Feeding

[roomieboy]

Just out of curiosity, what is the standard amount of food you should be giving a bun and how often? When I first got Romeo the breeder was feeding him half a cup of pellets a day so that's what I've continued to do but he eats it pretty quickly and then I always feel like he wants more. He's not old enough for fruits and veggies yet so my question is should I continue half a cup a day? Does the amount of food they eat change as they get older?

 

[roomieboy]

Also, while were on the topic of eating, I thought rabbits were supposed to "chew everything and anything in site"? He doesn't chew anything at all I put chew toys and empty toilet paper rolls in his cage but theres not one chew mark in them. He's only 11 weeks. Is this okay? I thought chewing was good for their teeth?

 

[DUSTBUNNY-CLYDE]

I think buns should get unlimited pellets and hay until they are old enough for veggies. then you can taper down.

 

[JBun]

Some places recommend unlimited pellets for growing rabbits, but I found with my bunnies that unlimited pellets would either cause mushy poop, or they wouldn't eat enough hay. What worked well for mine was feeding enough pellets that they would run out about 3 hours before the next feeding, and I feed twice a day. Then after they ran out of pellets they had unlimited timothy hay to munch on. The pellets should be an alfalfa based pellet as well.

 

[JBun]

Also, if increasing the pellet amount, it should be done gradually.

 

[majorv]

Do you know what breed your rabbit is? We don't typically feed our young bunnies unlimited pellets, although they do get more than the amount an adult would. If you have hay available to him then he can eat that between feeding times. As Jenny said, if you feel like he needs more pellets you can increase them a little at a time.

He may or may not become a chewer. I'd leave a couple of items in his cage because he may start playing with them as he gets older.

 

[roomieboy]

Yes, he is a holland lop! I give him unlimited timothy hay. As far as pellets go, i just want to make sure i'm feeding him too much or too little.

 

[candice136]

Tommy my rabbit gets a mug of rabbit pellets and up to 5 treats a day for when he's good like for going back into his cage after running around in our garden etc thy are fruits flavoured ones

 

[Azerane]

As he grows up, as a smaller breed rabbit 1/4-1/2 cup of pellets per day is probably just the right amount. Bandit is about 5 pounds or 2.5kg and most days he gets 1/4 cup pellets, some days when I fill his treat ball he ends up with about 1/3-1/2 cup pellets.

Currently, I would continue with half a cup per day, it's a good amount. If he's still hungry, he can eat hay, that's what it's there for

 

[roomieboy]

Thanks everyone!