Bunny too thin?

[Nuggets Momma]

I’m a new bunny momma, and we’ve had our bun for about three weeks, he was a pet store pitty rescue.   He was in a small overly warm reptile type display cage with two other buns and a bowl of pellets and a water bottle.   We brought him home and have given him free choice hay 24/7, a rotating/mix of orchard grass, meadow and timothy hays, which he eats well, at least a pile the size of him or better a day.  Two bowls of water that he drains regularly.  We worked him onto fresh greens, of which he gets about 1 cup a day, and about a 1/4 cup of pellets twice a day (Oxbow adult).  He seems young, being pet store i’m guessing about 3 months? He’s small, again, i’d guess about 1-2 lbs, and we were told he was a mini rex.  I’m guessing ‘mutt’.  He has a softer longer fur than the pics i’ve seen of rex rabbits.  He has a stellar personality, isn’t afraid of anything, self litter trained and loves pets and his greens, and seems to have a cast iron stomach, at least for a rabbit, though we are being careful introducing new things.   We have also given him the occasional small fresh fruit treat, of which he loves blueberries, strawberries and  bit of banana (tiny piece).  He doesn’t eat raisens, that came right back out LOL. He has his cage, and attached ex pen that is about 5×6 or so. We have just started allowing him supervised house freedom, which is enjoying immensely (i’m trying to get a good video of his crazy binky runs when he is free lol)  My question is this, I know buns are not supposed to get fat, and i’ve plenty of experience with cats dogs horses ect in telling when they are too thin, just right or need a diet.  How do you tell with a bunny?  I can feel his ribs and backbone pretty easily, thought they aren’t sticking out or anything.  He plays, binkies, runs around and seems happy and healthy, it just un nerves me that i can feel his ribs so easily?  Thanks for reading my novel, i just wanted to give a through background.  

[Sarita]

He’s cute – just based on the photo he looks fine to me.

[Nuggets Momma]

Thank you, he is cute, and has a great personality. I’m assuming from his behavior he’s happy/healthy. I just wanted to double check with more experienced bun owners.

[LittlePuffyTail]

He is very cute. Hard to tell from a picture. To be sure, you’d need a vet to check him out.

[JackRabbit]

From the pic, he looks great to me. Sounds like my Kieko when she was that age, mutt bunny with an iron stomach and that hasn’t changed!

It’s always a good idea to go for a vet check with a new bunny. Gives you a good idea about the bunny’s overall health and gives you a baseline forvthe future, gets you established with the vet, gives you an opportunity to discuss diet and neutering.

[Gracie]

He looks/sounds healthy to me.

I have a bun, also a mini-rex mix, who was constantly too thin on the oxbow pellets. I’d fed him Supreme Selective when I first got him because I had to hand feed him. Everyone said Oxbow adult was the gold standard and I kept trying to switch him but a few weeks of oxbow and he’d turn into “Skelator Bunny”. Didn’t matter if I gave him unlimited pellets.

So he gets Supreme. If you want to try it. I’ve never met a bunny who didn’t think it was the most delicious thing that ever happened to them. The thing that seems to make a difference is the calcium to phosphorous ratio. Apparently without the right ratio the minerals don’t absorb into the blood correctly. Since there’s so many greens high in calcium, Oxbow might intentionally have lower levels of calcium. There is 4% fat in Supreme versus 2% in Oxbow (Supreme’s made with Alfalfa meal). But I feed less, a quarter cup of pellets per rabbit, and they’re all very happy/healthy.

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