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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

FORUM DIET & CARE Less energy, slowing down bun bun

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    • Rain
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        Hey everybunny I’ve noticed for the past week that little Rain has been less energetic. It is winter time around my area so could that be it? I’ve noticed he has a burst of energy from ten to twelve am and then he lazes around until like six pm. And then at ten and eleven he gets lazy again. Which is what worries me. I have kind of a large house, so he runs upstairs and downstairs, into ten different rooms,  and has a lot of space to cover, so could that tire him out? He eats his hay, pellets, veggies, and goes crazy for treats like usual. But I’ve noticed him laying around a lot more than three months ago when I got him. I feel like the only reason he wants to get out of his cage at all is to get treats and pellets/veggies, and to sleep in a big area. Could I be feeding him too much, causing him to gain weight and get lazy? I give him about one leaf of green leaf lettuce, 1/4 pellets, a Vitakraft alfalfa chew stick, two Oxbow cranberry treats, and that’s it. By the way I’m a little concerned about those chew stick things. Apparently they are made of: Wheat flour, corn flour, dehydrated alfalfa meal,dehulled soybean meal, vitamin a supplement, vitamin d3 supplement, vitamin e supplement, thiamine monoitrate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydochloride, vitamin b12 supplement, menadione sodium and a bunch of other things. I thought I heard that corn and wheat is bad for a rabbit. I’ve been giving him these sticks every day for four months. Could this be the culprit? If anyone wants to search up these sticks they are specifically called Vitakraft Slims with Alfalfa. 

        I’ve also seen that my rabbit has watery eyes. They are kind of crusted with whitish stuff at the corners. I don’t know if they are watery or if it’s just the shine from the lights. 

        Please do give your thoughts and opinions. Is it normal for a rabbit to eat this much and sleep this much. And the wateryish eyes.

        Edit: also also Rain has been ducking down between his legs a lot. I mean how many decals is heat trying to eat. Is it that or excessive grooming of the area or something? Could that just be normal grooming. The area is clean, I checked ( after a lot of scratching and irritated nips) .


      • Deleted User
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          His diet does seem really rich for a young bun. You’re giving him a lot of treat like food in a day. I give my boys a single Oxbow treat everyday. Bunnies are constantly hungry, so that’s not concerning. His sleep schedule too isn’t concerning. Most buns are active in the night and sleep during the day. My boys tend to be active from 3am- 8am, 4pm-8pm, and 10pm-midnight.


        • Rain
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            Okay yes I thought so that i was giving him too many treats. His pop looks a bit darker because of it too I think. I will just cut it down to one Oxbow treat and maybe something else to chew on. Anyone have good ideas in what rabbits like to chew on? He doesn’t like cardboard boxes. I tried that with him but he would sniff at it and turn away. He doesn’t like chewing on paper towel tubes either. I’ve seen these Kaytee apple orchard sticks. Are those okay for bunnies?


          • joea64
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              Personally, I avoid Vitakraft because of all the junk in there like what you listed – wheat, corn, and such (they actually have the brass to market yogurt treats, of all things, for bunnies!) I give 1/4 cup (1/8 cup per bun) of Oxbow timothy pellets in the morning, approximately 4 cups of greens (2 cups per bun) in the evening, and big handfuls of hay in the litterbox twice daily supplemented by a daily refresh of the auxiliary hay rack. Treats are generally 2 each Oxbow Simple Rewards daily, after breakfast and supper, and a handful of plain oats in the evening. Both rabbits, particularly Fernando, love chewing on cardboard boxes; knocking about hidey boxes and chewing them up is one of Fernando’s favorite entertainments, in fact. They enjoy hay-stuffed toilet paper tubes, too; in fact, I took two down with them last weekend at Christmas and found by the time we came home that one of them was about 2/3 chewed up! I have a bundle of National Geographic brand willow sticks that I offer them every so often as well.


            • Rain
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                Yes, Vitakraft it seems is not a safe brand at all for bunnies. The petstore I bought Rain from gave me everything from Vitakraft, such as pellets with weird ingredients and colorful seedlike things, these corn flour chew sticks, and those yogurt drops you mentioned. Bunnies don’t file their teeth every day do they? Rain does bunstruct a little bit of his cardboard box, but just a little each day. I ended up taking it away from him because I didn’t know if he liked it or not. He did like tearing parts of it and eating it. I tried various things with paper towel tubes, and they did not work (except when I made a box out of them and stuffed it with pellets.) The rabbit is more interested in his food than his entertainment. His poops are fine though. I think I will get rid of those Vitakraft things, and start getting him more wood sticks like applewood or willow to chew on instead. That might have been causing a problem for him. Should I lower the amount of pellets I give him since I give him a salad (One chopped up leaf of Green Leaf Lettuce and a half of a baby carrot)? Maybe I’m giving him a lot of food that’s making him fat and lazy? He’s only five months I think, so that’s why I thought to give him more pellets. I also am giving just one Oxbow Simple Rewards treat.


              • sarahthegemini
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                  Carrots should be given in moderation as they are sugary. You’re currently giving, in addition to hay, pellets and a lettuce leaf:
                  -1 alfalfa chew stick
                  -2 cranberry treats
                  -1/2 baby carrot
                  That’s far, far too many treats in one day!


                • Rain
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                    Yes, I took out the alfalfa chew stick and one cranberry treat. And the carrot. Now he gets just one cranberry treat.


                  • CinnamonPearl
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                      Interesting that Vitakraft isn’t a good brand for rabbits! I use their parakeet food to feed my mice (great ingredients and crude protein for mice), so it’s strange for me to see the brand get dubbed unsafe. But every species is different, after all! Sorry I don’t have anything very informative to weigh in with.


                    • Rain
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                        It’s all right. They might not have good things for all the species. They do have a lot of foods that have seeds and such, which is the case with rabbit food. And rabbits can’t eat seeds.

                        I feel now he’s slowing down even more. And now it’s the whole day. During the night, he’s in his cage for ten hours, depending on whenever I wake up. Shouldn’t he have a ton of energy to get out of him when he finally gets out? Instead he goes to his favorite spot and sleeps and grooms himself for hours. And then finally he gets up, sniffs around for an hour, and then goes back to sleep. In the night time too, he just wants to sleep. I just put him back in his cage now because why should I take him out if he just wants to sleep? I haven’t noted any other problems. I cut out the Vitakraft chew stick and now I’m stopping carrots as well. Any guesses as to what might be wrong with him? Should I take out salads too for a while? Maybe a couple days of plain old hay and water will get his gut cleared or something? He’s laying around a lot more, that’s for certain. It’s just relaxed laying around and teeth chattering. No hunched position or anything. His poops are all normal too and less dark. And very abundant. He eats everything just fine, such as hay, salad, pellets, and drinks his water. It can’t be GI Stasis.

                        He is molting. Do rabbits get less active when they molt? I brush him almost every day and get out as much hair as possible. 

                         It’s not like awful, won’t move at all lethargy. He perks up whenever I shake a treat bag in front of him. Is it stress? I’ve noticed that whenever there someone accidentally drops something and it makes a loud noise, or if someone just laughs out loud, he gets so scared and he runs on the wood slipping everywhere. I’ve told everyone in my family the consequences of those loud noises and how they can harm a rabbit very badly. He’s just very slow these days. I still have no clue what it could be. Please do reply! (ASAP!!!) 


                      • Deleted User
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                          You could just have a very docile bunny. Some bunnies just aren’t explorers. They aren’t bonded yet, so my boys come out in hour long shifts when I get home from work. Bombur will run around for 10 minutes then come lay on the bed for the next 40-50 minutes, then sometimes he’ll get up and be active for another 10 minutes until he goes back in. Asriel, on the other hand, you can’t get him to sit still. He’s always into everything and running around.
                          It really doesn’t sound like anything serious. If poops and eating and drinking are all fine then it’s not something GI related, and if you haven’t seen anything else wrong I don’t think it’s medical. Their attitudes do change a little when they molt (Bombur for example wants less cuddles and becomes a little of a loaner). But overall it seems like you have a very relaxed and very docile bun. A lot of people might envy that, especially those of us with a bun that’s too mischievous ?


                        • ThorBunny
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                            How old is he? It does sound like he could just be slowing down due to age. My lop is fairly lazy as well, just a few bursts of energy during the day

                            As long as he is eating well and excited about treats I wouldn’t be too worried… Any other symptoms?


                          • Rain
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                              He’s pretty young.About six months I think. There is no other symptoms or anything. I guess he is just really relaxed. I was concerned because before that, he was VERY active. And extremely mischievious. Is he maturing?


                            • sarahthegemini
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                                Out of curiosity, how big is his cage?


                              • Wick & Fable
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                                  From my observations with Wick, I noticed he really reflects what my daily routine is like. On the weekends, I tend to just sit and relax, and because he always likes being in the same room, he just lounges as well. Once I made a point to actively poke around, clean, and just crawl on the floor occasionally, Wick became more active.

                                  Maybe you can try being more mobile and seeing how this affects his affect.

                                  The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.


                                • Rain
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                                    Ohhhhhh, I see, I’m on Winter Break currently and have been lazing around pretty often. This started basically when I started being lazy. That makes a lot of sense. I will definitely try doing that. Sometimes I just copy his behaviors, as racing around or jumping in the air to maybe rub it off on him, and it kind of works. Thank you Wick!
                                    I’m not entirely sure how big his cage is, but it’s not very large. It’s a medium sized cage, maybe 70 inches or so. I try to keep him out of it as much as possible. I don’t know what to do about the night time though. I have these railings upstairs that he can slip his head through and plummet downstairs, so that’s why. Are rabbits able to tell if an area is not very safe?


                                  • Rain
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                                      Incredible! Thank you Wick! It works!

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                                  FORUM DIET & CARE Less energy, slowing down bun bun