Reducing Pellets

[bun-crazy]

My buns are just about to the age where I want to start reducing their pellets.  They are still on unlimited pellets right now, but soon I’ll be ready to start weaning them down. What is the best way to do this?  They live together in the same x-pen and share their food. Any ideas/suggestions will be appreciated!  Thanks!

[Usagi5]

If your bunnies get excited for their pellets you can just put them in seperate bowls, and they may eat them right away. I would start slowly reducing their pellets for each of them to one cup, then 3/4 cup, then 1/2 cup, and then to 1/4 cup. Make sure you do it slowly though because of their sensitive digestive system.

[RabbitPam]

Are you using as much as one cup? That’s really a lot, even for 2 bunnies. As long as they continue to have pellets in their systems daily, it should be OK to reduce it faster. I would get them down to 1/4 cup each very soon. If there is a chance that one is eating them all, you could have a quarter cup bowl for one to eat separately, like when the other is out playing, then reverse it, and watch to make sure each bunny is eating at least 1/8 cup by themselves.

[bun-crazy]

Usagi- Thanks! I will do it slowly. Don’t want any upset tummies! Hey, how’s your little guy doing after his neuter? Hope he’s doing great!

RP-they are on unlimited pellets right now because they are only about 5 months old. So I just keep pellets in there at all times. I would say that I do go through at least a cup of pellets a day. I’m just unsure about how to go about reducing them. Should I just go straight to 1/4 cup each or reduce it gradually like Usagi mentioned. I don’t want them to get upset tummies or stasis. I usually let them out in the morning and evening for about 2 or 3 hours, so would it be best to give them their pellets then? Maybe split the servings into two and give some in the a.m. and some in the p.m.? Sorry for all the questions…I just really want to do this right!

[tanlover14]

This post is actually really helpful to me too! So don’t feel bad about asking questions. If you don’t do it — then I’ll just have to ask in a month or two! My little ones are 4 months old, almost 5. How old is your bun?

[bun-crazy]

TL- my buns (Frank N Beanz) are 5 months old and right around 6.5 pounds each. They are so funny! I’m new to rabbits too (just got the boys at the end of March). They have been on unlimited pellets so far, but I want to start weaning them down soon. Have you had yours spayed/neutered? I had mine done at the end of May and it went so well! I’m glad its over. I saw on your profile that you may be getting another litter mate to them? Did you get him yet? What will his name be? Your names are so cute! And how do you tell them apart? They look exactly the same to me in your avatar pic! LOL. Thanks for your post…I was beginning to think I sounded like an idiot. I really just want to do it correctly so I don’t cause any problems in their bellies.

[tanlover14]

Hahahah – you definitely didn’t sound like an idiot, I’m always worried about having too many questions but I try and help other people out also by answering to any posts that I know a little info about so I’m not JUST asking questions. There’s just so much to learn about the little guys and this seems to be my favorite place to come for info!

All of mine have the same birthday, from the same litter, they turn 5 months on the 15th of July. We did get the other one, so now we have two boys and a girl! One of the boys came neutered, the breeder did it before we got him so we wouldn’t have to pay for 3 neuters/spays. The other two are actually getting neutered and spayed tomorrow! I’m SOOO nervous for it, they’re so little and one of them (the girl) is SOO skittish that it makes me sooooo nervous!

Their names are Fleury, Sidney, (as you know from my profile, and the last one we named Tanger. All of them are named after the Pittsburgh Penguins, our pro hockey team here! Hahahahah. The first two we got (boy and girl) look almost exactly alike… the only way we can actually tell them apart is that Sid is a tiny bit bigger than her brother and her head is a little bit broader. They also were tattooed by the breeder when they were babies so they all have tattoos in their ears so that’s another way. I love them to death though!

Your bun in your pic is SOOOOO cute.

[Loki'sMomma]

Make sure that your giving them unlimited hay along with their pellets. As long as they are getting unlimited hay statis shouldn’t be a problem. I had Loki on unlimited pellets till he was about 6 months, now he gets about a third a cup a day, and when he gets a couple months older then I’ll take it down to a quarter cup a day. I break up his feedings into 2-3 times a day just so he doesn’t eat all of them at once and then spend the day trying to con me out of more lol. I keep a 1/3 cup measuring cup in his food bowl, and at the beginning of the day I scoop it out of his bag and set it on his pen that way I know how much he has left. Also if you haven’t tried introducing veggies I would start. Do it slowly as well and only one type of green at a time just to make sure their tummies don’t get upset. When I introduce something new to Loki I only give him a little bit to start and mix it in with greens that I know that he already loves that way it kind of eases him into new foods.

[bun-crazy]

Yes, my guys do have unlimited hay and they are both good hay eaters. They also like their veggies. So far they’ve had leaf lettuce, romaine, kale, Bok Choy, parsley, basil and cilantro. I’ve been reducing their pellets and they’ve been doing very well with it (although I am getting some funny looks when they don’t understand why their bowl is empty and I don’t promptly refill it!) lol. Thanks for your advice!

[Elrohwen]

Just do it gradually with a final goal of 1/4c pellets each. Since my two are older, I eventually reduced them to 1/8c each.

I feed half the pellets in the morning and half in the evening, but it’s up to you. I also split veggies into two feedings, so they’re basically getting the same meal in the morning that they get at night.

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