Putting weight on a skinny bun

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

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

snap

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2009
Messages
268
Reaction score
0
Location
, Texas, USA
Late last year we discovered my then-one-year-old Holland Lop buck seemed to be allergic to pellets(after eating them he will become very lethargic until its out of his system, it's really frightening), and he has been on a straight veggies & hay (and sometimes oats) diet. My mother, for some unknown reason, decided that hay wasn't important enough to give everyday while I have been away at college(even though during the summer she watched me go out and refill his hay rack two or three times a day!) and has been giving it to him only two or three times a week. Needless to say, he has lost a lot of weight which is very noticeable when you compare him to my other rabbits, who have gained weight since I left...

The overweight issue has been remedied(took them to a show and one doe got last for being overweight, then she finally accepted she was feeding them too much). But I don't know how to put weight on the skinny one. We cannot give him pellets because of the reaction he has, so other than pellets and more hay(I went out and bought a 24 oz bag of Timothy hay and stuffed all of it in racks lining his cage, and I'm going to go buy up all the Timothy I can find tomorrow so she has no excuses when I'm gone), what can I give him?

I love that my mother didn't make me get rid of them but oh how I wish I took care of them myself! It's caused so many problems...
 
Did you try other brands of pellets, or another bag of that brand, to make sure it's a problem with all pellets? According to Dr Lucile Moore's book Rabbit Nutrition, it is virtually impossible for a rabbit to get the nutrients needed without pellets, that it takes over a dozen different herbs & greens daily. But if you're sure he can't eat pellets, I'd give carrot slices & some nuts or sunflower seeds.

You might replace the hay rack with a bigger container that doesn't need refilling so often.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top