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feeding too much?

gizmo01

Warren Scout
our rabbits seem like dogs to just eat as much as you will give them. they are eating 2 bowls of food per day EACH! is this too much? what veggies can i try them on as they will only eat forage hay and herbs?
 
2 bowls a day each sounds like a hell of a lot. I would start cutting down with the aim of getting to an eggcup full each per day.
When they're eating lots of hay (at least a pile the size of themselves each day), their poops look good and they feel a good weight then maintain that amount of pellets. It may well be more than an eggcup full, but it's better to aim for a very small amount so you don't end up still over feeding them.

How much hay are they eating at the moment? Hay is the most important thing for a rabbit as without it they can develop dental and digestive problems.

veg wise there's a sticky here that has links to lots of useful threads on diet, including what veg is and isn't acceptable. Just remember to introduce it slowly :)
 
dispite giving hay from day one they have only just started to eat it the vet advised a weight of 3kg as the top limit for our buck lop (not sure of what breed) not too sure of the top limit for an english spot breed doe they are now eating a portion atleast as big as they are haywise :)
 
dispite giving hay from day one they have only just started to eat it the vet advised a weight of 3kg as the top limit for our buck lop (not sure of what breed) not too sure of the top limit for an english spot breed doe they are now eating a portion atleast as big as they are haywise :)
Tbh I would judge weight based more on how they look and feel than the average weight for their breed as they can vary so much, especially if they are possibly cross breeds.
Iirc you should be able to easily feel where their spine and ribs are but they shouldn't be too "bony". As a rough guide take a look at this and see how you think your buns compare. It can be difficult to tell with fluffier breeds just by looking (my frenchie looks a lot bigger than he is because of his fluffy coat) so definitely have a feel as well, see if they feel like they have a bit of extra padding. :)
If they are overweight they may also have trouble reaching behind them to groom themselves and eat their caecals.

Another indicator of diet is what comes out! How are their poos? Do you get many left over caecotrophs or do you find mostly large, round, crumbly ones? :lol:

ETA: here's another guide with a lot of useful information.
 
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dispite giving hay from day one they have only just started to eat it the vet advised a weight of 3kg as the top limit for our buck lop (not sure of what breed) not too sure of the top limit for an english spot breed doe they are now eating a portion atleast as big as they are haywise :)

To use an analogy - if you left children with a bowl of unlimited broccoli and unlimited sweets, which do you think they would eat more of? It's exactly the same with bunnies, if they have bowls and bowls of pellet/mix food, they will be more inclined to eat that than they will lots of hay. It's only by cutting down the concentrated feed that they will be encouraged to eat more hay, although you do need to do this gradually, and you do need to make sure that they are eating hay and not just going hungry. Buns guts are designed to be processing food constantly, so it's no surprise that they seem to eat a lot, it is just a case of trying to balance their diet so they eat a lot of the 'right' things while maintaining a healthy gut, teeth and weight.

Good luck!
 
oops my bad

my bad ive been topping bowl up when ever its empty once in the morning and again when i go to bed :(:oops:
 
my bad ive been topping bowl up when ever its empty once in the morning and again when i go to bed :(:oops:

we've all made mistakes. So long as they're healthy I wouldn't worry about it, just start cutting down now and you'll have their diet right in no time :)
 
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