Rabbits are crepuscular which means they are naturally more active in the morning and evening. I don’t think there is a way to change this or that is should be changed. Have you considered bringing her inside to live? It would be safer for her, especially since she’s escaped a lot in the past, and easier for you to give you more exercise during her active times.

As for worrying about her burning off fat I think with overweight rabbits diet is the biggest factor. Have you been to a vet to determine whether or not she has a weight problem? What and how much are you generally feeding her? What type of pellets/hay? How old is she? How big is her cage? Does she have room to hop around inside of it?

Sorry for all the questions, lol. I think a little more info will help us give you better advice.

I worried about Henry’s sleeping pattern for the obvious reasons. Not that I can offer any advice – I can just let you know what we do…
Henry is an indoor bunny – so as soon as someone wakes up he is let out – this is when he is the most active/outrageous. When it is nap time throughout the day, we find that he still wants to be in the same room even though he isn’t interacting with us. For example, if I’m in the kitchen/dining room, he will nap under the table or in his house which is located at the end of the room, cause this is the most used room by our family . If after lunch I move to the lounge, he will make his way to that room and sleep under a chair. Then early evening – he’s back at it! When I make my way to bed to watch telly, he will come in and if he’s still up and at em, jump on the bed, or if he’s over it, will go under my bed to chew on my packing boxes and I’m guessing sleep again? He is put to bed around 10, and because I worry he will be bored, I feed him his vegies (at night, not the day) and try and give him toys to play with – idiot me, gave him loud toys – try to avoid that! Lol… I’m not sure you can change a sleeping pattern that comes naturally? I’m curious to know what others do, so am eager to see your replies toooooo!

If you are worried about weight make sure the cage area is big enough your bun can run during the times it is natural for them to be awake. Mine are most active 4-6am and 5-7pm and 9-10pm. It isn’t really possible to alter their genetics to make them not crepuscular, the only way to really alter their pattern would be to bring the bun inside and make it seem like dusk/dawn at the times you want the bun awake… but that will have downsides too.

Hey Mel – for fruit and veg, do you only feed your bun carrots?

Keeping her inside is really the safest and best thing for her. It keeps her safe from predators, weather changes, and makes her more a part of the family. Bunny proofing might be time consuming but it’s worth it. Even the safest outdoor enclosure is more dangerous than inside. Statistically indoor rabbits live longer than ones kept outdoors. Check out BB’s bunny proofing article:
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/8/PID/940/Default.aspx

On diet, pellets are necessary unless you feed 10+ types of bunny safe veggies a day in much larger quantities. It’s not really healthy for a bunny to be pellet free without the additional nutrition, vitamins, and calories of extra types and quantities of bunny safe veggies. Carrots, cilantro/coriander, and hay are not enough for so please do get her some healthy pellets. Check out these sites for more info on bunny diet:
http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/
http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/2/PID/940/Default.aspx

Because you don’t know breed or have a vet I don’t think you should assume she’s overweight and I definitely suggest feeding her properly until you can get a more professional opinion. If she is a female rabbit spaying is also highly recommended as intact females have an 80% chance of developing uterine cancer by the age of 4. Here’s some great info on spaying/neutering that includes a section on how to determine whether or not a vet is rabbit savvy:
http://rabbit.org/faq-spaying-and-neutering/

Hope some of that helps!

For vets, this is what I found in NZ via web search. This is just to give you some ideas. I cannot vouch for these vets so you’ll want to determine for yourself whether or not one of them is rabbit savvy (check out the link I posted in my previous comment for that):

From HRS website re-direct: http://members.shaw.ca/cocoasun/AustralianRabbitVets.htm

Pet Doctors Terrace End
Dr. Becky Frost
591 Church St
Palmerston North 4410
Manawatu
Phone: 06 357 6569
email: terraceend@nzpetdoctors.co.nz
http://terraceend.nzpetdoctors.co.nz/

Rappaw Veterinary Care
Dr Tara Rana
15 Paremata Crescent
Paremata
Porirua (20 minutes north of Wellington)
Phone: (04) 233 8059

F V C Thames Small Animal Clinic (Inc)
Dr. Maarten van den Heuvel
623 Pollen Street
Thames
Waikato 3500 NZ
Phone: +64-7-8687005
Email: thames@fvcvet.co.nz
http://www.fvcvet.co.nz/thameshome

From Rabbitsonline.net:

Avondale Vets
2021E Great North Rd
Avondale
Auckland
NewZealand
Phone: 09 820 9991

Manurewa Vet Hospital
128 Great South Road
Manurewa
Auckland
New Zealand
Phone: 09 267 4055

Bucklands Beach Veterinary Clinic
340 bucklands beach road,
bucklands beach, east auckland (on the corner by the round-a-bout)
phone: +64-9-534 8118

Vets at Jansens
Hutington Centre Ti Rakau Drive
12 Amera Place
Botany Downs
271 4646
vet by the name of Sujata Divekar (Sue)

At The Vets
406 Brougham Street (Cnr Waltham Road)
Christchurch 8023
Ph 03 332 6632
Fax 03 982 3907
clinic@atthevets.co.nz
http://www.atthevets.co.nz

Lynfield Veterinary Clinic
122 White Swan Rd
1041 Auckland
09 626 4335
http://www.lynfieldvet.co.nz/

Point Chevalier Veterinary Clinic
67 Point Chevalier Road
Point Chevalier
Auckland, New Zealand
09 815 0696
http://ptchevaliervets.co.nz/

Royal Oak Veterinary Care and Cattery
649 Mount Albert Rd
Royal Oak
Auckland, New Zealand
09 625 9729
http://royaloakvets.co.nz/

Balmoral Veterinary Care
482 Dominion Road
Balmoral
Auckland, New Zealand
http://balmoralvets.co.nz/

Sounds like her diet is lacking in nutrients. Carrots are OK treats, but she really needs a variety of greens and dark leafy vegetables as well as maybe the occasional fruit if you aren’t feeding pellets. And you can’t really judge a rabbits overweight/not by looking at them. You’d have to weigh her. To do this you can use an animal scale with a basket, or the easier way is weigh yourself then pick up bunny and weigh yourself again. My rex looks FAT 90% of the time, since her body is stockier than some other rabbit breeds and she will bunch herself up and look like a big blubber ball when she does it – but she’s actually ideal weight for her breed and it’s just the body type she has/how she sits.

AndHenry, Ziggy is the exact same as Henry by the sounds of it. On weekends when I’m home all day he’ll just sleep in whatever room I’m in, no interaction. After 5pm he perks up and runs around doing binkies on the carpet. His sleeping pattern was the reason I got a rabbit. His active times are the same times I’m at home. Perfect for both of us.

Hi ray ray and Ziggy! So I’m guessing that Ziggy is a spoilt bun tooooo! ha ha ha……