Overweight Rabbit...

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Hayley411

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2007
Messages
402
Reaction score
1
Location
port orchard, Washington, USA
Okay so this last winter was Twilah's first out in the shed and well I seem to have over fed her. LOL. I felt bad about her having to be outside and so free fed all winter. Well now I have a pretty portly bun on my hands. What can I do to help her lose a bit of weight?

Twilah is a 1 1/2 year old dutch. last year she weighed 4lbs even. I haven't weighted her yet this year, probably should just so I know exactly how much needs to come off.

She's not a very active bunny. I let her out inher run and she'll make a couple circles then stops and finds a place to sit/lie down and stays there the rest of the time.

I feel horrible. I'm a bad mom.

Pixie my other dutch has been on the same feed/same amount and she is not overweight...well she's also only 8 months old.

Here are a couple pictures.

Last summer:

Pets037.jpg


Last week:

025-1.jpg


023-4.jpg


As you can see in the above photo she has developed a kind of flesh/fat apron that hangs down on her font legs. Nasty description.LOL.

What can I do?

~Hayley

 
Well you can start her on a 2/3 cup a day pellets to regulate how much she is getting. She doesn't seem too bad though, in fact it is quite charming!!! :)

Still give her unlimited hay, but try to stop with treats.

Although, as a lazy bunny owner myself, you can intice them with treats to move around. See if she will do it for a nice leaf of lettace!
 
She looks like a cadbury bunny :)
Maybe you can try getting her on a leash for some walks (hops)? If she doesn't like it it could work to your advantage, burn a lot of calories trying to avoid it haha
 
Well Twilah is a gorgeous lady, isn't she! Chubs or not, she's really pretty!

She does look like she could lose a little bit. First things first, definitely weigh her and see how much she's gained. Bunnies tend to gain weight after they hit that 1 year mark because they've matured, they are less hyperactive than when they were a teen. Free feeding at her age, I think, would not be entirely wise :D Your 8 month old bun could probably stand to be free fed for another couple months before you start rationing.

How much does she eat now, if you can estimate the amount she actually consumes of the free-feed? 1 cup? The key to healthy weight loss for bunnies is to do it slowly. If you turn it around overnight and start feeding her half of what she used to get, it could cause her problems. If she's eating a cup now, give her a touch less than a cup for 1-2 weeks. Then work it down to 2/3 cup another 1-2 weeks. All else equal, you should start to see ounces come off her, very gradually. A 4 lb house bunny (according to HRS) can eat 1/4 to 1/2 cup of pellets a day, per SIX lbs of bunny. So you can figure Twilah should be somewhere closer to 1/4 cup than 1/2 cup.

There are other factors like what kind of veggies she gets, if any, and if she eats hays a little or a lot of hay. Eating more hay is a great way to keep her full and healthy while she's dropping a little weight from reduction of pellets. Reduce or eliminate treats, that'll definitely help.

To get her to move around more, give her some toys to play with. Stuff some cardboard boxes with hay, and close the box up, let her tear at it. Move that bunny butt :)
 
Hahaha she is very pretty. She reminds me of my cat who is also shall we say Full figured :) My vet told me he thinks she is overweight and I said " oh well she doesnt want to wear swim wear so its ok" haha.
 
A rabbit like that should be eating 1/2 to one cup of pellets per day. 1/4rth of a cup is way to little to feed them, and can lead to you having a thin rabbit. I would say cut her back to a cup a day and keep her there. No more free feeding in the winter either. ;) They don't need it. Just keep her on the cup a day(or whatever she will clean up), and she will be fine. She does look fine dutch. Dutch are supposed to look like that. you don't want to feed her any less pellets then what she will eat in a day. Otherwise she will loose too much weight, have health issues, etc. The least she can be fed is a half a cup.

This is what a healthy dutch should look like. If you scroll down, one of the winners that has that same fat around the legs that yours does.

http://www.dutchrabbit.com/winnerscircle/2010/2010openwinnerscircle.html
 

Latest posts

Back
Top