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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE Started limiting my bunnie’s pellets today.

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    • vanessa
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        Today I started limiting my bunnie’s pellets. My 2 outdoor buns eat a good amount of pellets – 1/4 cup each a day, and that’s with free feeding. They spend all day and night grazing on seeded lawn, so they prefer greens to pellets, which is perfect. My indoor buns are another story. Although I feed them twice a day, I give them a large scoop of pellets. Lancelot stomps his feet when his bowl is empty, and has picked up 1lb since bringing him home. Guin is a very round chubby bunny. Always has been. They both get 4 cups of greens a day and unlimited hay. Their greens are literally 17 types, and 3 tiny pieces of fruit carrot/kiwi/plum, and each week I change a few of them out. Last night I gave them 1/4 cup pellets each. This morning the bowls were empty and they were “Starving”. By the time I left for work, they had just about finished eating their pellets. They essentially ate them in one sitting. Little piggies. (I didn’t realize I was giving them so many different veggies until I read the forum on pellets and did the math – so I’m pleased with their diet). 

        I’m determined to keep it up with the pellet rationing, because Guin is quite overweight, and Lancelot will catch up to her at the rate of his current weight gain.

        Anyone else recently made the change to limiting pellets?


      • Jadeo09
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          I’ve always limited pellets after mine was a baby. Up until I have stopped them under vets request.
          They say an American cup should be ample . hay is all they really need.its best for their Tums and teeth the more hay they have so the more you limit the other stuff the better for them.
          Have you tried different is to interest them.alfalfa king alfalfa hay and timoth hay are boos favourite she turns her nose up at readigrass now.


        • vanessa
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            Lancelot seems to be doing good with 1/3 cup pellets total a day. He was acting starbing with 1/2 cup, but he’s doing good ow. Guin is acting fammished. IT’s cute. She stands up against the fence, binkies when I give her salads. Morgana and Avalon have been outdoors up till Tuesday, so they only eat1/4 cup between the two of them a day – at the most. The rest is hay and grass. Lots of hay. They all eat Timothy and Orchard, except for Lancelot. He only eats Orchard. I read that Alfalfa is rich in protein and fat. I’m looking for Oat Grass.


          • Jadeo09
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              What quantities of food should I feed mature adults? (1 to 5 years)
              Unlimited timothy, grass hay, oat hay, other hays including brome, Bermuda, etc.
              1/4 to 1/2 cup pellets per 6 lbs. body weight (depending on metabolism and/or proportionate to veggies)
              Minimum 2 cups chopped vegetables per 6 lbs. body weight; always introduce vegetables and greens slowly to make sure your rabbit can tolerate
              fruit daily ration no more than 2 oz. (2 TBL) per 6 lbs. body weight.


            • Jadeo09
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                That’s from hose rabbit society
                Sorry I got it wrong!


              • Jadeo09
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                  I used to feed boo her pellets split into 4 times a day maybe you could give them a pinch every now and then rather than all at once if you feel bad like as treats?


                • LBJ10
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                    Pellet addiction. That’s a tough one.
                    Did you cut them back suddenly? Or did you do it gradually?


                  • vanessa
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                      I cut it to a scoop twice a day so they could get use to set feeding times. 1 scoop = about 1 cup. Then 1/4 cup twice a day. I upped their veggies, and kept the hay the same (more than they can eat). Lancelot now has some veggies left over the next day. He is at his optimum weight. Guin finishes her pellets and veggies in one sitting, and she eats Lancelot’s left over veggies. She could stand to lose 1 to 1.5 pounds. She does eat hay, but not nearly as much as my second pair of buns. They ear their body volume in hay a day.


                    • LBJ10
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                        Hmm, do you think stepping it down would have helped some? I mean, some bunnies just act like their starving every time they get fed. LOL But maybe doing 1/2 cup and then 1/4 cup would be better? Then again, you already have them down to 1/4 cup so no reason to up it now.

                        You could try feeding them part of their daily ration in a cat treat ball. That way they have to roll it around and work at it to get the pellets out. My buns have one. I mostly use it as a toy, but many people have used them to try to help their buns lose weight/be more active.


                      • Jadeo09
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                          o definitely wouldn’t feed any of them more than 1/4 cup.twice a day pellets in quantities higher cause teeth problems eventually as they don’t grind them the same as hay
                          they are supposed to look abit hungry that’s when they eat hay


                        • vanessa
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                            Cat treat ball sounds good. I’ll have to give it a try. Her behavior is funny. I increased her veggies, so I’m sure she isn’t starving, but she sure acts like it. Pellet addiction is an apt term. When I brought Lancelot home, he acted starving with a bowel full of food. He craved the act of me putting food in his bowel – whether there was food there or not. Silly bunny. I appreciate the cat treat ball idea.


                          • vanessa
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                              Well I’m back to square one with the bunnies, so I will limit them slowly. I went away for an overnight, and if I gave them their portions at once, they would have eaten it all. So I filled up the food bowls… So now I’ll start limiting slowly… They’ll be happy to hear that! Plus I ordered 4 little cat treat balls that should arrive on Tuesday 🙂


                            • Jadeo09
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                                Great to hear that et us know how you get on if you like ☺


                              • vanessa
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                                  4 weeks, but here is my update. Guin and Lancelot LOOOVE the cat treat balls. I must admit – sometimes I’m good about giving them 1/4 cup a day, other times it’s a 1/4 cup twice a day, and when I’m away overnight, I fill up their dish. I’m thinking of using the food dish as a treat dish (pellets as treats instead of staple), and the cat ball for their 1/4 cup servings. They are doing well with it. They munch down their greens pretty much immediately, and are eating more hay. I’m thinking of 1 cat ball in the morning and another in the evening. Sometimes Lancelot uses the cat ball on his own, othertimes he pushes it around and him and Guin eat together.
                                  Morgan and Avalon are not interested in the cat ball, because they aren’t pellet crack-bunnies. I often leave their foor bowl full, because they end up only eating 1/4 cup each a day. They eat 1-2 body-sized piles of hay a day. Good bunnies!
                                  Thanks for the advice.


                                • Paradigm
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                                    Mine have limited pellets. George has been left free-feeding if we’ve left her overnight before and she and Fred did fine – plenty left when we returned.

                                    Unfortunately, Charlie and Albus are pellet addicts and as a result she has learnt that she needs to eat her fill if she wants to get any.

                                    I haven’t used their treat ball in a while, so I might do that when they get back from their holiday.

                                    They were given measurements of pellets based on their weight until I bonded all three together. Now I fill one bowl to the brim and put it out for them (it’s approximately their separate amounts).

                                    Poor Albus is usually blocked a bit from the bowl, but he always finds a way to get food anyway – judging by his output pellets I suspect he’s eating more than his fair share!

                                    They get unlimited hay, so I don’t worry about them being hungry.

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                                Forum DIET & CARE Started limiting my bunnie’s pellets today.