Bonded rabbits, seperate feeding....

How do you do it?

Bubbles is a little piggy and Barney is a little skinny as he is older and she is a much quicker eater than he is. He has been checked by my vet and is healthy, just skinny. So the plan is to wean Bubbles onto excel Lite pellets and feed them seperately so Barney has a chance to get more.

Tried it tonight with one in the hutch, one in the run and whoever was in was more interested in getting out and one that was out was more interested in getting in!

Should I keep trying with them seperated or is there an easier way around it I haven't thought of!

I have your problem too....my little rosie should eat much less than the others but shes a little piggy and is verging on being tubby to be honest. The only way I've found to do it is to separate her off completely using the baby gate, or as I do like to hand feed them, hold the food up higher so she can't reach The other way is to switch to feed the normal amount of food but sneak a couple of high calorie treats like barley rings or an extra handful of say junior pellets to barney.

:wave: i would just separate them at meal times...hazel likes to eat a bit then sit down, then go back to it..butties likes to eat it all in one go!!so we have the same problem!

Barley rings? Like the horse feed ones by Dodson and Horrell? It's tricky to make sure Barney gets something Bubbles wont, she will literally steal from his mouth if he's got something she hasn't!!:lol::lol:

yup those are the ones....you'll probably have to break it into 4 bits so it's small enough for him to eat without her pinching it. Just give him 2 to 3 a day to help things along.

Hellooo
I have to feed Smoky and Lizzie separately because he's bigger and older, and needs more pellets. They are house bunnies and Smoky comes through to the kitchen to eat his, Lizzie stays in the living room - so maybe there's a way you could separate them, or if you use 2 bowls??? Or would Bubbles just move over to Barney's food when she'd finished?! :lol:

SmokyJoe78 said:

Hellooo
I have to feed Smoky and Lizzie separately because he's bigger and older, and needs more pellets. They are house bunnies and Smoky comes through to the kitchen to eat his, Lizzie stays in the living room - so maybe there's a way you could separate them, or if you use 2 bowls??? Or would Bubbles just move over to Barney's food when she'd finished?! :lol:

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The biggest problem with them is they are very closely bonded and stress out when seperated even if it just for a few minutes! I attached a small pen to the hutch and put Bubbles outside with her food and left Barney inside. Normally they eat like they are starved animals, but seperate they just spend the whole time looking for each other and won't eat. I've tried for the last couple of nights but it's just too stressful for them, Bubbles jumped up and was clinging onto the hutch door :roll: