My Rabbit's Addicted to Pellets..

[ArwensMaRabbit]

I have little lionhead I've been taking care of for almost 2 years, however his appetite for pellets is starting to concern me. He's always been an over-eater and will eat everything I give him. He gets unlimited fresh hay everyday, veggies and fruit every week, and I try to keep him on a healthy diet. However, whenever I give him pellets (which he begs for) he will just sit there and eat them until they are all gone. I started giving him smaller, more frequent portions, but it just results in him begging me more often for pellets. Is it alright for me to give him more than 1/8 cup of pellets per day if he wants them? He hasn't grown fat at all, or any signs of being over/under fed, but his constant begging is kinda crazy

 

[Preitler]

More wouldn't do much good, I think. If you give him so much that he gets partly fed up with them that joy, excitement would be gone, and he might get fat or get other problems due to not eating enough hay (pellets do nil for wearing down teeth properly, for example)

And you would waste a wonderful resource. I give pellets sparingly, only as treats. Always call them or shake the pellet pail before giving them any. To make them come when I call. To let me make breakfast without a total of 20lbs of eager rabbits between my feet. To make them go home when they escape the fence, or just to call them into the hutches from the garden. To ignore another big, new foster dog. Whatever. Very, very useful. Train him, don't let pets train you.

Pellets are a spinoff from meat production, really convinient for pet owners and lucrative for producers, a good supplement in a diverse diet, but don't believe everything marketing comes up with. There's a reason they taste so good, addictive - originally one way to get rabbits up to butcher weight asap, now to sell more of the stuff.

 

[Blue eyes]

Your rabbit does not sound unusual at all. Mine have always eaten their pellets all at one time. In fact, their bowl is totally empty 24/7 with the exception of the 2 minutes per day it takes them to finish their pellets.

I use it to my advantage. I give them their pellets right before bed to coax them into their cage for the night.

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

I don’t think it’s a strange behaviour. Apollo is absolutely obsessed to the point where when I even walk past where I keep them, he runs up to me expecting them. What works for me is to share out his pellets in the morning but only put about two-thirds of it in his bowl. The rest I use like treats throughout the day. I wouldn’t recommend giving him more though.