General amount of pellets to feed an adult medium-sized rabbit?

[sarah92lynn]

Hey guys, I was just wondering how much pellets I should be giving my Lilly bun daily. I'm thinking she's mostly californian breed, but maybe something else too. The vet said she is a meat rabbit but I think californians are a common meat rabbit? I've been cutting down on her pellets cause she seems to be putting on a tiny bit of weight and I don't want her to gain more!

She is a medium-sized rabbit and definitely isn't fat, but my boyfriend and I have noticed her dewlap is a bit bigger as well as her tummy. I've never measured her pellets out, but now that she is older I know I need to. I've just been gradually cutting down her pellets. Right now I'm giving her a small handful of pellets in the morning & before bed, but then she acts like she's starving and eats almost all of them at once. It makes me feel bad! I would just like to know what general amount of pellets a medium-sized rabbit should be eating daily so I know she is getting what she needs

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

The amount you feed depends on a few factors. Most pet rabbits need about 1/4 cup per 5 pounds of body weight per day. Some need more and other less.

How old is she? Rabbits can still grow and mature past 6 months when they are considered adults. The dewlap is something the is more common is intact does, so her having one is not really a concern. Getting her spayed can help with the dewlap.

Rabbits do tend to love pellets and some will eat them all at once. Her eating them quickly does not mean she is starving, as long as she is eating hay and veggies she should be fine.

I would start by measuring what you give her now. You can then decrease the amount if needed. Give her a measured amount every day.

 

[whitelop]

1/4-1/2 cup daily for pellets.
For greens, 2 cups per 2 lbs of rabbit.
For fruit, 1 or 2 tsp per 2 lbs of rabbit. I can't remember if its 1 or 2.
Non-leafy greens, 2tbsp per 2 lbs of rabbit.
Plus constant unlimited hay.

All rabbits act like their starved for pellets and foods. lol, she's not starving as long as she has hay all the time.

 

[JBun]

So do you think she weighs around 8-10 lbs. The recommended amount is 1/4-1/2 cup per 6 lb. body weight. And it will all depend on her metabolism, so if she's putting on weight, then you'll want to decrease the amount of pellets. My rabbits get all exited about pellets too, but they always have hay, so it's not like they are starving either. Rabbits are just silly . So, as long as she's got lots of grass hay to eat too, then she's just fine having limited pellets.

 

[sarah92lynn]

Thanks! I thought 1/4 cup per 5 lbs was right but I wasn't sure because I've read 1/2 cup in some places. I need to get a scale and weigh her.

We knew the dewlap was normal, but it seems like it's gotten bigger than it use to be.
I'm not for sure on her age because she was kind of dumped on us without much info, but I think she's about a year old. Been trying to save up to get her spayed but it's hard with low income and expenses. Was hoping to get her spayed before she hit a year old

Thanks, I'll start measuring the usual amount I give her.

 

[sarah92lynn]

Oh wow, got two more replies since I started typing. Haha thanks for the info guys! I'm really not sure how much she weighs, I can borrow a scale tonight or tomorrow and find out though.

She always has hay of course, but she's got a princess attitude and hay isn't enough for her when she's hungry haha last night she gobbled up her pellets and was left with a big pile of hay for the night, woke up at about 4:00 AM to her thumping over and over with her hay dug out EVERYWHERE. I gave her a pinch of pellets and more hay just so I could get back to sleep. I swear she's my alarm clock! Haha

 

[sarah92lynn]

I've been meaning to ask this too...where do you guys get your hay? Besides feed stores because I heard buying a bale of hay is cheap but not good quality..?
Right now I'm buying the 48 oz bags of timothy hay from WalMart, which isn't too bad but I'd like a cheaper alternative that isn't bad quality

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I get hay from a farmer. You can find farmers selling hay if you live in an area where hay is grown. Feed stores can be good. Horse stables are also good, but not all will sell you some. You could ask a horse stable where they get their hay.

 

[Blue eyes]

Feed store hay is fine, especially when they get it fresh like ones by us do. We buy timothy by the bale.

You want them eating lots of hay. They really can't eat too much. The reason some rabbits don't eat as much hay is because they are filling up on the pellets. The pellets are highly caloric. The fewer pellets they get, the more hay they'll eat.

From what I've been reading, vets are leaning more toward the thought of limiting pellets even more for fixed house rabbits. (not for breeders)

Mine go crazy for their pellets also. I use this to my advantage by feeding them just before bed. That way they readily go in their cage for the night. (I also fill up their hay before bedtime)

Oh... I should also note that rabbits tend to eat much more hay when it is frequently refreshed. I don't wait until what they have is gone. I give them new hay every morning and every evening (and sometimes in between). They love to have it when I first put it in the cage.

 

[JBun]

Feed store hay can be good or bad, it just depends on your feed store. You are looking for a high quality horse hay, that is weed free and hasn't ever gotten wet. If the outside of the bale is a little sunbleached, that's ok, you want the grass on the inside of the bale to look nice and green. The best thing to do is to call the feed stores near you and ask them what kind of hay they have and what quality it is. They may even let you take a handful as a sample to make sure your rabbit likes it before you buy a whole bale.

If you don't want to go the feed store route and want to order online, Imbrium has picky hay eaters, and she just recently ordered some hay and she says her rabbits love it. So here's the link for that.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f40/sierra-valley-hay-72426/

 

[whitelop]

You can also look at the hay before you buy it, lol. I bought a bale of coastal that is pretty good looking. I got it for $6.75 for about a 50 lb bale. I didn't weigh it, but it felt to be about the same as my bag of chicken feed.

I have to totally agree with Blue Eye's on the pellets too. If you want a better hay eater, limit the pellets. When I took Foo off of pellets, she went from being a good hay eater to being a GREAT hay eater. She was eating so much hay a day. Her teeth were totally perfect and worn down SO evenly. Her vet also said that her diet, being no pellets, 6 cups of greens a day, and like 2 lbs of hay a day, with a teaspoon of fruit a day was a great diet for her. She was very healthy and thats the kind of diet he likes for house rabbits.(Not breeders/show-ers, they have to keep flesh condition up) Low calories and high high fiber. I'm not saying cutting out pellets completely, but you have to find a balance between hay and pellets.

 

[Imbrium]

Been trying to save up to get her spayed but it's hard with low income and expenses. Was hoping to get her spayed before she hit a year old

if you haven't already, I recommend calling around to shelters, rabbit rescues and rabbit sanctuaries in your area to see if any of them can recommend a vet that does low-cost rabbit spays. also, a lot of shelters do low-cost spay/neuter days - most are just for cats/dogs, but occasionally you'll find one that does bunnies as well. if you really search around, you might luck out and find someone rabbit-savvy who will do her spay for as little as $80-100.

I've been meaning to ask this too...where do you guys get your hay? Besides feed stores because I heard buying a bale of hay is cheap but not good quality..?
Right now I'm buying the 48 oz bags of timothy hay from WalMart, which isn't too bad but I'd like a cheaper alternative that isn't bad quality

Feed store hay can be good or bad, it just depends on your feed store. You are looking for a high quality horse hay, that is weed free and hasn't ever gotten wet. If the outside of the bale is a little sunbleached, that's ok, you want the grass on the inside of the bale to look nice and green. The best thing to do is to call the feed stores near you and ask them what kind of hay they have and what quality it is. They may even let you take a handful as a sample to make sure your rabbit likes it before you buy a whole bale.

If you don't want to go the feed store route and want to order online, Imbrium has picky hay eaters, and she just recently ordered some hay and she says her rabbits love it. So here's the link for that.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f40/sierra-valley-hay-72426/

yeah, most feed stores will let you grab a little sample of each of their hays free of charge so that your bunny can taste-test them before you commit to a bale. while it can vary from one feed store to the next, as a general rule, feed store hay is usually a bit fresher than pet store/walmart stuff.

the sierra valley hay is significantly pricier than feed store hay for the simple fact that it gets shipped to you and that adds a lot to the cost... however, it is the freshest, greenest hay I've ever seen!

I've tried EVERY grass hay oxbow makes, kaytee timothy and feed-store coastal and the only grass hay my bunnies would even consider eating was oxbow oat (which was half oats, therefore a HUGE pain in the butt for me since I have to pick all the oats out). even that, they didn't eat a whole lot of... making my attempts to transition them off of alfalfa quite painful.

with the sierra valley hay, my super-picky eaters are suddenly eating MOUNDS of hay every day! I frequently catch them nibbling at their breakfast pellets 8+ hours later when they used to inhale the entire 1/4c serving within an hour or so.

their customer service is really good, too - I ordered two more boxes today since their prices are going up a bit soon due to increased shipping costs... I asked if I could either buy a small sample each of three of their hays I haven't tried yet or get small samples in lieu of the 5 extra lbs you get for buying two boxes and the guy said he'd be happy to give me samples for free in addition to the extra 5 lbs. they're also quick to answer any questions you might have (I asked a few about their oat hay before ordering it).

btw, if you opt to buy a bale from a feed store and are interested in bale bags to store it in, I got mine here - http://www.tackwholesale.com/bale-bags-c-11.html ... shipping is *insanely* fast (mine arrived in about two days with the cheapest shipping option) and the bags are high quality. I went with two of the 1/2 bale bags so that they'd be easier to move around and I could stack them to take up less space. if you bring the bags with you to the feed store, they'll usually split the bale in half for you and put it in the bags free of charge - SO much easier than trying to wrangle a full 80lb or w/e bale out of a car/into your home yourself!