Appropraite Weight

[MStewart87]

I know I am full of questions….Scooby is a 2 year old Holland Lop. When I got him from the breeder (I know I know I should have adopted but I did not know nearly as much as I do now) he was in the cage with Netherland Dwarfs. The breeder said that his mom was a bad mom and refused to feed him so he had to be stuck with a litter of bunnies around the same age as he was so that he would be properly fed.

He went to the vet for his check-up a few months ago and he weighed 2.8 lbs. He is not skinny but he isn’t "plump." He eats really well and is always interested in food. He eats greens once a day and always has hay AND pellets available to him. I know you are only supposed to give like a 1/4 cup of pellets per 6 lbs body weight. He eats way more than that a day but is not overweight. The vet said it would not hurt him to put on a tiny bit of weight. He eats his greens, hay, pellets and treats of course. How would I put a little weight on him? Of course not too much to where he becomes unhealthy.

When I was a  little kid and had a rabbit that we rescued from our backyard that lived outside (again I didn’t know a whole lot about them) he was always fat and never had the amount or quality of diet that Scooby has. I don’t get it haha. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Beka27]

i’m not a vet… obviously, and i don’t know as much as many of the people on here… but my thoughts on this are based on my human child… the doctor always says… if the child is eating the correct foods in proper amounts, and is happy, active, and healthy [according to the doctor/vet]… does the weight really matter?  is it necessary for your rabbit to plump up?  maybe he’s just small for his age…  maybe he will always be on the lower end of the weight chart…

if i’m way off base here… please correct me.

[MStewart87]

The vet never said he NEEDS to put on weight like he was too skinny. The vet just said it would not hurt him to put on a little weight. It just seems like people have to really limit the amount of pellets they feed and he always has them available. My boyfriend calls him “piggie” cause he lived for food and treats. He loves the papaya tablets so much that when you open his cage he jumps and in and out and in and out until you give him one, and if you don’t he follows me around until I do.

[Beka27]

lol!  he sounds like such a sweetie!!!  and he’s absolutely adorable…

i wish i could eat whatever i wanted and not gain weight… maybe he just has the metabolism that women wish they could have

i guess i can’t really help you.  i don’t know what to give him to fatten him up.  i know those seed treats are fattening, right?  i’m not sure if it’s a good idea he has that tho…

[osprey]

Have you offered him any oat hay?  The little seed heads in oat hay have a few more calories that the regular grass hay, but they are not loaded with calcium like alfalfa is. 

[Floppy]

Holland Lops are suppose to be 3-4 lbs max. If you plan on showing your lop
I read somewhere that the “appropriate” weight for that is around 3.5… my
bunny I swear he looks heavier than he really is…all that fur! LOL he is a lop
too and he was weighed before he got neutered and he was a lil over 3 lbs.
My lop eats Timothy Pellets, greens and Timothy hay.

[Gravehearted]

I wonder if his lack of enough to eat as a baby effected his digestive system when it was developing? Another thing that I know we’ve used in the past with haven bunnies is oat groats or wild oats sprinkled on pellets, you should be able to get them at a feed store.

[MStewart87]

Humm I need to find out where to get all of this stuff. I order most of my food from Oxbow or Rabbit Stop depending on how much stuff I need and I just buy his treats at PetsMart. Are there any vegetables or fruits that are more fattening than others that are still somewhat healthy?

[skunklionshow]

My Jessica is a chunky monkey!  She’s a netherland dwarf and weighs almost 4 lbs.  Leo is a lionhead and he weighs the same.  We cut back on the treats and carb based veggies (i.e. carrots) & she lost weight.  Then after she got spayed, she got chunky again.  So we limit the pellets for both and really load up on the green veggies.  My vet tech said that for chunky bunnies increase the greens.  Anything green is a good veggie.  When she was chunkier, well when we were over feeding her, she had lots of seed treats, raisins, craisins, and carrots.  Once we took that out she got lost weight.   So I guess I’m giving you advice in reverse.

I’d like to put more weight on Leo, b/c I feel like he’s still kinda boney & ribby.  He too eats like a pig and just maintains his weight.  I’m sure Jessi thinks, what a lucky bunny he is…all I ever hear is that I’m a chunky monkey!

You can get wild oats at Whole Paycheck AKA Whole Foods.  I don’t mean oat meal, whole oats REALLY!

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