My bun is getting chubby :(

[bunbunlovers]

We adopted our two buns, Bob and Minnie about 5 to 6 months ago. We feed them both the same amount that the house rabbit society was feeding them. (they told us to feed that amount) The problem is, Bob Is gaining weight but Minnie is not. (Minnie is normal weight) Some people on here said that when bunnies go to their new homes, sometimes they gain weight. But it has been like 6 months and he’s still gaining weight. And we try not to give them any extra treats. Does anyone know what is going on? (also he is not stressed or depressed if that could have something to do with it)

[tobyluv]

Do Bob and Minnie eat together? It may be that Bob is eating more than his share of pellets, veggies and hay. Another factor could be exercise. Is Bob more sedentary than Minnie? Is she more active and likes to run around more, thus burning more calories?

[Roberta]

I have a chubby rescue bun too… He has the same diet as the others but really favours pellets over hay. I was brushing Starsky this week and realised he had a figure that would make a basket ball envious… So the diet has been commenced… Pellets reduced so he must eat more hay (thankfully that is already working) reduced Craisin ration and strict control on the type of greens he has.. Mind you as I said his diet is identical to my other buns and whilst they might be carrying a few extra ounces Starsky is the only one packing the weight on… He is the only English spot though. The girls are Marten Angora X, Pepper is a silver Marten, Piglet is french angora (and needs extra protein for his coat) and Pascal is a silver Fox. So I am wondering if it is a breed v. diet issue…

[tanlover14]

What exactly are you feeding them each day, bunbun?? What type of pellets, how much, etc. How much do both weigh?

And yes, if they do eat together it’s much harder to tell if one is being a pellet hoarder.

[LBJ10]

Are they different breeds? Some larger bunnies continue to grow past 6 months of age.

[bunbunlovers]

LBJ10: Minnie is a mini lop (haha) and Bob is a dwarf dutch mix. Also, the HRS said that they both are fully grown.
tanlover14: we are feeding them Zupreme, because this is what the HRS told us to feed them. We feed them each 1/4 cup. We haven’t recently weighed them though so I don’t know on that one.

[bunbunlovers]

MInnie is a little bigger than Bob, though

[Elrohwen]

1/4c is a lot for such a small bun. I would cut back to 1/8c each per day and see how he does. If you think Minnie is getting to thin, you can separate them while they eat their separate portions of pellets, if it wouldn’t stress them out too much.

[bunbunlovers]

We adopted our bunnies from the HRS. They told us to give them 1/2 total for both our buns. Minnie weighs about 5 or 6 pounds I assume. She is not under weight. But for some reason Bob is getting Chubbbbyyyyy!

[bunbunlovers]

We adopted our bunnies from the HRS. They told us to give them 1/2 total for both our buns. Minnie weighs about 5 or 6 pounds I assume. She is not under weight. But for some reason Bob is getting Chubbbbyyyyy!

[LBJ10]

How much does Bob weigh? 1/4 of a cup is about right for a rabbit that is supposed to weigh over 5 pounds. If Bob is supposed to be smaller, then 1/4 of a cup is probably too much for him. I agree with Elrohwen, try reducing his pellet amount. Try feeding them separately, perhaps he is each some of her pellets too.

[Beka27]

Do they get veggies and hay? I agree with reducing his pellets to see if he slims down a little bit. Add long as he has hay and veggies, he should do fine with reduced pellets.

HRS guidelines are just that… Guidelines. Each bun is an individual though and what works for one might not work well for another. They are your bunnies now and it’s up to you to make your own informed decisions regarding their care.

Have they been seen by a rabbit vet since you adopted them? What does he/she say about his size?

[tanlover14]

I would cut back on the pellets also. I don’t think you’ll have any problem with giving both 1/4 cup instead of 1/2. I have a mixture of almost five pound bunnies who live with my 2 1/2 pound bun and they do perfectly fine on 1/4 each instead of the 1/2. Cutting back will also encourage your bigger bunny to get her fair share in time to help discourage your little bun from eating some of her portion also.

I sympathize because I can’t really separate mine when eating. They all eat so slowly spread out over a few hours so I just reduce everyones down to her size. None are underweight and if they got any bigger I would probably decrease more, haha!

[Roberta]

Thankfully Starsky my English Butterball eats alone…. Things were going well with pellet reduction but there have been some incidents lately.
He scarfed his entire ration in one sitting on Sunday morning. Not content to go without until the next day I was shown the pellet dish when ever I walked past his play area… I refused to weaken… It wasn’t until my neighbour dropped by and Starsky went into the pathetic starving bunny routine that I gave in.. He pushed the pellet dish at her, slammed it against the sides of his cage and when he still didn’t get a response pushed the dish up the ramps to the second level so it was more visible. I am not seeing any visible weight loss yet, I am going to have to move the scales into his area.
Will also have to try avrying his pellet ration diferently too and try to prevent a recurrence of Sundays Oscar Winning performance.

[bunbunlovers]

The problem with feeding seperatly is that there is no where I can feed them apart. I have to get up early in the morning before school to feed them and I would not have time to separate them into different rooms or so. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be there to let them back with each other until after school.

[Deleted User]

Um just a suggestion…. I feed Henry his pellets and veggies at night, mostly to give him something to do while we are sleeping. And because he doesn’t eat much hay, I was hoping if he got hungry through the day he would have no choice but to start eating his hay???? (Stubborn bunny – no chance! I have caught him eating the dry dog food out of the dogs dish. Yes! It is outside now). Also, no one has ever contradicted my feeding times on other forums so have the impression that it doesn’t matter when a rabbit eats?
It sounds like you have more time in the arvo, so maybe separate and feed them then? As long as they have there hay available through the day, they won’t starve. (Henry is proof!). If this doesn’t work for you either, sorry, it’s just a thought… Cheers, Henry’s mum.

[LBJ10]

Tons of people feed their buns their pellets in the evening, so AndHenry has a good suggestion for you there. Maybe give them a salad in the morning since that isn’t as high in calories. Make sure they have hay all day. Then feed them their pellet ration in the evening.

[Beka27]

My rabbit only gets pellets in the evening. She gets her veggies in the morning for breakfast. She has hay all day (and night) of course. And then pellets get served in the evening. The time varies a little bit, it could be anytime from 6-8pm depending on what we have going on. But I’ve always preferred feeding pellets in the evening.

[Bam]

I too give pellets in the evening. I hand-feed them, otherwise the dog steals them. I enjoy hand-feeding them.

As long as they’ve hay, they won’t starve. In nature, rabbits eat like all the time, their stomachs are not made to be empty between meals like dog- or human stomachs. I feed greens several times a day when I can, but when I can’t, they always have their hay.

I recently brought in reather a big branch of an old apple-tree for Bam to chew and it’s been a great success with him. It really keeps him busy + it’s good for his teeth and stomach. It makes him work for his calories. If there are storms (and apple-trees) where you live, chances are older apple-trees will fall and maybe you can ask people for bits of them. We had a rather big storm here recently, that’s how I came across the branch I gave to Bam. I’m hoping to get one for Yohio too.

[rayray]

I’ve used branches from outside as well. But since I’m paranoid, I was worried about parasites. If you’re crazy like me, rinse the with water and bake the branches at 250 degrees for 90 mins. This will kill any bugs or parasite on them.

[Bam]

Goodness, I never even thought of parasites on apple-branches =(

There’s no chance I could fit the branches I’ve been getting lately into my oven. Anyway, It’s getting to be winter here now so there aren’t many parasites about and my buns are vaccinated agains myxo & calici-virus. Here’s a pic of Bam’s latest achievement branch-wise. It takes about a week to strip the bark off of a branch like this one, it’s a little over a metre (1 yard).

 

(Sorry about the extremely ugly fabric in the background).

[bunbunlovers]

Today I started feeding them less pellets, I’ll try to keep you guys updated on any progress.

[Author]

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