Not enough exercise?

[Worry?Bunny]

Hello, I am new here! I have had a bunny for 7 months, his name is Ky.He is a grey angora. He loves sweets and is an enormous glutton! One thing I am really worried about is whether he gets enough exercise or not. Know that last time we went to the doctor they said he was overweight by 2lbs.

He has a pretty big cage with an upper floor and around a fenced two meter yard (horizontally?). He is a really lazy little bunny. Every time I look at him he’s sprawled out somewhere or sitting down! 

I am also scared of picking him up because I do it too much already and he doesn’t like me much for it. (Understand that for him to go outside of his cage, I have to pick him up. He rarely goes on his own). I try to give him treats sometimes to entice him to come out but it doesn’t work.

Another problem is that I am a student and my family and I are always very busy. I feel like he doesn’t get enough attention from us (so the lazy part might actually be our own fault) and I really want to change that, to make it so that he is comfortable and gets enough exercise!

I feel like I’m a terrible bunnymummy! What can I do to engage him?

(Sorry for post this being all jumbled, there’s a lot I’m worried about!) 

PS: I don’t know how to insert pictures to show you what he looks like.

Thank you for your help!

[sarahthegemini]

When you say he loves sweets, what are you giving him? Perhaps that’s contributing to his weight.

How much time does he get out of his cage? And what time do you let him out? During the day, morning, evening etc?

[Worry?Bunny]

O mygoodness ya it must be the treats I’m giving him!
I give him way too much…I will give him quite a few craisins and blueberries a day? Yes, I should be more careful of that.
My mom says he hes outside half of the day but I think she is counting the yard as “outside”? We let him out in the evenings when we are all here? And on the weekends, mornings. We also sometime leaves his fence open during the day in case he wants to explore outside of his yard! When he is feeling very brave he will.
I don’t think he is sick or anything, he seems pretty happy and normal, binkying and biting everything. But ya, I need to be more careful about his weight!
I try my best to have him out four hours or more because that was the recoommendation, right?

[LBJ10]

I heard somewhere that angoras are known for their laziness, particularly when they are unshaven. Much like lops are. It’s a stereotype, of course. So some of his inactivity can be blamed on him and some can be blamed on the things you mentioned. Plus, if a rabbit is overweight, they are less likely to want to run around.

I think cutting back on the treats is a good idea. It also might not be a bad idea to make him work for his food. Maybe get a cat treat ball for this pellets?

[BunjaminML]

My bunny loves those treat balls for his pellets! He’s gotten quite good at it, too!

He’s pretty lazy for the most part, but I’ve taken to hiding vegetables around our living room instead of giving them to him in a bowl. That gets him running around a bit to “forage.” Temporarily rearranging furniture or vacuuming works for him too as it piques his curiousity.

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