hearing, growth and diet question

[bunnyfriend]

 Diet: My new bunny Totoro is about 6 months old. The lady who fostered him said she had been giving him less than an 1/16 cup of an alfalfa based pellet twice a day. She said she worried about him becoming overweight. Totoro is 6 1/2 pounds, I had a rabbit who I think was a similar mixed breed and was a little smaller but weighed 7 1/2 pounds, and he was definitely not overweight, vet agreed and the same humane society agreed. I don’t really feel comfortable feeding Totoro an 1/8 cup, especially since he has more room to run around now, she told me he was ready to switch to Obxbow’s adult, and I have to start slow with the veggies because he isn’t all that used to them. Although he is young, he feels very delicate, like an elderly bun would. Thoughts on this?

Growth: Wilbur is 5 months old, her brother (adopted by someone else) is almost twice her size. She weighs 4 pounds. Is she about done growing? If so, is she a Holland Lop or a Mini Lop? Or is it just impossible to know? It doesn’t really matter but I’m curious. Also, she is really fuzzy and soft, is that just her baby fur?

Hearing: Wilbur doesn’t startle at any sound. One time I came into the room calling her name, sat right next to her with veggies, she looked up from grooming her side and jumped backed all startled. Then I started getting suspicious, I’ll come into the room now calling her name or shaking her papaya tablets bottle but she won’t come running until she sees me. This morning she was in her maze haven with her back faced me, I called her name and shook a bag of craisins, nothing. I went to the other side where she was facing and she ran out. I’ve tried clapping, clankling against her cage, even yelling and I get no reaction. Am I being paranoid? Is she just that relaxed/ doesnt care? I know she could hear when I first got her for sure because she did binkies when I turned on music and when she bit me one time I screeched and she looked up, all alert. 

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Diet, What does your vet say specifically about Totoro? You can’t really compare bunnies if they are mixed IMO. He is ready to switch to a timothy based pellet, which would be the adults, and she’s right to say go slow with the veggies, start one at a time and watch for reactions (poopy butt). As long as he eats a lot of hay, he should be good, but again, I’d defer to the vet.

Growth, I have no idea. She could be a runt, she could be eating less, her brother could be eating more/less active/more fluffy. My lionhead is 8 months and she’s still growing, and my flemish continues to grow for 18 months or more. I’m sure someone with a lop would know more And again, what does your vet say about her size?

Hearing, that definitely sounds like a problem. Have you taken her in to the vet?

I know I’m a big help. Basically, vet x’s 3

[bunnyfriend]

Haha thanks! Yeah, I have a check up scheduled for Wilbur already this week because she will be spayed at the end of the month. I’m really worried, of course I’ll still love her if she can’t hear but I talk to her and I don’t like thinking there’s not point to it ): She was at the vet when I first got her and she was fine. I think I’ll take Totoro too, or ask the vet because she was his when he was at the humane society. Lol about the runt thing ;P Totoro eats basically 3 times his size (length and height wise) of hay a day.

[Elrohwen]

I would talk to your vet about Totoro’s size and diet – if he’s not getting many veggies yet, that amount of pellets does sound awfully small for such a young rabbit.

I would guess Wilbur is a mini lop – 4lbs is big for a holland and they tend to average about 3lbs. Since you say her brother is much bigger, that would lead me to think that they’re mini lops and she’s just a small-ish mini lop (or hasn’t finished growing yet). From the few pictures I’ve seen, her face looks a bit more like a mini lop as well. Otto is a 4lb holland and was at his adult weight by 6 months. Hannah is a 5.5lb mini lop – I didn’t own her as a baby, but from pictures I’ve seen she was still smaller than her adult size at 5 months old. Do you know the brother’s weight? Or are you just going by looks? Most of my friends think Hannah is twice Otto’s size, when she’s only 1.5lbs heavier – she just looks like a much bigger bunny.

I actually don’t think the hearing sounds like a problem, necessarily. If she does have a hearing issue, she probably doesn’t notice or care since most animals adapt very quickly to things like that. I know that Otto can hear and I see him swing his ears around to listen, but many times he acts as if he’s deaf. Lol. I can make really loud noises or yell right at him and he won’t budge. Hannah reacts to every noise, including talking and clapping, but Otto just goes on his merry way. I think it might be a combination of having poor hearing and also just not caring about what I’m doing. Haha

[bunnyfriend]

Thank you! This helps a lot (: I don’t know the weight of Wilbur’s brother, it was just by looks. I’ll trust your judgement on her being a Mini Lop though haha. Hahaha yeah half the time I feel like she just isn’t paying attention about the hearing thing haha. It’s hard to tell because she has no control over her adorable lop ears (:

[Author]

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