Best scale to measure weight?

[Alfiesmom]

Hey everyone, it’s me…..again haha! Anyways, I have a questions related to measuring a bun’s weight. Does anyone have a way to weigh their bun without a human scale or a precise one? The one I have only counts per 1/2 pound and it’s been frustrating to get an exact measurement on it, since Alfie needs to have his weight monitored. Also, does anyone know how to increase a rabbit’s weight safely? Alfie is only eating young rabbit pellets and timothy hay right now because since I’ve had him he developed a uri and the antibiotics did a number on his gi tract, additionally he had stasis a couple weeks ago, which we were lucky to catch really early and his poops went back to normal within 24 hours. I’m giving him bene bac which has been absolutely amazing. He’s had a lot going on in the 4-5 weeks I’ve had him, so I can understand that his progress will be a slow one. I could try and introduce veggies now since he’s 13 weeks (some say to wait until 6 months?) He’s even on limited pellets because giving him unlimited has also caused poopy bum (sigh). Right now, he’s between 1 1/2 to 2 lbs (again darn scale isn’t accurate). The vet would like him to be at 2.2lbs or even 2 lbs to get over his underweight problem. I know young rabbits already have such sensitive gi tracts, but I know it’s extremely important that he gains more weight. Any suggestions would be helpful!

[Alfiesmom]

Also side note: Alfie was on critical care for 2 weeks to gain the weight back his lost, but once he got better it was just too much for his system in combination with the pellets and also caused poopy bum. Such a sensitive guy!

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Sorry, I can’t help you with weight gain advice, that’s something for a specialist. Animals and humans gain weight from energy-dense foods with starches and fats, but this can be very dangerous to rabbits because their gut flora is so sensitive. Best consult with your vet in this case.

We weigh our dwarf bun on a digital kitchen scale, because it’s precise up to the gram. He needed to lose a lot of weight (from 1600 to 1250 g). The vet adviced us to gradually lower his intake over time, so we had to be meticulous about weighing. I have a large plastic bowl for mixing dough, and we always use it to weigh him in this set-up:

Luckily that’s all past him now, and we only have to weigh him occasionally to see if his diet is still going well.

[Alfiesmom]

I love it! I’ll look into kitchen scales then. Your bun is such a cutie

[LBJ10]

It depends on how big bunny is, but generally a kitchen or postage scale works well.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I use a kitchen scale for my little guy. I bought one at Walmart for under $20. It’s got a little bucket you can put the food (or bunny!) in. He fits perfectly. For my big guy, we have to get on the human scale and then again holding him. He’s like 11 lbs.

[Azerane]

I also use a kitchen scale. Mine is just a flat surface, so I pop a big mixing bowl on top and insert a bunny

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Posted By Alfiesmom on 10/23/2017 7:37 PM

I love it! I’ll look into kitchen scales then. Your bun is such a cutie

Thank you, Alfie is really good looking too ^_^ Looking at the picture he seems small enough to be weighed on a kitchen scale. Most scales go up to 5 kg, so bun + bowl have to weigh less than that.

[Author]

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