Advice Please

Hya All,

I just wanted to ask an opinion on something. The vet said that I should start reducing the amount of pellets Archie has and increase the amount of veg he has but I put in 2 handfuls of excel pellets and a bowl of dill, sage, basil and an organic carrot as well as a load of hay and then I put in another handful of pellets in the evening along with a top up of his bow but it really doesn't look alot, am I mistreating him ?

It would probably be beneficial to reduce his pellets. My adult pair get 1 handful of pellets daily between them.

Reducing pellets will encourage him to eat more hay as he won't be as full. This will be better for his teeth.

but after about an hour his bowl is empty, I rly dnt think i'm treatin him right and i'm dying to top his bowl up to the brim... what harm can it do if he still eats veg ?

Amanda J Moore said:

but after about an hour his bowl is empty, I rly dnt think i'm treatin him right and i'm dying to top his bowl up to the brim... what harm can it do if he still eats veg ?

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He won't eat enough hay if you fill him up with pellets. His diet needs to be 80-90% hay not pellets in order for his teeth to be worn down so it will do a lot of harm.

You need to make sure his hay rack is full 24 hours a day.

Our buns eat their pellets in seconds, then move onto the hay, none of them are starving! Hay is much better for them than a mass of pellets...

Amanda J Moore said:

but after about an hour his bowl is empty, I rly dnt think i'm treatin him right and i'm dying to top his bowl up to the brim... what harm can it do if he still eats veg ?

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Buns almost always prefer the pellets and will wolf them down, the trouble is this reduces the amount of hay they eat. I know it seems harsh sometimes, I feel the same with my Wilm, but they really should not have more than an eggcup full of pellets everyday.

Well I am a right meany mummy then, my bunny gets no pelleted food at all.

She has green veg (no carrots either) twice a day and access to good quality hay at all times

so I put an egg cup (or 2 !!) in2 his cage in the morning and even if he's eaten them all quickly I can't give him nemore til the nxt morning ? :shock:

Amanda J Moore said:

so I put an egg cup (or 2 !!) in2 his cage in the morning and even if he's eaten them all quickly I can't give him nemore til the nxt morning ? :shock:

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That's correct. Best only stick to 1 eggcup as that's all they need.

If he has hay all day he won't need more pellets.

Amanda J Moore said:

so I put an egg cup (or 2 !!) in2 his cage in the morning and even if he's eaten them all quickly I can't give him nemore til the nxt morning ? :shock:

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About that, yep. I would say I give my Wilm a little more than I should actually, probably nearly 2 egg cups worth some days, but he has unlimited hay and a good selection of fresh veg daily.

I used to be like you, I felt guilty and used to fill the bowl with pellets, but believe me it's not good for them. You can tell looking at their poos! Healthy poos should be golden brown, lots of pellets will give them dark, unhealthy poos!

Amanda J Moore said:

so I put an egg cup (or 2 !!) in2 his cage in the morning and even if he's eaten them all quickly I can't give him nemore til the nxt morning ? :shock:

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That's all I give :wave: They LOVE their fresh hay though and their veg in the evening, so you won't be not depriving them of anything.

You are not being mean! You are being kind, even though it is a good idea to give a small amount of pellets as it ensures they get all the vitamins and minerals they need, the BEST thing for their health and their teeth is Hay and Grass!
When Jimby came to us last Feb he was on unlimited musli food, some hay and veg once every 2 weeks!! This diet was the worst kind for him, no wonder it has set him up as a tummy and dental bun!!
We eventually switched him over to pellets, introduced small amounts of veg slowley and tried to increase his hay but he would not eat it!! We then made the mistake of over feeding the pellets because we thought he was hungry.
Anyway to cut a long story short he now is on a much healthier diet but it has taken time because of the bad start he had, he now has X1 Egg cup full of Excel pellets per day (We split in it half and do breakfast and dinner) lunch time he has a selection of veggies (basil, mint, parsley and either a sprout/spring greens or a small amount of carrot or broccoli) then he will have a evening snack of a small amount of veggies. All through the day he has his potty and hay box full of hay and dried herbs, we use Oxbrow hay (Timothy and Orchard Grass- he loves them!!)
We will be reducing his pellets down even more in the near future as we have been advised that they really only need a table spoons worth per day but he is due to go to the vets next week for a dental so we want to get through that first.

My trio get two handfuls between them at night, a large selection of veggies in the morning, and 24/7 access to hay. If you feed him too much pellets he wont eat his hay and if he doesnt eat loads of hay he could end up with dental issues because his teeth arent being grinded down by the hay

My buns pellets are hoovered up within minutes, they dont leave it. But dont think hes hungry, as long as he has hay to munch he wont go hungry , and buns love hay so he wont be upset about that

I was feeding our unlimited pellets, but now they are over 6 months I am cutting down. It's just a fact that given the choice, most rabbits will eat pellets not hay - just like we would choose cakes over veg.

It does feel a bit mean, but in fact it would be unkind to feed excess pellets if you know they are not eating hay. Basically, if we cut the pellets right back, they wolf the hay down. If we feed lots of pellets, they leave the hay. I know which is best for them.

i use half a eggcup twice a day and i top it up with veg and hay and maybe a treat now and again my vet said they should have 100g of food a day but when i was in college doing animal care they said to use 200g a day
which is right?
but the vet said to use half a cup ful of pellets