how much should I feed?

[Kit]

How much should I be feeding a holland lop? I just got my little guy on sunday and I’m not sure how much I should be giving him. I’ve been of course freefeeding him timothy hay, but I’m not sure how much pellets I should be feeding. I’ve been feeding him 1/4 a cup since sunday but now I’m seeing some places saying 1/4 cup and some say 1/8 cup. And how many cups in veggies? Packed or loose?

[Beka27]

first off how old is he? how much does he weigh?

[Kit]

He turns a year old in july. And weight I’m not really sure….He is lighter than my cat who is 7 lbs…..I’d guess somewhere around 4-5 lbs but I’m not positive. I mean he could be more or less….I’d weigh him but he’s not quite to the point of letting me hold him or anything so I can’t yet. But I would guess around 4-5 lbs.

[Beka27]

has he been examined by a vet before you got him this week? oftentimes vets will examine them before they are adopted out.

HRS is pretty straightforward on this… you can also contact your vet and after his exam they will give their opinion as well.  as he eats mroe veggies he will need less pellets as well.

quoted from this website:  http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#young

7 months to 1 year:

• introduce timothy hay, grass hay, and oat hays, decrease alfalfa
• decrease pellets to 1/2 cup per 6 lbs. body weight
• increase daily vegetables gradually
• fruit daily ration no more than 1 oz. to 2 oz. per 6 lbs. body weight (because of calories)

1 year and older

• Unlimited timothy, grass hay, oat hay, straw
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup pellets per 6 lbs. body weight (depending on metabolism and/or proportionate to veggies)
• Minimum 2 cups chopped vegetables per 6 lbs. body weight
• fruit daily ration no more than 2 oz. (2 TBL) per 6 lbs. body weight.

 

 

[Kit]

He hasn’t seen a vet recently no…

 

So I basically just need to add another cup of veggies and a little extra on the pellets, thanks!

[Beka27]

you can also go to the binky bunny info section on diet for more guideleines, i think they are similar.

[Kit]

Thanks!…I’ll check this out but I wanted to see what others thought, I’ve been giving my guy a mixture of romaine, carrot tops, raddichio, radish tops, and Tango lettuce. Does this sound about right? I try to even it out with at least a 3rd of romaine or carrot tops. Just want to make sure I’m doing everything right. I’ll be adding more variety at I learn what he likes but for now does this sound okay.

[Sarita]

That sounds like a good mixture of greens – I’m not familiar with Tango lettuce though but I love the name. You could even add cilantro, and parsley (curly or flat leaf are both fine).

[Floppy]

I believe pure holland lops should be 3.5-4 lbs anything over that is over weight.
I give Floppy lots of veggies and hay and pellets in between when I know i’ll be gone for
extended hours or just in between feeding times.

[Kit]

I wasn’t familiar with Tango but fredmeyer had their salad mixes with tango, romaine, and radichio on sale for 99 cents so I couldn’t resist the money saver since the bags are usually like $3! Anywho, he seems to REALLY like carrot tops, he always eats those first!

[Author]

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