Backing Bunnies off of Pellets?

[Sam&Rex]

Hello everyone!

Long story short- I acquired 2 bonded bunnies off of a “friend” about 6 weeks ago that were horrifically emaciated. When they lived with him they were in separate cages because they would fight (over food I’m sure ). Now after their second follow up visit with my vet they are getting close to their target weight. The vet had me put them on unlimited oxbow pellets, hay, and water along with introducing fresh greens into their diet during their first visit and now since they are doing so well (almost doubled in weight! ) He says that over the next few weeks I can start weening them off of the unlimited pellets so that their weight doesn’t go the other way and I end up with two chubby bunnies. 

Right now they are each eating an estimated 3/4 cup of pellets a day and 2 cups of greens along with their hay. Pellets are offered at all times, so some days they eat more and sometimes less.

They are about 2 years old, not sure on the breed but they do have cute helicopter ears! They are siblings (brother and sister, both spayed and neutered) They weigh about 5.7-5.9 lbs each and the vet says that 6.0-6.2 lbs should be a good weight, so the time to start limiting the pellets is coming up soon.

My questions are:

1. How much pellets/veggies should I feed? (I know that this is different for each individual bunny, I’m just looking for a good guideline) I’m thinking 1/3 cup pellets and 2-2 1/2 cups veggies (this is what my other rabbit eats to maintain his weight, he is 7.5lbs BUT he is also disabled and has a very low energy level, pretty much sleeps all day. These two bounce off the wall! )

2. How long should I take to wean them from 3/4 cup each to 1/3 cup?

3. They are a bonded pair and are currently living together, should I be worried about one bun eating the other buns food? What’s the best way to prevent this if it is a common thing?

4. I haven’t noticed any food aggression, but coming from a situation where they were starved as bad as they were, should I be worried about them fighting over food once I start to limit it? 

 Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks everybody!

[LittlePuffyTail]

First off, I want to thank you for taking in these bunnies and giving them a good home.

This is a good guideline for food amounts and other info on nutrition:

http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/

I’m assuming they are eating Oxbow Timothy Pellets? You should take at least a few weeks to decrease the pellets, gradually reducing the amount each week.

You will have to monitor their eating habits. If one is eating more than their fair share, you might want to consider separating for meal times. Once you reduce the pellets, they will probably eat more at feeding time so you can keep an eye on if you have a glutton bunny.

Again, you will have to monitor for aggression. Most bonded bunnies won’t fight over food, the dominant bunny may eat more than his/her fair share. Just make sure they have a constant supply of hay to eat.

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