Keeping an elderly bun active... tips??

Hello!

I've come a bit unstuck trying to convince my elderly bun, Marge, to loose a bit of weight.

I'm not entirely sure how old she is - She was an RSPCA bun. They said she was three when I rehomed her and I remember getting her around exam time at school although I can't remember which lot of exams. :roll: Anyhoo, I'm now 24 so that would have been at least six years ago (maybe even eight if it was around GCSE time) so by my calculations, Marge must be at least nine (or possibly..... eleven :shock: ).

She was a big bun when I got her, she lost a lot of weight initially as she had lots of space and her husbun I rehomed with her to chase around. Unfortunately, Harvey developed a neurological problem only a few weeks after I bought them home and the vet thought it best to put him to sleep. Marge was on her own for a while and put some weight back on as she didn't have anyone to share her food or exercise with. A few years ago, I paired her with Barley, who she still lives with now, but they bicker quite a lot. Nothing particuly aggressive, just over the longest strand of hay or the best piece of popcorn... bit like my mum and dad really! :lol:

Marge has recently got a bit plump again. Her and Barley were in a big run/hutch thingy and she'd happily hop up and down the ramp. This hutch needed replacing so I got a big two tear hutch for them. I don't know why, but Marge never ever got the hang of the new ramp. It wasn't any steeper than the old one or anything. But she'd just sit in the night box all day long. I don't think I ever saw her down the bottom bit of the hutch. I decided that wasn't good so I've moved them into a littler hutch, inside a shed so they have lots of room but no ramps.

But the grumpy old thing still insists on sitting in the night box alllllllll day. Anybody got any good tips for tempting her out for a bit of a hop? Should I shut the hutch for a little while every day so she effectively has nowhere to sit and loaf? I don't think she's over eating, she just seems to be getting a lardy because she's not exercising.

This is Marge, muffin-top and all.




Any suggestions gratefully recieved. :wave:

Hi, firstly I would get your bun checked over by a vet to make sure there is no physical reason for her weight gain or inactivity.

If the vet gives the all clear I would take a look at her diet - I can see from the picture that you feed museli type rabbit food, this is rather calorific, a high fibre pelleted food such as Science Selective is preferable and each rabbit only needs about 1 eggcup full each day - far less than is in the bowl. The main part of the diet needs to be hay, 90% in fact - the other 10% being made up of the small amount of pellets and a little veg (if they are used to it). You can make them work for their food by hiding/scattering the pellets amongst the hay, under toys, in a treatball. You can feed the hay from hayracks, trays, wire food balls, stuffed in to boxes or toiletroll tubes for variety and interest.

Provide boxes, tubes, tunnels, little steps/chairs, safe branches (apple for instance), a digging box, a nice large box filled with hay and scattered with fresh or dried rabbit safe herbs or leaves and veg they are used to in order to encourage foraging and to give your rabbit interesting things to do.

Marge has been to the vet - she has a clean bill of health other than being a bit porky - the vet explained the most likely reason for this is because she's old and a little lazy! :lol:

I do give them mix - Barley will not eat pellets at all and I don't wish for him to go hungry. Plus as he wouldn't eat any of it, Marge would eat the whole lot! :roll: I do make sure they eat all of the mix though - the bowl gets filled, and then only re-filled once it is empty again. Sometimes there are a few hay pellet bits left, but I figure that's not a major issue seeing as they have a constant supply of fresh hay (in their sleeping area and in hay racks around the shed). I fill the bowl as I work afternoon/evening and it's often dark by the time I get back. On days off, I feed them morning and evening so they have less. I've always been told it's important that rabbits eat constantly so I try to make sure they won't run out whilst I'm at work.

They also have tunnels, cardboard boxes, jingle balls and scrunched up tissue paper to play with. I find Barley will play with them but Marge just isn't interested. She'll come out of the hutch if I scatter veggies around but even then, she'll grab a mouthful and leg it back again. :?

Have you tried hanging her veg from the roof of the shed (tied up with long bits of string). It worked a treat with my porky girls. They almost had to stand on their hind legs to get at the veg and then of course it moves and swings when they're trying to nibble from it so they have to constantly move to get it. Scattering veg is a good idea too but they can, as you've discovered, grab a piece and run back to bed :roll:

Ohhhhh, that's a good idea! I thought to put their hay racks up quite high but I never thought of dangling a few carrots and treats about!

I bought them some veggies today so I'll get my ball of string out and see what I can do before it gets dark.

Thanks!

as your bun has been on the mix for a long time i think theres no harm in leaving her on it, i will say she has a hugeeeeeee amount in a that bowl i dont even fill my bowl up for 2 let alone one and they get pellets once a day,

hay is the main diet for a bun,


i would start by halfing the amount of musli mix, but DONT feel guilty and try and up the veg, just give more hay, doesnt matter if he wont eat it belive me if shes hungry she will eat it, it high in fibre will increase her poop size, and do as others have suggested and hang veg around the cage, also those shop treats, you know sweetcorn on a stick those seed things avoid like the pluage big no nos spesh for a porky bun,

do you know anyone with a willow tree or an apple tree snapping a few twigs of these, will keep him busy and chewing for a bit

So they don't need food all the time? They always have hay and they eat loads of it, but I wasn't sure if that was enough for them. I know their guts need to be doing something all the time so just assumed they'd always need something in the bowl. My bad.

I don't think I have any fruit trees in my garden. Well, that's not technically true, we have a sloe tree but it's terribly spikey. I'll ask around the neighbours, they have a big veggie patch so I bet they'd at least have an apple tree or something. The buns have a couple of those wooden stick tunnel things though. Don't seem to chew them much. :?bMaybe that's the wrong kind of wood?!

I don't normally give them pet shop treats except for those yoghurt drop things and they get one each of those a day and they're very small. I can imagine loads would be fattening but just one is almost microscopic! :lol: They also had a popcorn stick recently because my mum bought them as a christmas present! :lol: Otherwise the only treats they get are carrots, broccoli, cabbage, apple and occasionally some random bits of fruit and veg that have been lying around in our fruit bowl a bit too long! Are there any fresh foods I should avoid? Would things like apple and pear be too sugary?

i understand what you mean about the food all the time, yes they do need something available all the time, hay is food, its very good that are good hay munchers, perhaps some herby hay or differant types as a treat, there is a list on here of all the foods that are good and foods that are bad, but im no good at finding links on here,

it is most likely she is being very lazy mind you in this weather when your getting on a bit would you feel like running around when you got someone to feed her :lol:

Be careful about asking neighbours for Apple tree cuttings - make sure they don't use any pesticides or the like that could harm your rabbits.

Keep apple and carrot to an occasional, say once a week, treat and keep it small.

Hay is food and is what they should be eating most of the time - as I said before it should make up 90% of their diet, the other 10% being pellets/mix and veg.

Gosh, I feel a bit silly now. I realised buns needed a constant supply of hay but never realised it should be 90% of their diet. :shock: And I've been keeping rabbits for 13 years. Learn something new everyday...

This morning I've only given them half a bowl of food and I've got a few cardboard boxes, stuffed them full of hay, timothy hay, and that meadow mix stuff from P@H to keep them busy. I've sealed the boxes but cut small holes in here and there so they can either pull the hay out strand by strand, or destroy the box! :lol: I also tried hanging veggies about but Marge just chewed through the string! :roll: :lol: I'll hang them a little higher next time!!

georgie_f said:

I also tried hanging veggies about but Marge just chewed through the string! :roll: :lol: I'll hang them a little higher next time!!

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:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: - yes, you need to hang it so they can't grab the string!

I swear my last few brain cells must of fallen out through my ear or something! :lol:

I just didn't realise how tall Marge could get! I haven't seen her bother standing on her back legs for ages so I just guesstimated :lol: They really did a good job pulling their cardboard boxes to bits today so I've at least managed to make one thing work! :roll: