Feeding two?

[Kiley Rose]

So, I’ve been wondering how much do you feed two rabbits? The breeder I got Marlee from said to feed her 3 oz of pellets/day (I actually do 1.5 oz of two different foods) and she eats that pretty well. And she also gets her “Midnight snack”–a bowl of romaine lettuce around 12 every night. I’m pretty sure she could enter a lettuce eating contest..

But, when I get my second bunny, should I get her a seperate feeding dish? Or if I use the same dish how much food should I put in? Amelia I’m pretty sure is just going to be a “normal” size rabbit while Marlee is a dwarf lionhead and is full grown at 3 lbs.

Just trying to figure it all out before the baby arrives! Only a few more weeks

I just started giving Marlee raisins today…she loves them!

[jerseygirl]

I actually do 1.5 oz of two different foods

Is that 1/2 young, 1/2 adult feed? ie. Are you transistioning her onto an adult pellet?
At her weight and age, 1/4 pellets is good (not sure what that in in ounces sorry)
For Amelia – unlimited pellets (Alfafa based) and unliimited hay.
Here’s the House Rabbit Society guidelines: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#young

[Kiley Rose]

I think they may both be adult pellet. The one I still have from when I first got her is just whatever walmart had.. I ended up getting her on a Sunday evening. Marlee loves these little orange things in that food mix though, she picks them all out before she touches any of the other pellets. Then the breeder told me to feed her 18% protein pellets, so that’s the other one I use. And of course she has unlimited hay.

Also, will she try eating Amelia’s food? Or does it really not matter?

[jerseygirl]

She probably would try eat them. Especially if they’re alfalfa. So you’ll have to watch that as they’d be and ‘unlimited’ amount. Also, you won’t be able to guage how mcuh Amelia is eating if Marlee is pinching all her feed. You’ll have them separated in the beginning won’t you?

As Marlee is still young (7months?) the higher protein pellet is ok but do look to have her on something a little lower than 18% and minium 20% fibre. The more the better. Also, no more than 3 % fats ideally. A timothy based pellet will give you most of that. You can her feed alfalfa based(limited) but have to watch she doesn’t get too much calcium. The trouble with the pellet mixes is they pick out all the nice, less healthy stuff and can tend to ignore the nutritional pellets. Who can blame them right? Ideally though, a long term maintance diet would be a plain pellet only, hay and veg. Then save the treats for your one on one time.

[Kiley Rose]

Yeah, I’ll have them seperated until they bond? Or should I wait longer?

Well, I’m almost out of the mix food, so should I just not buy more and just use the rest to switch her to pellet only? Those little orange things are probably the most like a treat..she goes crazy over them. Ha, it’s really cute.

[Karla]

You should switch to pellets. It really is the best for them. But you can still buy the food mix and use it as a treat.

About how to feed two bunnies – well, in my case, I have just doubled up the food. Karl was 9 months when I got Molly (3 yrs), and I didn’t change anything other than giving them more food. Molly is bigger and eats more (and much faster), so I have let Karl eat outside the cage sometimes, just to be sure that he gets his fair amount of veggies as well. As for pellets – I have put them in a treat ball, which they push together, and my experience is that they have eaten accordingly to their size. If Karl has seemed very hungry, I have just given him some more pellets – but they always have the hay, so no worries. And now pellets are just used as treats because of Jack.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Plain pellets is what you want to feed. Food mixes, with colored bits and seeds and stuff are junky…I think that’s what you mean by mix?

[Kiley Rose]

Yeah, I didn’t think it was very good for her. I finally ran out of it, so she’s on plain pellets now.

I always give her romaine lettuce at night, but is there something you would recommend for in the morning? I was thinking maybe a few slices of apples. I’m just not sure what’s “overdoing it” when I give her veggies, but I want to make sure she’s getting enough…

[MarkBun]

I was told to feed a quarter cup of pellets per day for every 4 pounds of bun. Whereas Maryann will eat just enough to get rid of the hunger, Dono will continue until the bowl is empty. So I break it up into three different feeding times a day. Once when I wake up, once when I get home from work and once before I go to bed. This way, Maryann gets her fair share and Dono doesn’t simply gorge himself from one feeding.

[Elrohwen]

Posted By Kiley Rose on 11/02/2009 08:27 PM
Yeah, I didn’t think it was very good for her. I finally ran out of it, so she’s on plain pellets now.

I always give her romaine lettuce at night, but is there something you would recommend for in the morning? I was thinking maybe a few slices of apples. I’m just not sure what’s “overdoing it” when I give her veggies, but I want to make sure she’s getting enough…

 

Check out the BB feeding recomendations – an adult bun (6lbs or so) should get at least 2 cups of veggies per day and it’s best to feed a mix of different things. I would just check out the acceptable veggie list and start feeding her one at a time to make sure they don’t upset her tummy.

Diet: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO…fault.aspx

I would avoid giving apples except as an occasional treat and give her some other green veggies for her breakfast. Fruits are sugary and are really more “treats” than regular food.

For my bun, personally, I don’t really worry about overdoing veggies. He’s never gotten poopy butt from them, so I give probably 1.5 cups both morning and at night. He doesn’t get any fruit or carrots as part of that; just green leafy veggies. Veggies aren’t very nutrient dense, so it’s not as important to limit quantities as it is to limit pellet quantity.

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