How to curb a hog of a rabbit?

[Lucy]

so.. during bonding session we give Fujoe and Patina some greens and such. I just reilized what a food crazed rabbit Fujoe is. Not only does he go crazy when food is around, but he’ll finish his piece and rip hers out of her mouth.

I’ve noticed that Patina is very dainty with her food- even eating her raisin in multiple bites where Fujoe will inhale his and look around to where it went.

how do you guys who have multiple rabbits deal with this? I don’t want to give her food and have Fujoe eat it. So you supervise treat time? Or will he get better as they are more bonded?

[poopy]

Mine are the same way. Pookers is like that because he was not fed consistently in his prior home. He makes a mess and is voracious with hay, sometimes even sitting on Medusa’s head in the litterbox to reach another area. She doesn’t seem to mind.

I don’t think its anything to worry about as long as they are not biting each other or being aggressive over food. I think different bunnies jsut have different eating styles.

I would continue to give them greens at the same time to help with the bonding process.

[osprey]

I agree 100% with Poopy, feeding them together is a key part of the bonding process.  It helps them to become comfortable with each other, and sharing food and litter boxes is an important step.

Our DJ is a greedy eater too.  Both girls that he is bonded with started out as dainty eaters, but they learned quickly to get their share quickly when DJ is around.  All three of them yank pieces of food out of the others’ mouths; we always joke that it tastes better if someone else grabbed it first.  When Curly Sue first came to live with us, she would only eat the leaves from her greens, never the stems of things like parsley and kale.  She found out quickly that if she tried to only get the best bits out of the salad, DJ would plow through most of it and she’d get less.  They’ll work it out.

[BinkyBunny]

As long as this does not cause  fighting then it is better for him to get used to sharing his food.  If it causes setbacks in bonding, then you may need to feed them separately until they are bonded. 

When Jack and Rucy were first bonding, Jack would first try to eat Rucy’s portion, or eat right underneath her mouth – basically get her stuff first.  Then he settled down.

You may just have to watch and be sure to feed Patina enough – so during her time away from Fujoe give her an extra portion. 

I do have a bit of a problem lately making sure either Rucy and Jack don’t eat too much.    What I used to do(and I need to get back doing again) is I feed them portions together, but then I make sure that especially with their pellets that I feed them separately.    It’s pretty easy with them because Rucy likes to get up in high places and Jack doesn’t, so I can put her food up on top of their house, and encourage her up there, then once she’s there, I feed Jack down below.  

 

[MooBunnay]

My bonded pair does this as well…its quite entertaining actually…Kramer does not even look at his own food, he goes right for whatever Juli is munching on, but they don’t fight about it so I don’t really worry all that much about it.  One of the most entertaining parts of my day is when I get out the pellet bag, and Juli and Kramer go nutso in their cage and *bonk* right into each other because they are so excited about getting the pellets!  And yes, as mentioned in the other post, Kramer will even sit right on Juli’s head to get to food, and she doesn’t mind as long as she’s got some munch in her mouth as well!

[FuegaNetsah]

When Calil came to our house she was a hog especially with the fresh food. She is still growing and Oren didn’t seem to mind her hogging too much. It is slowing down though and he did get quicker to match her pace. I think they will even each other out. I say the same as the others watch them and make sure they are not bickering. I did have to fill up the hay bin more just to make sure they had something to snack on between meal times.

Donna

[Lucy]

i’m glad it’s not just me.. I’ll keep an eye out. I can’t quite entice Patina with food as I can Fujoe.. she just thumps at me if I give her lettuce or something else (I love angry little bunnies!)

He’ll just have to learn how to share and she’ll just have to get faster. I’ll watch them as they eat and make sure they aren’t fighting over it. It also seems like fujoe’s appitite has increased during this time.. has anyone else noticed that with their bunnies? when they were first being bonded? I can’t seem to stop him from eating. Usally his pellets last all day.. but he ate them within an hour this morning..

[poopy]

I don’t think anything is wrong with his behavior as long as no one’s getting hurt or aggressive.

[skunklionshow]

From an animal behavior perspective…..

I have seen similar behaviors w/ other species (w/ first hand knowledge w/ dogs, cats, and turtles). 

I have a seriously fat cat, Max, that became a hog after I got a second cat.  He totally snarfs down his food.  My youngest kitty does this as well, but he usually pukes it up, so he doesn’t put on much weight.  Max, on the other hand, has totally gained weight….he’s not bullimic like Wolfgang!

Our biggist program turtle has become a pig since getting the other turtles.  We now feed her seperately from the other turtles b/c she literally steps on the other turtles heads to chow down.

My parents’ dog does this as well….well he still does it now even though he’s w/ o other dogs.  He tends to growl while he eats.  You can’t get near him when he eats his dinner or even eats a milkbone.  He’s a little weiner dog, so its funny!

Our program buns…When Jessica and Oreo were cool w/ each other, Oreo would totally chow it up, and often knock the bowl over, and hog the food area. 

I think its all pretty normal animal behavior, heck even humans have this problem!  I come from a large Irish-Catholic family.  My parents always cut up all the good food (i.e. icecream or sweets) into equal portions.  My oldest sister would use the "serving suggestions" on the food boxes to portion out our meals.  To this day, I’m a major food hog…w/ a hankering for the sweets!  I HATE having to share my food! grrrrr  grrrrrr…thump….thump

[barbara elliott]

I have a mini-lop, Jhumpa (alpha rabbit) and a n. dwarf, Scout–not so alpha. Jhumpa rules the meals, too, but after a while, Scout came up with the strategy of swiping something and hopping off to eat it in peace. Now, I make sure that I give them each a carrot piece (instead of having them share a whole carrot) and they can hop where they want to. 😉

Aren’t rabbits the best? I love them so much.

[poopy]

"Mine!"

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