Starving Bunny...

[KieraKittie]

As some have read I recently acquired a new bunny, way unplanned for or prepared for when a woman pretty much just handed me her childrens rabbit. The reason is they were not feeding it and it has spent most of its time in a small cage. I will admit he is a tad on the thin side compared to Little Dandy (my Holland lop). He acts like he is always starving.

He see's me bring out the bag of hay in the mornings and he will jump and try to climb up my legs to get to it, then dig at the bag. He is constantly dancing around my feet if he thinks I have food, now, he does have hay available 24/7, timothy hay. Just in the morning I have to refill everything fresh. He will eat his pellets and lick the bowl clean, I give him a few veggies, since Dandy is not yet old enough to really eat them I am not sure how much is to much. I found out he loves Cilantro overall, then broccoli and Green leaf lettuces.

If I am not paying attention iv caught him a few times sitting in my dogs raised dog dish trying to eat the dogs food, which I can already figure is not good for him. I have started to pick the dog food up out of his reach unless the dog is eating.

He is loving, extremely cute and I plan to do what I can to care for him, I don't think he deserves to be tossed around owner to owner, I do have more than enough room for a second bun and I do plan on getting him nurtured soon after memorial day passes. Dandy seems to love him around, though she hates I have to keep them separated till he is "fixed" unless I am hovering over them for short play periods.

Overall, anyone else have an issue with a bunny who seems to think he is starving? Is he really hungry? should I feed him more? We have come to the conclusion he is a Mini Rex/Lionhead mix, the woman estimated he was around 9 months old, possibly..

I don't want to starve the poor guy! hehe

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Some rabbits are more motivated by food than others. You get some that like food, but don't dive into the dish when you give them food or try to 'attack' you when you have food. But there are others will will gobble up any tiny bit of food and act like they haven't eaten in weeks.

Since he did come form a situation where he wasn't getting fed on a regular basis, he might have started to eat whatever they gave him as soon as he got it since he might not have been fed for a couple days. He still has that feeling that he has to eat now as he doesn't yet realize that there is food all the time. He may come to realize that there is food available, but he could still eat as much as he can when it can.
Treats can be another matter (along with veggies) as these tend to be things that rabbits love to eat. It can be like candy or desert to people, you will eat it even if you just had a big meal because you like it so much.

As long as he has food available and is eating it he isn't starving. I would not give him extra food, like pellets, when he runs out but he should have hay all the time. Overfeeding will make him fat which is not good.

 

[LakeCondo]

double post

 

[LakeCondo]

You can check out if he's underweight by feeling how well you can feel his bones compared with Dandy. When you have time, I'd say to feed greens first, then wait at least 20 minutes or until the greens are gone, whichever comes last. Then I'd give pellets. After they are gone, I'd give more greens. I've never heard of a rabbit getting fat from cilantro, broccoli or leaf lettuce. Just as long as he's eating enough hay daily.