Diet for a British Giant

[Blossom]

Hey everyone!
Im new to this forum and this is my first post, yay, haha.
I have a British Giant girl named Blossom, she’s 6-7 months old, and was spayed 1 week ago.
I understand that giant rabbits are more prone to being overweight, so I’m cautious of that. So my question is how much pellets and veggies should I give her? Everything I’ve looked up is more for your averaged sized rabbit. I’d also like to know should her diet be different now cause she’s younger, in comparison to when she’s full grown? What age are they full grown?

Another question, she always pee’s on my bed / bedding / cushions. I want her to be free roam but at the moment she has to be in her cage at night cause of the peeing (she HATES being in her cage). How long after spaying should i start to test out the peeing situation? How long until behaviour like that starts to calm down after spaying? She jumps up 100 times a day and I hate needing to shoo her off lol.

Thank you

[Wick & Fable]

Based on her weight, she should be on reduced, timothy-hay based pellets now. It’s 1/4 cup per 2lbs, so however heavy she is, convert from there.

For veggies, 1 cup per 2lbs is fine as well. Veggies don’t really add too much weight. Personally, I just eye-ball it to fit on a small plate, haha. Wick definitely gets more than a cup and he isn’t 2lbs, but his weight has been fine.

Once she’s fully recovered from the spay, you shouldn’t see it as “testing out” the peeing situation— very few rabbits magically adopt a human-created litter box. You’ll need to retrain her. So each time she pees on bedding, move her to the litter box immediately and clean up the mess. It takes persistence.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Wick & Fable]

Activity/exercise is really important for weight, so giving pellets in the form of a pellet ball (http://www.instagram.com/p/BiHosnDAwMo/?taken-by=wick_theboogeyman) or scattered will increase activity.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Azerane]

Hello there and welcome to the forum. I’m in the boat of less is more when it comes to pellets. Especially concerning giant breeds since even the smallest bit of extra weight is so much extra strain on the joints etc. My pair of rabbits (5.5 pounds and 7 pounds in weight) share just 1 tablespoon of pellets per day between them. They eat plenty of hay and share a large salad in the evening. For a giant breed I’d look at feeding 1/4 cup of pellets per day, but no more than 1/2 a cup daily.

Greens are harder to guage the amount. In one evening my pair might get to share 2 leaves of cos/romaine lettuce, 1 kale leaf, 1 or 2 silverbeet leaves, 2 radicchio leaves, 3 dandelion leaves, 2 calendula leaves, a 2inch piece of fennel, a calendula flower and a handful of fresh grass. If you’re only just introducing leafy greens you are best off to introduce one green at a time in small amounts to avoid gut upsets.

Unfortunately many rabbits like to pee on soft things, and I’m afraid I don’t have any good advice for getting her to stop peeing on your cushions etc. She may calm down with this behaviour once she settles more from her spay. Be sure to thoroughly wash what you can to remove her scent as much as possible to prevent her doing it again.

[Blossom]

Thank you everyone, sorry for the late reply! So she’s she’s barely peeing on the bed now which is great, but now she’s moved onto destroying it lol. It seems no matter what toys I give her nothing is as good as ripping up my bedding lol and she’s very persistant. I guess its just trial and error to see what works.
Also thanks for the food tips, definitely helped, we have a good routine going now. She makes sure I’m always on time for breakfast and tea lol.

[Author]

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