gaining weight & very lazy!

[amberelizabeth]

Layla is SO lazy! Her last trip to the vet (about 2months ago) she was 6 1/2 lbs. I think she's gaining weight though, she looks a little fatter. I don't feed her much, she gets 1/2 cup of feed and about 1-2cups of fresh veggies a day. she doesn't get many treats, if she does they are healthy fruits, carrots, craisons stuff like that.

aside from her food, its like pulling teeth trying to get her to come out and play! every morning she gets about 1 1/2 hrs to play and run around my house (up down stairs down a long hallway) and she runs, full speed for about 10min then plops down in her cage and thats it. then i work all day and come home at 4:30 and she gets full run the rest of the night, but she never comes out! i'll leave her cage open and let her come out on her own but she won't. she usually doesn't come out until later (which i know they are more active then) but when she does come out she just lays under my bed! or lays behind the couch.

i usually get all her toys out, give her cardboard boxes, and paper bags to play w/ but she never wants anything to do w/ them.

is this normal? or do i just have an extremely lazy bun on my hands?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Mine tend to be lazy sometimes too. Angel will go lay under the recliner for hours sometimes and if I go try to nudge her out, like this past weekend, she growled at me:shock:. Snuff will sometimes just stay in his cage.

Didn't you also say it's hot where you are (I'm in IL also:X) and don't have a/c? Is this a new thing with Layla? It could very well be the heat too. Have you given her a frozen water bottle in her cage to help keep her cool? This could help as well.

 

[amberelizabeth]

i was also thinking it might be the heat. she has a fan directly on her and gets frozen water bottles through out the day....

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

Couple of ideas from here. First, cut back on the pellets. I have two Flemish...Andre is nearing 30 pounds and Chyna is well into the 20's (she is still recovering from a starvation/abuse situation) and both of them together don't get that many pellets in a day. Pellets do tend to add weight quickly as they contain much more protein than a rabbit's gut is designed to handle. Excess weight also tends tostress the organs quite a bit and that makes them feel bad....and the liver and kidneys take the blunt of the abuse.I have also seen some rabbitshave pulmonary edema (fluid around the heart) and some breathing issues from weight gain. Make every effort to control her weight...for many reasons. And, have you considered getting her a friend to play with? We have had some lazy buns....and some were not lazy, just older gentlemen....and a friend really got them moving around. Just a thought.

Something you might discuss with your vet is to do a blood panel to check on how things are working internally. It's not terribly expensive and the information that it can show can be a life saver.

Randy

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

If you think she is gaining weight and is getting lazier, then cut back her food. I feed my 7-8 lb boys 1/4 cup of pellets and 1-2 cups of veggies. The pellets are the really fattening part. I know there is this whole 'magic number' of how much to feed certain weights of rabbits but you have to play around with it to fit your own rabbit. Less active equals less calories burned so that rabbit should be eating less then an active rabbit of it's size.

Ironically all 4 of my bunnies get the same amount of pellets. My 2 small rabbit (3.5 lbs and 4.75 lbs) are very active and also get 1/4 cup of pellets since that is the amount that I have found to work for them. That just goes to show that while you should take into consideration the recommended stuff, you have to adjust it to each individual rabbit's needs.

 

[amberelizabeth]

thanks for the replies guys, i'll start cutting down her amount of pellets right away.



friend-wise i'm afraid i just don't have the space to get another one, in case they don't get along. or the space for the bonding process. i plan to get her one within the next year, but i'm just not sure i can now. i try and play w/ her when she's out using her toys and stuff like that.