A few questions about food

[sr2011]

So I have a few general questions about feeding my bunny.  When i adopted her, the lady told me that every other day was fine to feed her.  I just can’t do this.  She is soooo excited to eat every night when I feed her that I couldn’t imagine to see those sad little eyes if she didn’t eat one day.  Does anyone do this?  I have been feeding her everyday because I felt that was the right thing to do, but I’m concerned she will gain too much weight now since obviously she was on an every other day feeding schedule.

Also,  I’m a college student so my schedule can be a little all over the place sometimes.  I always have several hours a day to spend with her, but it isn’t consistent on which part of the day- morning, afternoon, evening.  My questions is, I know rabbits are very scheduled, so what happens if I can’t feed her at exactly the same time everyday?  Should I just work my hardest to do so or would a few hours off be fine?  If I have an activitiy that is at night that’s during feeding, class for example, time should I feed before or after?  Thanks!

[pryzmkess]

Buns should eat everyday, and they should have hay all the time. If you’re worried about wieght, cut back on the daily amount of food. I think that the guidelines are 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 lbs of bunny, and 2 cups of greens for every 5 lbs. But you are absolutely correct to be feeding her everyday.

The scheduling thing – I’m not sure what to advise, but honestly, do your best. Make sure she gets daily attention and exercise, and you’ll still be a better bun caregiver than her previous owner.

[Beka27]

try to do it around the same times each day, preferably within a couple hours. i know it’s hard when your schedule varies, but in my experience, being late more than a couple hours can actually throw off their entire digestive system. this might affect some buns more than others, my Meadow i think is just more sensitive in that regard.

they do need to be fed everyday. a good diet is one of the most important things you can do to ensure your bun remains healthy. the bun must always have a supply of fresh timothy hay, greens should be fed daily (2 cups a day minimum) and pellets in a limited amount (usually 1/4 cup per five pounds of bunny.) many of us feed one or the other at different times, either pellets in the morning and veggies at night, or vice verse. mine get morning salads, and bedtime pellets. a long while ago we had info about the digestion of buns and it said, in short, that pellets and greens should be fed approx. 8 hours apart b/c they digest at different rates. i’d aim to do that.

[jerseygirl]

SMU2009, could you aim for a regular feeding time in the morning. That way she has routine and hay to munch on through out the day regardless of when you get home. You could just give treats in the time you can spend with her. Treats don’t have to be given routinely-even thou the buns expect this! Also, they help in bonding to your rabbit.

*Beka, do you happen to have a link to that discussion you mentioned? I’d be interested to take a look.

[RabbitPam]

Making sure your bunny has a well stocked container of hay (unlimited means it’s available all the time every day) will ensure that your bunny never goes hungry. It regulates the digestion, so she won’t get fat from it. And bunnies, unlike dogs, only eat at one sitting until they feel less hungry. They don’t finish the bowl if they don’t want to, sometimes eating little bits throughout the day.

Beka, I didn’t know that about splitting the pellets and the greens. I’ve always given some greens in the AM & PM, and pellets at least once a day as well. Is that OK? Sammy eats better than Spockie did. Healthier, fewer snacks, much more hay. I want to start her off with good habits.

[Beka27]

i don’t have the link. i’ll have to try and find it, it was from a LOOOOOOOOOONG time ago… it won’t hurt them to have them at the same time. i think some buns might be more sensitive to these types of things so if you were to have issues, it’s something you could try. i have found that splitting up these feedings does also encourage them to munch more hay thru out the day.

edited:  some links, not the discussion from before, but they mention digestion and how different foods digest at different rates.

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-3/digestibility.html

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-3/fiber.html

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-4/pellets.html

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh gosh-once every two days!! Maybe she meant top the food up every couple of days.

I’m the same as you, and I managed to get my bunnies on a ‘free feed’ where I don’t have to measure their food. I have unlimited hay of course-and everyone should. But I also can keep the pellets full all the time too, and they won’t devour them-this does not work for all rabbits some will just eat all the pellets no matter what. But if it’s possible to leave a full bowl of pellets that really helps when you have a crazy schedule. Then all I add is veggies, which isn’t really freefed, but I give them veggies about twice a day-they don’t seem to mind that it’s not at the exact time every day. Anyways if it would work with your bun that’d help with your schedule.

[Balefulregards]

Coco has a big salad in the Morning when I get up – A healthy handful of greens. She has another of these handfuls at about 5 p.m.

She is currently pellet free due to some digestive issues ( poopybutt) but she has mounds of hay to free feed from at any point in the day. I usually see her munching some salad in the morning – and leaving a bunch until noonish when she munches the rest. Its true that they won’t eat unless they want to eat – she always picks out her faves from the salad first…

As to her hay – I hear her nibbling and chewing throughout the day. She also chews/eats her timothy bungalows, so I am pleased with the amount of hay she now eats. It was not something she had before we adopted her,so it took her some time to get an appetite for hay.

As for right now – about half her 5 p.m. salad is still sitting there – she will circle back at about 8 or 9 and top off for the night.

The previous owner may have meant that she refilled a pellet bowl every other day? When Coco was not yet ours, she only had pellets – and her appetite seemed to be less “healthy” than it is now – maybe because the pellets are more filling/calorie dense?

[MooBunnay]

I split up my bunny’s pellet time and give each one Tablespoon in the morning, and one Tablespoon at night. We give out the veg in the morning, and the bunnies always have unlimited hay. I always recommend keeping bunnies on a schedule as best you can because they really are creatures of habit, so try to pick a time that you would most likely always be at home, maybe sometime early in the morning, you can always wake up to give a Tablespoon or two of pellets and then go back to bed

[sweetbluebun]

Hmm I’m fairly certain rabbits should be fed everyday, unless you’re on a free feed pellet/hay routine (which is usually not advisible because the rabbits will usually prefer eating mostly pellets with minimal hay intake). My buns are on a twice a day feeding routing, spaced 12 hrs apart. This works pretty well for me, because I work long hours while at the same time the buns get to stay on their routine. Depending on how voraciously your buns eat, you can put pellets and veggies in together or space them apart. Cheeky is a nibbler so I can easily feed him his pellet ration and veggie plate together in the morning and it will last till 4-5 in the afternoon. He gets fresh hay, once in the am and once at night. Guppy is a little trickier to feed because of his tendency to get poopy bum. He gets a bigger helping of veggies, fresh hay with a tablespoon of tim hay pellets sprinkled in (so he has to forage). He also gets some more veggies and hay again at night (7:00).

[sr2011]

Thanks everyone! So is it okay to give veggies and pellets together? That’d make things a lot easier for me schedule wise, but someone also said something about spacing them 8 hours apart. I wish I could leave pellets for her out all the time, but everytime I feed her she eats like she hasn’t had a meal in days. She literally hops in the bag of pellets whenever I pull it out and goes face first trying to eat before I have the chance to put any in her bowl. She also knows the sound of the bag opening. I will work on finding a time where I am consistently home everyday. As I said, I have time to spend with her several hours a day, but whether thats morning, noon, or evening just depeneds. I’m thinking around 5 or 6 everyday for dinner time could work. Thanks!

[BunnyMuffin]

I’m also a student and empathize with your hectic schedule! I had a 13 hour day at school last week, it was ridiculous. But at least for my bunnies, they really don’t have much of a defined schedule, and they don’t seem to mind (maybe because they’ve never had a defined schedule so they can’t miss what they’ve never had). Lately I’ve been feeding them before I go to bed, which can vary quite significantly. Other times I’ll feed them before my night classes as a way to get them into their cage quickly without having to chase them down. If I’m around in the evenings I’ll give them their pellets then so I can watch them forage around (I scatter them on the living room floor). But they also get used occasionally as bribes to get the bunnies in when I need to leave midday. I so far haven’t had trouble with not spacing the pellets and the veggies out, but now that I know it could cause issues I’ll avoid giving them simultaneously, just to be safe.

So I don’t think you need to worry about feeding at the exact same time every day – and if it comes to feeding before or after class, I’d just do whatever’s easiest for you – might be useful as a bribe, or you might have more time for food prep once you get home. I think that as long as there is constantly hay for your bunny to munch on, the exact timing of the veggies and pellets is less of an issue.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh yes you could certainly give veggies and pellets at the same time. You can also do a couple of things to get them to slow down eating the pellets and veggies. You can scatter them through the cage, put them in a brown paper bag mixed with hay or you can put them in a ball designed to keep dogs busy (treat dispensing ball) so that they have kind of a time delayed eating

[sweetbluebun]

I think some people feed their rabbits on an 8 hr schedule, unfortunately I can’t because of my long hours. I find the 7 am and 7 pm feeding works pretty well for me because it corresponds with the activity around dawn and dusk. Usually my buns are hyper at this time so it helps because they’re not sleepy or uninterested during meal time (which can lead to spoiled veggies!).

[Beka27]

i actually go longer than 8. the info i had suggested 8 hours at least. mine are more like 12 hours apart.

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