Very overweight bunnies.

I volunteer at a rescue and am the unofficial rehoming officer. There are 6 bunnies which need to b rehomed. None are spayed/neutered. The majority of them are overweight but 2 bonded does are extremely overweight (they came to the rescue overweight).

One of them obviously has a problem with cleaning herself and often has a bit of a mucky bottom but nothing major. The 2 does are very reluctant to eat their hay and so their poos are very black and sometimes they have the smelly soft poo which they are meant to eat (I can't spell the name of this).

I have cut down their pellets dramatically and they have a largish hutch which they live in but it's not really big enough to run around. I put all the bunnies in a small enclosure while I clean them out but space is an issue so they don't really get the exercise they need. The 2 does however generally just sit in the corner and don't really move about much.

I would just like some advice on how I can get them to eat their hay and if cutting out their pellets entirely is an option? Any tips on how I can get them to lose the weight would be very helpful as I am worried they will get serious health problems due to their weight.

Have they been examined by a Vet ?

They may well have problems with their molar teeth if they have never eaten much hay.

If they are reluctant to move it could be due to pain- osteoarthritis

If they are severely obese then weightloss must be a very gradual process otherwise they risk Hepatic Lipidosis. There liver function is possibly already compromised due to their obesity.

So my advice would be to get them both thoroughly examined by a Vet

Does the Rescue use Foster Carers who may be able to provide more space. Exercise is obviously going to be an essential part of getting the Does weight down to a healthy level.

The rescue is just getting itself organised etc and so don't have permanent foster carers yet. I have tried to get these 2 fostered but things fell through unfortunately I will ask the owner to get them to a vet asap, I think they have been seen by a vet but it was probably a while ago.

They were being fed far too many pellets so I've cut that down and just keep giving them fresh hay. They nibble on it but that's about it. The other bunnies start munching as soon as they get fresh hay like normal bunnies.