutered? If not, & you don't want them to breed, they really can't stay together.
 
Uh yeah, he's very neutered. I actually got the girl from one of the unexpectedly pregnant rabbits I fostered for the humane society, so there will be no more baby bunnies in my house!

She usually finishes her bowl of food in an hour? Then she munches on hay with Theo until they get their veggies in the afternoon.

She's a pretty small rabbit right now. She's about the same weight as Theo right now, who's only 2.5 lbs. She's definitely not skinny either, so she's not starving. But she's definitely excited for her pellets when it's time for them again.

Should I increase her pellets at all?
 
The book Rabbits for Dummies (2nd edition) recommends 1/2 cup of pellets per 6lbs of adult rabbit. They advocate unlimited pellets until 7 months.

I would say a 1/2 cup a day is more then enough
 
So should I not worry about her not eating hay then? The problem is the more pellets she gets the less likely she is to eat hay. She'd even rather eat her willow tunnel than eat her hay.
 
My Moose is about 10 weeks old and lives on his own. I give him unlimited alfalfa pellets so I just fill the bowl when it's empty. I almost routinely have been filling it with 2/3 cups of pellets a day, so that amount sounds good to me :) Not sure how much he weighs by now but I would guess it's somewhere around 2lbs or so (he was .5kg 2-3 weeks ago).
 
hokankai wrote:
So should I not worry about her not eating hay then? The problem is the more pellets she gets the less likely she is to eat hay. She'd even rather eat her willow tunnel than eat her hay.
Click to expand...

What kind of hay are you feeding? Have you tried any other kinds?
 
Yes right now they are getting a mixture of Oxbow timothy and orchard grass hays, and the Timothy is the only one getting eaten.

She'll eat alfalfa, but I can't have that in there because of Theo. He'd eat it and it wouldn't be good for him.
 
Oh gosh, I don't have time to hand feed her strands of hay, haha! She already eats whenever she feels like it and that's usually when I'm not in the room as she'd rather be running around.

She's finished off her alfalfa feed now, so I'm considering putting her on a timothy based pellet (can she eat adult oxbow?) and putting a hayrack of alfalfa up on the box were Theo can't get to it.
 
Juvenile rabbits are considered to be between weaning age and 7 months. They should have an unlimited amount of pellets and alfalfa hay. You could try compressed alfalfa bricks instead of the actual hay so your older bun doesn't nom it.

I personally wouldn't switch to a timothy based pellet yet, especially if you aren't able to give her the unlimited alfalfa hay. Just a personal opinion based on my experience and vet recommendations. The alfalfa helps build bones and has more protein needed for growing wee ones that the timothy doesn't provide.
 
I tried the alfalfa blocks and found she hated them and Theo had eaten a considerable amount of it! Haha

I bought some alfalfa hay today, and I'm gonna jerry-rig a second hay rack up on top of the box where only Ariadne can get it. That way I don't have to waste money on two different types of pellets and she can get her alfalfa.

I'll give her unlimited Oxbow pellets (the same as Theo's) and unlimited alfalfa hay and see how she does.
 
The little one really needs to have the protein & calcium that alfalfa pellets provide to be strong & healthy. I'm thinking that maybe you should put the 2 separate but adjoining. A number of people on RO have reported that after spaying the bond was no longer there & it had to be reestablished, so all the feeding problems now might not pay off in continued bonding.
 
Well I don't want to separate them unless I don't have to. I'd rather just add another level to it that Theo can't reach. I'd be SUPER surprised if their bond broke, but it would be on Ariadne's end because Theo is indifferent...and she's adored him since she was 3 weeks old.

Looks like I have to hunt down alfalfa pellets again. They are so hard to find! The feed store doesn't carry them and neither does Petsmart. I'll have to look at Petco.

I just thought the Oxbow would be okay since the alfalfa pellets I had been using were a very cheap brand which was all that I could afford at the time. Figured Oxbow would be better nutritionally.

Edit: I was also reading on the House Rabbit Society website and although it says to feed them unlimited, they don't mention the type of pellet. I think people are assuming it's alfalfa based.

I'd MUCH rather stick to unlimited Oxbow + alfalfa hay then have to put her on crappy alfalfa pellets since that's what's in my area and I don't want to pay shipping.
 
Well crap. Looks like I have to switch her to something anyway. I just moved to a different state and thought I had another container of her old food packed, but I don't and now it's gone. So now she either gets switched completely to Oxbow which she's been getting a little bit of daily, or to a completely different brand of pellet in general.

That would be my fault :/
 
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