She’s beautiful. I’m no expert with weight. I would get the bun looked over by a rabbit savvy vet. They should be able to tell you if the bun is on point with weight or needs to lose some. I’m sure with some exercise time she’ll drop any unneeded pounds. I am obligated to say though, that you should get the little girl spayed. Female buns have a 80% to 85% chance of getting ovarian cancer. Also, the bun will lead a happier life overall. You never know once the little girl is spayed your current bun and this new one might be able to bond.

I agree about a vet and a spay. She does look a bit chunky to me, but cute.

I say get her spayed and then get her exercising to help her lose the weight. Maybe if she has some mental stimulation it will help her lose some of that weight.

As far as the “being in shape” thing – it seems the consensus is that most lops are sort of lazy. I wouldn’t use use lack of binkies and running around as an indicator. My lop runs for 30 seconds twice a day and then lays down for an hour (or five hour) nap and literally that is not the slightest exaggeration. Her cage is open ALL day but she just isn’t that active and prefers to loaf and have head rubs all day.

I’d just feed her a healthy normal rounded rabbit diet (which it sounds like you are doing) until you see a vet. You may want to be careful with what veggies you are giving her and introduce them one at a time slowly as to not shock her system if she hasn’t already had them OR you don’t think she has had them in awhile.

Honestly she doesn’t look that chubby to me. I would have in for a vet check and spay, but unless the vet says anything, i bet she’ll even out with proper diet and regular exercise.

Rupert was very unsocialized when I got him, and you could never tell now so don’t give up hope that she’ll get used to and settle right down into a great bunny

She looks a little chubby to me, but lops often look that way when they’re not actually fat. I call Hannah “fat” all the time, and she looks like a chubby little thing, but every vet has said she’s at a perfect weight, so it’s just her build. Can you feel her ribs?

I’d see what a vet says. I bet with a proper diet and more exercise her weight will come down to a good level.

Ditto, Elrohwen. When I got Olivia she was quite overweight with rolls and everything. I took her off the junk pellets, started a healthy diet and with daily exercise, she slimmed right down.

Rizzo is beautiful. She reminds me of my little lop I used to have. How sad that she was going to end up at a shelter.

I looked up the food you are feeding her. It says it’s Alfalfa based. Alfalfa should only be fed to young rabbits up to 6 months of age, it’s too rich for adults. You have to find her Timothy based pellets, otherwise it will be hard for her to lose any weight.

She’s very cute! 

Well there’s more protein and calcium in Alfalfa, I guess some rabbits can be on it without problems, other than weight I don’t know what the long term effects might be. I read somewhere that too much calcium can be linked to GI stasis. Timothy also has more fiber. And since you are trying to slim her down it might be helpful to switch.

How sad that she’s scared of human contact  Poor thing.

How much are you feeding per day? I tend to agree that in very small quantities it shouldn’t matter if it’s alfalfa or timothy, but maybe for an overweight rabbit it could make the difference.

She looks just like a black version of my late rabbit Bunny. Her body structure looked much like your rabbit’s, and the vet always said Bunny’s weight was fine. Your rabbit might be very slightly over, but it isn’t really anything you should freak out about. Mini lops can be up to 6 pounds, and she doesn’t look that heavy to me.

I fed my first rabbit Purina Rabbit Chow Complete the whole time I had her (nearly 6 years). She did pass of GI Stasis, but it was brought on by a prolonged sickness. She never got Stasis any time other than that, and she refused to eat hay (I didn’t know to keep trying to force it).

However, since I’m scared of Stasis, I won’t feed Purina to my current rabbit, but he is also prone to it, due to his molting issues (we have done everything to prevent it, we promise!). I use Oxbow’s food instead.

Posted By Hazel on 08/26/2012 04:27 PM

Well there’s more protein and calcium in Alfalfa, I guess some rabbits can be on it without problems, other than weight I don’t know what the long term effects might be. I read somewhere that too much calcium can be linked to GI stasis. Timothy also has more fiber. And since you are trying to slim her down it might be helpful to switch.

How sad that she’s scared of human contact  Poor thing.

Alfalfa can also cause sludgy bladders and bladder stones which are expensive to remove and painful for the the rabbit 

That seems like a lot of pellets to me. My buns only get 1/8 cup each… and my 2 girls share that 1/8 cup.

Posted By Monkeybun on 08/27/2012 03:57 PM

That seems like a lot of pellets to me. My buns only get 1/8 cup each… and my 2 girls share that 1/8 cup.

My bunnies who are each five pounds get 1/3 cup each. We go by the House Rabbit Society’s guidelines, but I know some people prefer to feed less pellets or none at all.

Love your avatar pic, Happi Bun. Way too cute!