When to Switch?

[LopLover]

Hey all!

Igloo turned 4 months yesterday and has grown quite a lot since I got him! He’s easily tripled in size, which leads me to believe he is not a holland, as I was told. He’s about 4lbs now, and seems to get larger with each passing day. But, he’s not fat! He’s still quite lean.

Anyway! I was wondering I should still be giving him unlimited pellets? He’s on Oxbow Young Rabbit, which I know is very high in protein. I’m not sure if this is good for him at this stage and whether or not I should begin to restrict his pellets or transition him? Nothing I’ve been able to find relates directly to using Oxbow, all of them seem to be based on Timothy pellets. I remember that most people say to switch and restrict at six months, but he seems so grown up already!

[lillian]

Its possible hes a mixed bun, but, from the picture he does look Holland. I transitioned my buns at about 5-6 months for both of them. As for the unlimited pellets, that may be the cause of the growth! When I got my older one, we were told 1/4th of a cup should be the max, and even the vets told us we should lower it. I believe the vet said 1/8th cup for every 4-5 pounds of adorable bun. The best thing for a growing bunny is unlimited hay and a once daily feeding of food (or more than once but in smaller quantities)

[HereComesTheBun]

My holland lop also had a growth spurt in the first 6-8 weeks after I got him at 10 weeks, but he’s slowed since then. He’s 6 months now and was 3.5 lbs when I weighed him a few weeks ago. So while I can’t answer whether he is indeed a holland, his growth spurt seems on target with his age.

As far as pellets go, I don’t think it would be harmful for you to continue giving him unlimited pellets, at least for a couple of weeks. But if you cut them back a little, I’m sure it also wouldn’t do any harm, though I would stick with the Young Rabbit Essentials and not adult feed. Do you have any idea of approximately how much you’re giving him right now? I started by cutting Hugo’s pellets in half over the course of a few weeks until he reached 1/4 cup, which is what he’s on now (I may lower him to an 1/8 cup if he doesn’t grow much more). That was when he was around 4.5/5 months, and he just got fully transitioned to adult feed within the last week. Since I’ve heard that smaller rabbits stop growing sooner than bigger ones, I felt comfortable transitioning him to adult feed a little sooner than six months.

Have you heard of false dwarves? If he does get bigger than 4 lbs, perhaps that is a possibility. Igloo is absolutely adorable, by the way!

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