skinny baby rabbit?

I have a little lion head, she is approx 11 weeks old now going by what the shop told me. I have had her for 3 weeks.

She eats very well, she is on science selective pellets, she gets a small handful in the morning and another in the evening. I will also give her 1 pellet now and again during the day as she begs me She has fresh hay daily and this doesn't run out. She is in a large indoor cage, she drinks plenty, pees and poops fine. She comes out every night for a run around and is very happy, she goes all over the place and comes up for a cuddle on my shoulder.

She has always felt skinny since I have had her, I can feel her spine and hip bones, I put it down to maybe not enough food, which is why I give her a bit extra of the pellets. I thought she may gain weight, now I am not sure if this is a problem, or if this is just her, she is very small in build and I am not expecting her to be big as an adult.

I don't know what to do as she is perfectly fine in herself, it doesn't seem like there is anything wrong with her atall. Is it normal to feel the spine and hip bones? Should I increase her food for a couple of days and see if there is any weight gain? I have some digital scales that I need to get new batterys for. I am tempted to up her food for a couple days and weight her daily to see if there is weight gain.

Any ideas?

Thanks alot.

Has she been wormed?

Hi, no she hasn't. Well I haven't wormed her and I am sure the shop wouldn't of.

Thanks.

Some bunnies are just naturally skinnier bodied, but if she seems lethargic or out of sorts I'd take her to the vets to be sure there isn't something else going on.

Also, I know it's controversial But my little boy was very skinny when we got him so I made sure he always had access to pellets as well as hay until he was about 5/6 months when I moved him down to an adult portioned amount of pellets. He's still small and very slim, and it hasn't affected his love of hay which is one of the reasons why some people don't like the idea of feeding young bunnies unlimited pellets. =]

Good luck

If your bunny is the one in your avatar- SO CUTE!

You should defiantly get her wormed, especially if she came from a pet shop with lots of other bunnies, just in case she has caught anything

Thank you very much, you have reassured me a little! I have the vets number saved and I will be getting some batteries for my scales tomorrow.

I will give her unlimited pellets and see how she gets on, fingers crossed for weight gain! I don't know how long unlimited will last, she seems like she will easily eat a whole sack of the pellets!

Is it OK for there to suddenly be unlimited pellets available? She will stop when she is full won't she, I can actually imagine her eating til she pops she loves feeding time!

Thanks.

Yes it is her in my avatar. I will see if she gains weight in the next few days, if not I will worm her. Can I buy worming stuff myself from a vet/online or will she need a vet appointment?

Here she is giving my face a lick, shes so beautiful




Thanks alot

My little boy gets far too distracted by toys to spend all day eating pellets so I can't help you there! When he was younger he'd run around like crazy, then run back in his cage to eat and drink some more before disappearing back into a flower pot/jumping back on the armchair/burying himself in his hay basket (depending on whether he was chilling inside or outside).

I don't know about whether you need to gradually increase food or not, sorry! Hopefully someone with more experience can help. I don't see what harm it would do to try it, and if she looks like she's going to eat you out of house and home you could just remove the food and go back to your original method. She might end up getting bored of them like my boy did, and only popping back in when actually hungry.

Just saw the kisses photo! So adorable!! =D

Thanks OK I think I will increase the handful sizes and up it to 4 handfuls a day and more until its unlimited.

Fingers crossed she is OK, thanks for the help

I would take her to be checked by the vet, as you can't be too careful with rabbits (and I think 8 weeks is too young to have left her mother).

She should be on unlimited pellets at 11 weeks. Encourage her, also, to eat plenty of good quality hay.

You can start to very gradually reduce the pellets at about 4 months.