Do male rabbits have bigger dewlaps...?

Or is it a breed thing...?

Or a sign of being over weight (the rabbit, not me - although I have similar signs!)...?

Should I be worried? :shock:

Stew's dewlap is looking really large in comparison to his female mate's.

Would be grateful for any advice/thoughts etc. Ta!!

:roll:

The female is likely to have a bigger dewlap. Boys generally get them through being overweight, sadly, but fur type can make them look different and seem bigger or smaller.

Thank you for you post.

As I feared, Stew is probably overweight. How do you put a rabbit on a diet?! I haven't increased the food, they've been getting the same for over a year now.

BUT have started giving them carroty biscuit treats - the packet says up to three or four each per day but mine just get one each. Guess they need cutting out altogether.

When they get older they need less feed and more hay/veg - though not too much veg.

Will the dewlap get smaller...

...if I start the diet plan?

what do you feed him now? if you feed burgess they do burgess lite :wave:, does he get much exercise, can you encourage him to do abit more

Lops often get them too. They're a 'fatter' breed. Grim has one and he's not overweight but has a less than perfect diet. I would discuss a diet with a good vet. Also post pictures for us to look at.

Is a dewlap a sort of double chin? Xx

Thanks folks.

Yes, a dewlap is like a double chin.

Someone asked about exercise. Stew gets lots of exercise as he free ranges in the garden 2 -3 hourse per day, and he's very energetic when he's out. Crazy bun!

I've been advised on another thread to cut out the carrot and kale, but a bit concerned about what I will substitute as cabbage, greens etc give them terribly runny tums.

Interestingly, Stew is a mini lop/lionhead cross, could be a bred thing I suppose, but strange that it's just been gradually growing in the last few months. He's 3 now and I've had him since he was a little dot.

Ps Can't post pics as don't know how!

Marreline said:

Ps Can't post pics as don't know how!

Click to expand...

It's a little complicated. You have to upload them to somewhere like photobucket or flickr and then post a link.

Rabbits don't need many pellets and should have unlimited hay so you can always cut down the pellets slowly. Kale is high in calcium but shouldn't make him fat. Have you tried spring greens?

I substitute cabbage with fresh herbs, cabbage doesn't agree with buns in my opinion as it causes bloat and buns with excess cecal pellets/uneaten/ sticky bottom improve when cutting out greens. This is just my experience and wat i've read over the last 6 years of keepin buns. Many do fine on dark greens. Mine have a couple of thin discs of carrot and parsnip and herbs like basil, parsley, corriander, a little rosemary, mint etc. Although carrot and parsnip contain sugars and the herbs have medicinal properties so care should be taken with any bun who has a health problem. I don't give treats daily instead they have protexin fibre pellets in a treat ball at night which they're crazy for. Personally i'd cut biscuit type treats out and save them for once in a blue moon. I'd also use a treat ball to encourage more exercise, perhaps putting some of their daily pellet allowance in it. Pellet wise I feed ss but allen and page natural pellets are meant to be good for weight loss. Just don't let him lose weight too quickly as it can cause them other problems. Hope this helps. Perhaps there are old threads also giving other's breakdowns of their buns diet I found that even though I gave a few more pellets during the really cold snap, one of my buns lost a little weight-his dewlap he'd had since we got him has shrunk, however overall condition wise he's not continually losing weight and looks better for losing a bit. he's more active now too

Mine all get herbs too, along with dandelion and plantain and whatever else bunny safe weeds I can forage off my allotment. Mischa gets gas from spring greens and brassicas in general as does Nutmeg to a lesser degree.

Bob has quite a big dewlap, not entirely even, but it's like a saggy chin. I suspect he was overfed in his previous home. He's 4 years old now, about 2kg and not overweight, with a 12ft run plus hutch every day (6ft plus hutch at night). I think it's just his saggy bits!

This was last year but you can see it.

Benson is getting a little dewlap. But I've been feeding them a bit extra in the cold weather - perhaps I should start cutting them down.:?

My understanding was it's more pronounced in does to enable them to keep babies warm.

Rabbits don't/shouldn't loose weight quickly so it could be a slow process of slightly decreasing certain foodstuffs. I used to use Burgess Lite.

I also found marmite's seemed to get larger/saggier in her last few years, 7/8ish.