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A Fat Rabbit

XMissySJx

Wise Old Thumper
I need advice from you guys for what seems a simple problem to begin with.

Domino weighs 2.9kg, well he did in august. And he is getting fatter. He literally is THE laziest rabbit in the world - probably. He has a six foot x 4 foot shed with second level, plus a huge 10.2 x 5 foot run with permanent access.

But his claws are long, and the other twos arent, so i KNOW he isnt exercising. He just sleeps, plods along, sits in some hay, sleeps etc all day long. We have tried everything, we move the stuff round in the run every couple of days, they get put out into the grass run at weekends for variety, and last weekend mum told me she let them free range, and Domino just went and flopped out.

He hasnt got problems with his heart or anything, hes very healthy he is just SO lazy. Im worried hes going to cause himself problems if he carries on this way, but what can I do?

Mum now gives them the teeniest ammount of pellets, but she is considering stopping them altogether because he is just massive.

I have a strange theory he is this way because he has two women bunnies constantly fawning over him, grooming him etc, i cant add another bun its not an option, but could it be why he has adopted this lazy behaviour?!

Any advice welcome.
 
I need advice from you guys for what seems a simple problem to begin with.

Domino weighs 2.9kg, well he did in august. And he is getting fatter. He literally is THE laziest rabbit in the world - probably. He has a six foot x 4 foot shed with second level, plus a huge 10.2 x 5 foot run with permanent access.

But his claws are long, and the other twos arent, so i KNOW he isnt exercising. He just sleeps, plods along, sits in some hay, sleeps etc all day long. We have tried everything, we move the stuff round in the run every couple of days, they get put out into the grass run at weekends for variety, and last weekend mum told me she let them free range, and Domino just went and flopped out.

He hasnt got problems with his heart or anything, hes very healthy he is just SO lazy. Im worried hes going to cause himself problems if he carries on this way, but what can I do?

Mum now gives them the teeniest ammount of pellets, but she is considering stopping them altogether because he is just massive.

I have a strange theory he is this way because he has two women bunnies constantly fawning over him, grooming him etc, i cant add another bun its not an option, but could it be why he has adopted this lazy behaviour?!

Any advice welcome.

could he have arthiritis or any problem where movement may hurt his joints?
 
Have you tried making him work for his food, treat balls and suchlike? (I'm sure you have but thought I would ask anyway).

I have Candyfloss who seems to just expand on air, despite being active, and its very frustrating. So I feel your pain there! When I posted about her someone said that grass was less nutritious than hay, so to feed that, and also someone else said feed at their active time of day. Also, some hay's have more nutrition than others so maybe go for the low nutrition options?

Has he had bloods and such done at the vets? That sounds to me like one possibility could be that is a pain response, which could tally in with Jemma&Theo's suggestion. Has he seen a vet?
 
Yes i make them work for their food every day when I'm home, and my mum does too as long as she is isnt running late so probably 5 out of 7 days a week.

I do treat balls, and a hide their food in egg boxes, and i even hid it in hay. but because there three of them its still gone in 5 minutes because they find it so quickly. Mum has just bought excel light, whether that will help or not I dont know.

They used to be fed at 6pm as i found that was when they were most active - evening. But this week Mums going to start feeding them first thing in the morning instead. (it used to be little veg in morning, pellets at night, now reversed)

He doesn't have any problems like arthritis etc in his legs because his legs are checked thoroughly at every check up - because he is Peanuts son :(

Problem is, I cant swop the hay for grass as Pebbles is almost a dental bunny and Jelly has had a dental, so they need so much hay :lol:

Oh dear:lol:
 
I'm sorry I've no advice, just wanted to send my sympathies. My Spenser is not a lazy rabbit, but if I put him in the run at what he considers the wrong time of day (this tends to happen on Tuesday when I have to go out to work late afternoon) he just sits like a big white cushion with ears. :roll: I've discovered that I can get round this by bringing him indoors - he's not used to the house so is too nosy to sit still.
 
I try and make things different for him and sometimes it works, but I cant expect my mum to do that every day when she has work all the time.

I figured a shed with run would be enough :lol::lol:

going to switch to science selective as they like that too and it seems a bit better, and they can just get a couple of pellets a day instead, we will see if it makes a difference.
 
I'd get rid of pellets all together. You spoil those rabbits rotten Sarah Jane!
Domino is living like Henry VIII, being fussed over all the time!
 
I know what you mean about 'sometimes it works.' :roll::roll: Last weekend I provided Spenser with what I considered a rather impressive digging box and he just had quick sniff and ignored it. Spenser was 2.88kg when he attended the emergency vet recently. He is a biggish rabbit though, and I can feel his ribs are the way they are supposed to feel (read an article about body-scoring you rabbit in the RWA mag).
 
Domino is huge compared to his parents. Peanuts healthy weight (not his weight before he died!), was 2.3kg, and Jelly is 2.4/5 depending on whether its winter or summer.

So Domino must be around 3KG now, so hes HUGE. hes even longer than Jelly too :shock:
 
I reckon Daisy must be getting on for 20kg :lol::lol: I was hoping someone would come up with a fantastic solution. We need a Biggest Loser trainer for bunnies!! What are we going to do with our fatties :?
 
I'd get rid of pellets all together. You spoil those rabbits rotten Sarah Jane!
Domino is living like Henry VIII, being fussed over all the time!

I do not spoil them rotten! They rarely get treats, i honestly only give them when youre round etc so they actually move :lol:

And yes they get lots of herbage stuff but then that helps the girls teeth so its a vicious circle :?
 
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