How much pellets should a baby really consume..?

[StachesMommy]

Hello all!

I was wondering how much pellets should a 8-9 week old baby bunny consume on a daily basis…?  My previous rabbit LOVED pellets but it was more of a treat for her but she was also older.  My new baby lop is estimated at around 8-9 weeks old so I gave her 1/2 a cup of Oxbow young rabbit pellets, handful of alfalfa hay, and a whole lot of Timothy hay.  She seems to love her hay.  I see her eating her pellets here and there.  It’s been almost 24 hours since she has been home and I would say she consumed only about 1/8 cup of pellets but I’ve had to refill her hay about 4 times.  I’ve been on poop patrol and her poops look great.  I haven’t seen any of the night droppings so I’m assuming she ate them all?  I’m really new with young rabbits and my last young one was very ill so I’m a bit paranoid.  

I have read that some young rabbits prefer timothy based pellets over the alfalfa but then again I’ve read that rabbits love alfalfa in general so I’m conflicted!  I also really don’t want to switch foods and risk her getting sick.  Should I be worried that she eats so little pellets? I do have a wellness appointment set with a rabbit savvy vet for Monday. Is there anything you suggest I do?

Thanks for your time!

[ilovebabethebunny]

Well she is eating, so that is good. My girl eats only pellets and since she was a baby she has had one cup a day. Now I switched foods a few months back, and this new one has small little I guess you could call it treats mixed in. These pellets also contain the hay in them it is basically a blended ground up mixture of healthy bunny food groups. Those little treats in the food I feed my girl, might give yours some incentive to eat the pellets also. Also chopping up some celery and carrots will add some very healthy foods.

[Mimsy]

If she is eating lots of hay I wouldn’t worry. I mix in a tiny bit of the adult oxbow pellets in Willows just in hopes that she will be used to them when she does go to them. She only eats the young ones though and leaves any adult ones in the bowl. I let her have unlimited timothy/orchard and alfalfa hay. She eats a ton of hay and when she was still under 12 weeks was probably eating less than 1/4 c daily of pellets. She’s about 17 weeks now and eats roughly 1/3 c daily.

I would not add any veggies though. carrots and such should only be given as a treat and not to such a young one. At twelve weeks you can start adding greens slowly to her diet.

you really should only be concerned with the night poops if you do see them often. If they are not eating them it’s usually a sign of too rich a diet or something is wrong. I’ve actually only seen them once and that was when I first got her.

If she’s a little poop machine and they look healthy and she’s eating a ton of hay I wouldn’t worry. The vet will let you know if she seems thin or there is anything to worry about.

[StachesMommy]

Oh, I see. Okay! Yes, she loves loves LOVES her hay. Orchard hay… I think I will pick some up for her since she seems to adore her hay and give her more variety. Thank you so much for your suggestions! I was wondering if you guys ever gave your young bunnies the apple chew sticks or willow sticks? Some people I spoke to said not to until she is 4 months and older but pet store guy said it is fine but then again he told me I can give her papaya treats too (which I wouldn’t until she is older) ?

[vanessa]

That young, I would give her unlimited pellets, hay, and alfalfa. And I’d slowly add veggies. Sounds good. In my experience, young bunnies looove to eat, and do nicely at eating a variety of foods. Keep going, sounds good. But I would avoid the papaya treats. Being dried, it is easy to overfeed. They still have alot of sugar in them. It’s a good idea not to get a young bunny used to eating sugary foods. My 3 bunnies that I had from an early age don’t get particularly exited over fruit, because I didnt’ feed it to them when they were young. I fed them hay, pellets, grass, and veggies. That’s what they want to eat now, so they have a good healthy diet. My adopted bunny was fed sugary foods, plenty of them, including chocolate. He is a sugar fiend now. He can smell if I have just drank apple juice, before I come into the room. He goes nuts when I walk in after drinking fruit juice. He gets squishy poop if I give him fruit. Many bunnies do fine with small amounts of fruit. Your bunny sounds like he is eating great. I wouldn’t spoil it with the papaya.

[StachesMommy]

Yah, okay! Thank you Vanessa. She eats so much…. lol It’s a good thing She actually has been eating more pellets now. She likes it when we hand feed her too. I feel like someone used to hand feed her all the time or something. She won’t eat a lot of them if it is in the bowl but if we hand feed them to her she gobbles them up like it is a treat or something.

[LBJ10]

I agree. Feed her as many pellets as she wants (within reason, of course). She’s a growing bunny.

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