feeding question

[I_love_my_chubby_bunnies]

Hi all!

I have two bunnies who have a case of the chubbs. They have unlimited timothy hay, Purina Rabbit Chow pellets, some greens, and of course water. The only time they get treats is when my mother bunnysits and spoils them (even though I tell her not to). They also get regular exercise.

My question is, how much pellets should they be eating a day. They are both medium-sized bunnies, maybe 8 or 9 pounds each. Emmit is a mini-lop, although he's always been big, and I don't really think he's over weight. Amelia is a Florida White, and weight as always been an issue for her. The problem is that when she gets more chub, she seems to accumulate poo on her bottom and we have to bathe her (which she loves, yeah right) to get it off. When I restrict her diet more, she is better, but she get soooo angry and takes it out on Emmit and us when she doesn't get enough. Which is better, happy, chubby bunny or thin and MAD bun?

Oh, and right now they get a less than 1/4 cup of pellets a night each.

Thanks for any help!

 

[naturestee]

1/4 cup of pellets sounds about right. But maybe Amelia would do better with a lower protein pellet. Purina Rabbit Chow, like the majority of available rabbit pellets, is designed for fast-growing baby rabbits and pregnant and nursing moms. Sometimes that stuff is too rich for adults that aren't breeding. Try either a "maintenance" alfalfa pellet with 15% protein or less (these are sometimes found at feed/farm stores), or try a timothy pellet. The most commonly found brands are Kaytee Timothy Complete and Oxbow Bunny Basics/T. I feed Oxbow.

Lots of adult rabbits have problems with their cecotropes (cecals) which is probably what's causing Amelia's poopy butt. A lot of times it can be controlled by reducing their protein and carbs (reduce/remove treats like oats, crackers, etc).

Oh, and have you tried doing a dry bath? It's less stressful and it works well for poopy butt problems.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/buttbath.html

 

[Haley]

My boys are also on a diet. Im feeding them each 1/4 cup of timothy based pellets a day, plus they each get 1-2 cups of fresh greens (romaine lettuce, parsley, cilantro etc). Also, unlimited hay and water.

Both are doing great and seem to be slimming down a little bit. They are also much happier having all those fresh greens instead of eating so many pellets. Also, their coats seem to be looking much better!

Heres the RO links for more info on dieting etc: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12046&forum_id=17

Hope this helps!

-Haley

 

[I_love_my_chubby_bunnies]

Thank you very much both of you. We have a huge supply left of the Purina (I didn't realize it was high in protein), but I'll try giving them one of the other brands for a while. They will have no problem eating more greens

I'll also try the dry bath....Amelia is a squirmy girl, so I don't know how she'll handle it. Before my husband would hold her, and we'd stick her bum in a bucket of luke warm water for a few minutes, and then I'd try to carefully loosen the bigger chunks with gloves on.

I don't know how we'll keep her still, but if it's less stressful and not as discusting as dealing with poopy water (she enjoys splashing us sometimes), then I'll try it!

Thanks very much!

 

[jordiwes]

If you switch foods, make sure to do it gradually.

Good luck with your buns.

Oh, and there is a good article on feeding here:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#mature