Portion Size for a New Zealand White?

[RabbitEducation]

I will be adopting a rabbit in the springtime, and it’s most likely going to be a male New Zealand white rabbit. I know that they can weigh up to 8-12 pounds, and I am concerned that I might fed too many pellets and vegetables, do you know how much I should fed if I am feeding vegetables in the morning and pellets and the evening? (including unlimited timothy hay)

Correct me if I am wrong, but pellets are 1/4-1/2 of a cup for every 6 lbs of body weight, and vegetables are 1 cup for every 2 lbs of body weight. I want to make sure I am not feeding too much, also how many cups would vegetables and pellets if I owned a 8-12 pound New Zealand white rabbit. Thanks for the help. 

[tobyluv]

My adult female New Zealand white weighs a little less than 7 pounds, and she is a good weight. I don’t know if males usually weigh more or not. I think that most New Zealands that are companion animals (as opposed to being raised for other reasons and kept in cages with no exercise), would not get to 12 pounds, and it seems more likely that they would be in the 7, 8 – 10 pound range. The recommended amount of pellets that I have seen for a 8 – 10 pound rabbit is 1/2 cup per day.

I think that most people don’t measure the greens/veggies that they give to their rabbits. I know that I don’t. I have 2 rabbits, one is a smaller breed, and I just put down a big handful of different greens or mixes about 4 times a day.

[Bam]

Unless you give carrots or beetroot as greens but stick to the more leafy types with perhaps the odd bit of broccoli etc, it’s unlikely that a bun would get fat from greens. It’s pellets and treats that makes buns fat, as a rule. (Too much cabbage-family greens can potentially lower the metabolic rate because they have an effect on the thyroid).

If the bun you’re getting is adult and in good health, I’d suggest you try and encourage hay-eating as much as you can. If he/she eats hay, he won’t get malnourished and you can use pellets more or less as a supplement. If it’s a baby bun, he’ll need pellets ad lib until he/she is 6 months +, unless he/she is a total pig, and perhaps also alfalfa hay.

A big rabbit is a bit tricky to weigh on a kitchen scale, but it is really helpful to weigh a bun every month or so (and write down the weight, because it’s easy to forget). That way you’ll know if your bun’s diet is ok. It is really hard to see if your bun looses or gains weight. You tend to just wake up one day to a very fat rabbit, and that’s not fun for either of you. (Happened to me with my Bam. He gained 300 grams (10,5 oz) on the sly and had to be put on a diet.)

[RabbitEducation]

Thank you, the rabbit is most likely going to be an adult rabbit, and I will be checking weekly or monthly to make sure the diet is doing good. So I would suspect that this diet would be correct too. So for vegetables I would be feeding around 5 cups for a 8-12 pound rabbit, (1 cup for every 2 lbs of body weight) and for pellets it could be around 1 1/2 to 2 cups. (1/4 to 1/2 a cup for every 6 lbs of body weight)

[Azerane]

That seems like a lot of pellets to me. Bandit weighed 7 pounds and while he was originally getting 1/4 cup per day, at my vets recommendation I cut it back to two tablespoons per day. I’d go with the rate of 1/4 cup per 6 pounds of weight, which means you’d be feeding 1/2 cup per day, but certainly no more than 3/4 cup. Especially if he’s a good hay eater and is getting lots of greens 1 1/2 to 2 cups daily is far too much in my opinion.

[RabbitEducation]

Okay thanks! That’s what I was worried about and it was feeding too many pellets. 

[Vienna Blue in France]

I’m guilty of throwing a handful of pellets in her bowl…. I’ve no idea if she’s over or underweight but she seems happy and healthy to me !!
Hay is open buffet !!!

I weigh myself and my Vienna Blue (I think its the european version of a NZ white..) in a travel crate together (I carry it and substract the crate and my weight from the total!).
“People scales” are not accurate if weighing a realtively small amount….. so weigh yourselves together.

[Author]

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