How much pellets?

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Phinnsmommy

Phinnsmommy

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Okay, well I know this is a very over asked question, so sorry for my stupidity :).

Phinn and Cleo live together.

This is their everyday diet:

Unlimited Timothy/Bluegrass hay

A good amount of pellets in the morning

A Piece of fruit (Carrot, Apple, etc) when I get home from school (3:30 ish)

A very large salad in the evening (6-7 pm ish), and a homemade cookie after dinner.

A smaller amount of pellets at night

Now my question is, how much pellets should should they be getting during those two servings?

Between when I get home, and dinner, they seem SO hungry!

I dont want to be underfeeding them!

Thanks!
 
my guys always seem like they are starving and i never feed them,lol.

I give there salad in the morning, and they get there pellets at night when i lock them up for the night, and of course they have hay and water all day long. They are not underweight, so i amthinking that they are ok with that. As far as the amount of pellets it is 1/4 a cup of pellets or a little more, i dont always measure exactly. At night time when i get in the pen to clean up and get them there pellets they are live Zombies after me, Sooty stands up on his hind legs ,and whwen i get on the ground they are all over me. which i dont mind that is my time with them to kiss them, and pet them, and love them and squeeze them,lol. all they want is there pellets and i am too busy attacking them with love.
 
Bunnies always act like they are absolutely starved! at least Bo does LOL!

I give Bo 1/8 cup in the morning and 1/8 cup in the evening of his oxbow pellets. He's about 4.5 pounds now (he was more like 5 I think) and has done very well since I started measuring them. I don't measure with a perfect 1/8 cup - I use a 1/4 and get about half full each time.

Bo acts like he's not had food for a week when I give him his pellets.... although he's had hay all along...... and has eaten that too.......


Clover and Tony are on unlimited pellets - tony is a baby and Clover is thin, and doesn't eat more than she needs - she devours the hay each day tho.
 
Two questions:

- How old are they?

- What do they weigh?

I go by the Carrot Cafe's recommendations, as they've always been good amounts for my buns. A note, though: they are amounts for buns that get lots of exercise. Right now, with our crowded place, and us not having been able to give our buns enough exercise, I'm feeding everybun about half the recommended amounts on that page. (We're about to move, so all that's changing soon...but for now, it's necessary to decrease their pellet amounts.)

So, there ya go. The average rule of thumb: 1/4c of pellets per 5lbs of body weight daily. Most of the diet should be hay.

:)
 
Randy the rabbit god said in one thread that no rabbit should get more than an eight (1/8) cup of pellets per day I think. Most people feed from 1/8-1/4 for the entire day, I think more than that could lead to chubby bunnies, I know if I give Wash more than 1/8 cup he swells like a furry balloon.
 
They are both adults, correct (over the age of about 5-8 months)? And Im guessing they both weigh around 3-4 lbs?

Id say about 1/4 cup pellets each a day. Thats what I give.

And yup, bunnies always act starving. As long as they have unlimited hey they will be fine :)

For more info: Feeding Q&A
 
is that 1/8-1/4 per bunny?



i feed 1/4 cup a day for 2 rabbits,one a 4 lb and one an 8 lb. I typed the wrong amount in my first post it is a 1/4 cup not a 1/2 that i feed them
 
Yes, I believe the HRS recommended amount is about 1/4 cup per 3 lbs body weight. A lot depends on the bunny as well and how many veggies he/she is given to supplement pellets.

All of my bunnies are 4 lbs and under, so most get around 1/4 cup (but none are overweight at all). Biggie Max weighs about 7 lbs so I give him a 1/2 cup.

All bunnies are different so theres really no set standard for pellet feeding. So much depends on age and weight.
 
Thanks guys!

Phinn is 1, and probobly 3 ish pounds, and Cleo is 2 and maybe 4-5 pounds.

1/4 in the morning and 1/4 in the evening for both sounds just right.

Im going to measure out a plastic cup, and mark it, so I can just dip it into the pellet bin, and I know they are getting the right amount :).

Thanks again, you guys are great.
 
Sounds good to me Silvie. Youre such a great bunny mom!

Oh and you know whats easy for measuring- buy a few extra cheap measuring cups. Walmart usually has a whole set of them for like a dollar or so does the dollar store. All of my food bags have 1/4 cups in them :)
 
It depends on the brand of pellets too.

I use Martins Less Active pellets. On the package label, it is suggested 1/2 cup to 1 cup daily. I feed my two 1/4 cup per day each. Both have maintained or lost little weight so that is a good indication of how much I can feed them. If they are hungry, they can always eat their hay.
 
Hi Guys,

You all know I have a different view....I don't buy into all the "guidelines" stuff. To give you an idea of our pellet offerings.....Andre The Giant, our nearly 30 pound Flemish gets about 1/8 cup of pellets per day. Wilma The Wabbit, adwarf, gets 12 pellets per day. Deuce, an elderly Holland Lop, get unlimited everything per day. Some of our rabbits get no pellets at all...only hay, limited greens and water (they are on Bunny Weight Watchers). Point is....all the suggestions are just starting points. We use pellets only to maintain weight and conditioning. Each rabbit, like humans, has different calorie needs depending on overall health, age and activity level. Personally, we do not care if our rabbit eat pellets or not....we prefer them to eat hay. Rabbit's digestive tracts are designed for much lower protein and much higher fiber than pellets can supply. The usual result is an overweight rabbit...and that puts tremendous stress on their organs.We prefer to fill hay boxes all along during the day rather than do one feeding of pellets. But as I mentioned, every rabbit is different. My suggestion is to use pellets like we do....only to maintain proper weight and conditioning....and each rabbit you have may be different. And a side note...not only will too many pellets result in too much bunny....too many pellets can contribute to molar spurs. They don't require much chewing so those molars don't get worked like with hay.

Randy
 
ra7751 wrote:
Hi Guys,

You all know I have a different view....I don't buy into all the "guidelines" stuff. To give you an idea of our pellet offerings.....Andre The Giant, our nearly 30 pound Flemish gets about 1/8 cup of pellets per day. Wilma The Wabbit, adwarf, gets 12 pellets per day. Deuce, an elderly Holland Lop, get unlimited everything per day. Some of our rabbits get no pellets at all...only hay, limited greens and water (they are on Bunny Weight Watchers). Point is....all the suggestions are just starting points. We use pellets only to maintain weight and conditioning. Each rabbit, like humans, has different calorie needs depending on overall health, age and activity level. Personally, we do not care if our rabbit eat pellets or not....we prefer them to eat hay. Rabbit's digestive tracts are designed for much lower protein and much higher fiber than pellets can supply. The usual result is an overweight rabbit...and that puts tremendous stress on their organs.We prefer to fill hay boxes all along during the day rather than do one feeding of pellets. But as I mentioned, every rabbit is different. My suggestion is to use pellets like we do....only to maintain proper weight and conditioning....and each rabbit you have may be different. And a side note...not only will too many pellets result in too much bunny....too many pellets can contribute to molar spurs. They don't require much chewing so those molars don't get worked like with hay.

Randy
Click to expand...
:yeahthat:I could not agree more! Randy, you have a special way of getting this important info across, it just amazes me. You're Awesome!:hug:
 
I know what you mean icequeen. I've been slowly decreasing my buns' pellet food, too, and adding more hay and greens. It's really something to take slowly, so as not to disrupt the GI system (which is so sensitive). But it's worth it, when you're working on it.

Back about six months ago, I was feeding everybun about 1/2c pellets everyday, which considering their weights, for some of them was WAY too much. I'm now feeding Flower (approx 7lbs) 1/4c, Trixie (@ 9lbs) 1/3c, Maisie (@ 5lbs) a bit less than 1/4c, SweetPea (@ 5lbs) about 1/4c, and Fiver (also @ 5lbs, but needs to gain a bit of weight due to being a rescue) 1/3c daily. I give them all a salad of romaine lettuce nightly (still working on acclimating Fiver to greens), and LOADS of hay everyday.

I tend to go somewhere between the recommended amounts on Carrot Cafe, and Randy's ideas on pellet food amounts. I plan on getting Maisie, SweetPea, and Fiver down to 1/8c, and Flower & Trixie down to 1/4c. That will take time...as I said, I'm doing this slowly...and when we add more buns into the mix in a couple/few weeks, we'll figure their amounts out then. I'm going to have to buy smaller measuring cups! LOL!!
 
i would give phinn- 1/4 cup per day
and cleo about 1/2 cup per day


my rabbit thumper is 4 lbs.- he gets 1/2 cup
tabby is about 3 lbs. he gets 1/4 cup

Phinnsmommy wrote:
Thanks guys!

Phinn is 1, and probobly 3 ish pounds, and Cleo is 2 and maybe 4-5 pounds.

1/4 in the morning and 1/4 in the evening for both sounds just right.

Im going to measure out a plastic cup, and mark it, so I can just dip it into the pellet bin, and I know they are getting the right amount :).

Thanks again, you guys are great.
Click to expand...
 
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