Ahh Needs Weight Help!! Pudgy Little Bunny!

[Juli]

okay so, i weighed Dakota a while ago during her grooming day and she was about 3.6 pounds. Keep in mind she is a lionhead. And so i thought this was a good weight but not a great one. like mybe 3.2 pounds is a little bit better. so i decided to help her loose weight. but after a while i kinda forgot about it and just kept feeding her her regular diet and she only gained weight. she is now a huge total of 4.2 pounds. wow! isn’t that crazy! and its only been like1,2maybe3 months. is this a lot though? How much should she way? what is healthy for her? does anyone know? well here is some info on her to help you.

 

Female

2 yrs. old (her b-day is tomorrow!)

lionhead

 

and here is her regular diet:

1/4 cup heaping of pellets (she gets manapro with rolled oats but i am transferring her to Oxbow with rolled oats currently.)

1/2 cup of greens every other day (usually baby spinich, arugala, or dandelions.

a handful  or two of timothy g rass or as mush as that will fill her holder.

alweays has fresh water

and of course the occasional treats.

 

her diet would be a little less food and a lot more exercise and out side time.

[Monkeybun]

It’s hard to gauge what is a good weight for bunnies, as it varies per bun. Only a vet could really tell you if she is at a healthy weight.

If she is too chubby though, first thing to go in my opinion would be the rolled oats. And lower pellet intake. Add in more exercise, and more fresh greens DAILY. My buns get easily 3 cups of fresh veggies a day each.

[Stickerbunny]

It is typically recommended 1/4 cup per 5lbs of body weight for pellets, so I would gradually lower the pellet amount and add unlimited grass hay (timothy, orchard, oat) and make greens daily – romaine, celery, parsley, etc. Sounds like she’s just getting too many pellets, which are higher in carbs and fat than hay or greens.

[Sarita]

First, I would take the rolled oats away.

Then I would decrease the pellets to about a tablespoon – do this gradually though. Increase the fresh greens to daily and to at least a cup MINIMUM.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Take her to a vet to determine if she’s really overweight or underweight, then go from there. My Samson (female) is a lionhead, but lionheads are bred with a ton of different rabbits, from large NZs to tiny nethies so there isn’t really a set weight bracket yet. She’s 9 months and about 4 1/4 lbs, but shes a good weight.

Its also recommended 2 cups per 6lbs of bunny daily plus 2-4 hours of run time, and I’d cut out the rolled oats.

[Sarita]

I do agree about a vet visit, but I also think you need to change her current diet as well…you could get her on a better diet.

[Juli]

okay i’ll increase the greens to a cup daily like Sarita and monkeybun said and move on from there. i think i will change the oats to a 1/2 cup for every 6 cups of food instead of on cup for every 6 cups of food or maybe even down to 1/4 cup. i’m starting with 1/8 cup of food and gonna let her outside more to exercise. how does thi sound? should ii totally take all rolled oats away then? and also less treats.thanks for your help though guys. i really eeded it.

[Sarita]

Yes, take all the rolled oats away. Sounds like a good plan!

[Juli]

okay i’ll think about a vet visit. my dads an animal optomologist so i could take it into his clinic and get my vet to have a look at her there. so i got another question as well. these brands?re they good ones that you’d eer used or suggested.

Pellets: Manapro with the natural rolled oats (which i’ll remove) but i am moving her into OxBow essentials.
Hay: Kaytee Plus and i have started giving her Oxbow Timothy grass hay and Oxbow Ochard Grass.
Treats:fruits of all sorts veggies. ecotrtion chews. kabobs, and her faves are yogies and seed sticks.
thanks again.

[Monkeybun]

Yogies are a big no no. Dairy is definitely not good for bunnies. Same with seed sticks. Those could definitely be adding to her weight. And seeds can cause blockages in her tummy.

[Juli]

Alright thanks MB i only have like two yogies left in the package so i’ll use them up and then buy no more. i haven’t given her seed sticks in the past week so i’ll cut those out too. what treats do you reccomend or that ur buns like?

[Monkeybun]

My buns like the oxbow timothy treats, and raisins and dried papaya. they go bonkers for them. Small amounts of course

[Juli]

oh yeah Dakota gets dried papaya. she likes it a lot too. and i’ll introduce her to raisins sometime and i’ll have a look for the timthy treats or other treats in the BB store. has anyone here tried the papaya supplement though. i thought it looked pretty healthy.

[Monkeybun]

the tablets? my buns like those too

[Juli]

alright i’ll go on a treat shopping spree.

[Juli]

how about from the BB store i saw the Papaya tablets and the pumpkin pie cookies ! are those good to!? should i order these?!?! and i saw i also have some of that cool side salad stuff with timothy mixed with stuff and hay and fruit baskets and all sorts of goodies like that. i also have nutriphase Ntural Nibblers that she can gnaw on. and lots of willow balls too play with.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

The best treats are from the grocery aisle Pet store treats are garbage.

I use oxbow-everything. Oxbow timothy pellets for Samson, alfalfa for baby Lady, Oxbow orchard grass, timothy, oat, botanical…. Treats are an occasional craisin or bit of banana, but usually I just don’t give treats, if I’m eating and they are begging I’ll have a couple parsley or mint to give Makes em happy. Fruit is really fattening because its so high in sugar. They also get 2 cups of veggies every night, romaine lettuce, chicory, parsley, collard greens, kale etc. BB has a great list above in the bunny care

[Monkeybun]

the BB stuff should be fine not sure about the nibblers, never bought them myself.

[Stickerbunny]

I shop for treats mainly in the produce aisle : pineapple (rarely), craisins, a bit of apple, a carrot, broccoli. I limit their fruit in take to very little every day, so like sometimes they’ll each get one craisin (though if they had their way, they’d get ALL of the craisins, ha) another day they might get a baby carrot. Greens they get every day : parsley, kale, romaine, celery, etc .. whatever I happen to have in the fridge, I am a vegetarian so I keep a lot of veggies and buy some extras just for them.

[Juli]

i know and i’ma gonna start with the daily greens. i’ll start with a cup and move on from there. yeah, she does like dried papayas and i’ll introduce her to the craisins and i think i have tryed feeding her strawberrys and banana bits before and she loved them. I guess it’s time to start moving into the natural choice of treats. and wood chews too. I LOVE Oxbow stuff to though sam and Lady’s. and is Baby spinich, arugala, and dandelions good for her greens. do you guys like or ever use these. and i think i might try lettuce,parsley, and/or romaine too tough.  thanks so much for the help guys. if anyone else has more to say. you are welcome to here.

[Stickerbunny]

Those greens are fine, though I wouldn’t feed spinach daily (3-4 times a week maybe) since it’s so high in oxalates. Don’t feed iceberg lettuce either, just dark green lettuces, since iceberg is mainly water. I warn you though, craisins are bunny crack so watch your fingers hehe, mine tend to get so excited they nip me cause my finger smells like a craisin.

Edit: Oh and add new foods slowly (small amount of one in a day, watch for upset tummy) since some buns can’t handle certain veggies.

[kinggoblin]

I feed mine freeze dried banana, berry or apple chips for treats, he loves them.

I wouldn’t feed any pet store treats, nearly all are fattening and bad for small animals

[Usagi5]

I also use the Oxbow treats and I got the Oxbow Timothy Twists too. I have never tried Craisins though so I’ll have to try those. I did get my rabbit a salad bowl, I think you mentioned that earlier. It looked kind of cool and it looks safe for a rabbit!

[Usagi5]

I also do the Oxbow treats! I haven’t ever tried Craisins, but I will have to try it! I feed romaine lettuce and parsley and then every day I throw in another different vegetable to the lettuce and parsley. I use apple sticks and and willow balls and some other things as the chews.

[Usagi5]

I use Oxbow treats also. I feed romaine lettuce and parsley and then every day I add in a different vegetable to the lettuce and parsley. I use apple sticks and willow balls and some other things as his chews.

[Juli]

alriht guys! thanks so much. so fruit and Oxbow brand are the stuff to get. im transferring dakota to Oxbow essentials food and the Oxbow hays. i’ll try their treats to.looks like dried fruit is the way to go. i’ll eventually introduce her to raisins and craisins and i’ll give her carrots and fruit chips and i’d love to try the freeze dried bannanas. looks like good stuff. Usagi5, i’m glad to here that you like those to cause dakota would hate me forever if i took her sweet willow balls away. they’re her little treasures. oxbow is such good stuff. Which type of Oxbow food dod you feed. i was doing manapro and calf mana (only calfmana wheen she was a baby though.) and I’m now transferring her to Oxbow essentials. and yes i’m doing all of this very slowly as i know shehas a SUPER DUPER sensitive tummy but she seems too like it so far. one time i gave her clover and she has a month’s worth of diahreah. big mess and had to get her a new cage cause it was to much to clean up. so, yeah, very light sensitive tummy though.

[LoveChaCha]

Not too much fruit My dwarf gets one raisin a day.

[Usagi5]

Sorry for some reason I posted my last response three times! My rabbit is only six months old so he is on the Oxbow Essentials for young rabbits. He will be on that for another six months and then he will switch to the Oxbow Essentials for Adult rabbits.

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