Hes not fat, just pleasantly pump…

[snickers]

So we were doing our month bunny checkup: clipping nails, checking teeth, etc, and during the rub down portion I felt his ribs, and normally theres a little dip in his ‘waist’, and then his belly. But now, there is no dip. just belly. My poor rabbit is fat! I need help because I don’t know what we’re doing wrong…

He’s a 4 year old bunny, that should weight about 4 pounds.

We used to feed him twice a day but he was gaining so much weight so we cut his intake in half, but still feed him two meals a day. But all together for the dried pellets (which we buy the organic expensive stuff) about a tablespoon a day.

He always has tim. hay. (which he goes through fast) and always has plenty of water.

My husband gives him 3-5 carrots a day, and a dired apricot. maybe once a week, I give him the leaves from my califower.

Thats it. Hes very food driven, always begging. Hes restricted to our kitchen during the day, but he runs free through the apartment about an hour in the mornings, and  about 5 hours at night. In the mornings he’ll do a sprint around the apartment a couple of times, and then thats it. The rest of the time he lays around on the back of our couch.

What are we doign wrong?

 

[snickers]

* 4-5 BABYcarrots.

[mocha200]

well sounds like he gets a lot of exercise. but carrots aren’t the best thing to have to much off, cuz they are high in sugar. so maybe cut down on the carrots a little and instead give him something like parsley or lettuce.

[Lindsay]

I would give him less carrots and fruit. Give him greens instead – carrots and dried fruit are sugary and can cause weight gain. We usually only give our rabbit a carrot a week. They’re really treats rather than everyday food.

[snickers]

I figured carrots would be good for him. I’ll switch to more greens. Am I at the right amount for dry pellets?

[Barbie]

The pellets really are more like a treat and a supplement to make sure that they’re getting all the necessary nutrients. I give Leroy (who is 5 lbs, and a bit plump) one tablespoon of timothy based pellets twice a day (so 2 tbsp total). I’ve been thinking about cutting him back though, and probably should, lol. Jeannie (who is 2 lbs and on the skinny side, I think) gets two heaping tbsp of alfalfa based pellets daily. Jeannie is still a baby, so I’m feeding her a bit extra. So one tbsp a day should be fine for your bun, especially since you’re trying to get him to loose weight.

To get him moving more, you could try teaching him a few basic tricks, like spinning in a circle, standing up on hind legs, touching a target, going over a low hurdle… And use his daily ration of pellets as a reward. Leroy is extremely food movitaved, so I had no problem teaching him a few tricks. He seems to like it. Check out clickerbunny.com for more info.

Also, check the ingredients on your pellets. The first ingredient should be timothy. The alfalfa based pellets are too high in carbs/calcuim for an adult rabbit. If he’s not currently on timothy pellets, you should consider doing a gradual switch to a different type of pellet.

[KatnipCrzy]

I agree with what the others have mentioned about diet- there are some things you could improve there- greater variety of greens, etc.

What kind of Bunny is Snickers?  Because there are different body types in bunnies- my Mini Lops look like “bulldogs”- they are short and compact- and my English Lop looks like a “greyhound”- long and lean.  And these are typical for the bunnies.

But you are right- and if Snickers is overweight it is best to get his weight down- have you been able to weigh him- compare his weight to what it was at a vet clinic? (they keep a record of the weights).

[snickers]

I don’t know what type of rabbit he is, half loop and ‘awful cute’ breed. :o) I looked into the clickerbunny site. How neat! I’ve trained him to come, and to go ‘up’, which turned into ‘beg’. I’ll have to try some more tricks

[Balefulregards]

Oh Yes _ greens, greens, greens. Carrots/Fruit are high in natural sugars, which Buns ( and people too) love. so if you think of it in Human terms you could have 5 carrots OR Two Cups of Romaine/Greens for the same caloric intake. The greens will fill him up, get more water though him , and generally slow his eating down. Plus it will give his teeth something to be working on.

My two are on a 90% greens diet, with unlimited Hay and Water. When I do give Oxbow pellets, I have been sprinkling them in their hay ( about 2 TbSps for 2 Buns) so they have to forage for them.

My Dutch Gal, Coco, in particular could be a real roly-poly if I allowed it.

[Sara Darlingg]

I feed my bun usually a 1/4 cup but sometimes 1/2 of pellets daily
all the timothy hay she could eat (tho she usually doesnt bother unless she’s out of pellets) and
3-4 baby carrots and a big handful of greens.
small peices of babanna or a treat (which i’m out of now) once in a while as bait to get her back in her cage as she 100% refuses to be picked up lol.

[Author]

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