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What's the best thing for a bunny in need of a diet?

DemiS

Warren Veteran
Harley is getting really chubby and has two major jumping displays at the end of this month, I really need him to loose a bit of weight. He's getting about half a handfull of pellets a day (and I've got tiny hands), unlimited hay, water and the occasional half handfull of veg. I'm not sure if I should cut down further on pellets, or even cut them out alltogether? And what about veg, is some too sugary?

I don't want to put him on a major speed diet as I know that wouldn't be good for him, but any weight he can lose the better. The poor thing always seems starving, and he eats all his pellets, veg and about 4 times his volume in hay daily.
 
Stop giving him fruit, and cut right down on carrots, but make up for it with brocolli, watercress and parsley (superfoods for buns!). That seems to have workd pretty well for my Pickles. :D

Do you feed any Timothy herbage? That might make a nice treat if he's just used to normal hay, and he won't notice the drop in the amount of other food.
 
Stop giving him fruit, and cut right down on carrots, but make up for it with brocolli, watercress and parsley (superfoods for buns!). That seems to have workd pretty well for my Pickles.

Ooops :lol:

Oh and he hasn't had fruit since christmas, and he never really had much before :)
 
Stop giving him fruit, and cut right down on carrots, but make up for it with brocolli, watercress and parsley (superfoods for buns!). That seems to have workd pretty well for my Pickles. :D

Do you feed any Timothy herbage? That might make a nice treat if he's just used to normal hay, and he won't notice the drop in the amount of other food.

Nope, I'm afraid I'm stuck with farm hay for a while, I can't get anywhere in this weather
 
you can get a light version of excel for chubby buns :) i don't know what it's like personally but it might be worth looking into, if he's on excel already.

what veg do you feed him? In general, root veg is high in sugar, but leafy veg is fine.

could you encourage him to run about more....maybe scatter his food so he has to run about to get it...or give him more exercise time.
 
you can get a light version of excel for chubby buns :) i don't know what it's like personally but it might be worth looking into, if he's on excel already.

what veg do you feed him? In general, root veg is high in sugar, but leafy veg is fine.

could you encourage him to run about more....maybe scatter his food so he has to run about to get it...or give him more exercise time.

that's what i was thinking, if he is on burgess already, he may be able to have the lite version :wave:
 
Do you feed pellets or mix? Thought i saw u mention before you fed mix :? If you are totally taking the pellets out, or lowering them, i would give him veg daily :? All my buns get at least a bunny bowl full of veg daily
 
I'd keep the veg, Blue has about 10pellets a day :oops:

I will try and find a website I found when searching as it said about the best veg to give "fat" rabbits. I think its more a case of same amount but different things that aren't as full of sugars etc.
 
Harley is getting really chubby and has two major jumping displays at the end of this month, I really need him to loose a bit of weight. He's getting about half a handfull of pellets a day (and I've got tiny hands), unlimited hay, water and the occasional half handfull of veg. I'm not sure if I should cut down further on pellets, or even cut them out alltogether? And what about veg, is some too sugary?

I don't want to put him on a major speed diet as I know that wouldn't be good for him, but any weight he can lose the better. The poor thing always seems starving, and he eats all his pellets, veg and about 4 times his volume in hay daily.

:wave: How has he got chubby out of interest if he is 'jumping' bunny, do you train him all the time or has he been poorly or something?
 
aww poor Harley:lol:
Rowans diet isnt going too well...he is on 2tbsp of allen and paige natural pellets a day and he is still as fat as ever:lol:
 
He is on mix at the moment but only because my grandma went out and stocked up on it because it was a 'bargain' :roll: I can't get anymore for quite a while and I've used this mix before anyway and it's not been bad. I've never had selective feeding with it. Plus I'm not too keen on using excel, as I've heard so many stories about it and have known a rabbit who's life was ruined by it.

I will go back to pellets as soon as I can, but it might not be before these displays.

The veg mix I get is usually a bit of cucumber, carrot peelings, turnip peelings and odd bits of other things. Again my grandma provides me with these :lol:

As for exercise - He's got his own 6x2 hutch which he's always running about in, and he does rabbit jumping nearly every day. He's usually running about outside but he dosen't like snow so just goes straight back to his hutch :roll:
 
:wave: How has he got chubby out of interest if he is 'jumping' bunny, do you train him all the time or has he been poorly or something?

Me over feeding him because it's freezing outside and he always seems starving :oops: Yes I know it's stupid but he needed some fat on him and those extra nutrients
 
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aww poor Harley:lol:
Rowans diet isnt going too well...he is on 2tbsp of allen and paige natural pellets a day and he is still as fat as ever:lol:

Wow :shock: A lot of rabbits lose weight on that anyway, nevermind with only two tablespoons :lol:
 
Me over feeding him because it's freezing outside and he always seems starving :oops:

Awww I was wondering after I posted that if it was because of the weather, I was going to suggest cucumber and celery and lots of hay, tricky I would imagine as you don't want him getting vexed and then not eating.
 
Awww I was wondering after I posted that if it was because of the weather, I was going to suggest cucumber and celery and lots of hay, tricky I would imagine as you don't want him getting vexed and then not eating.

He just gulps it down too, then rattles the cage and chases my hand thinking I've got more. Greedy monster :lol:
 
Is he overweight Demi? Half a handful of pellets sounds fine to me. I would not put a bunny on a restrictive diet, particularly in this weather. I think its okay to discuss diets for very overweight bunnies, that we often see on here. It feels uncomfortable to me to discuss slimming up a bunny before a display.
 
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Is he overweight Demi? Half a handful of pellets sounds fine to me. I would not put a bunny on a restrictive diet, particularly in this weather. I think its okay to discuss diets for very overweight bunnies, that we often see on here. It feels uncomfortable to me to discuss slimming up a bunny before a display.

He does look it, his face is very chubby and I can barely feel his ribs. Plus when he's sitting/lying he just looks like a big lump of fluff.
 
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