Diet time for Bojangles

Petting and loving Bojangles this morning, I thought she was looking a bit chunky so I looked up the average weight for a Dutch rabbit (we believe she is a cross between a lionhead and a mini Dutch.) She weight 5.996 pounds or 2.72 kilos. The website I saw said that Dutch's should weigh between 4 to 5 pounds. So, starting today it is diet time.

Here is my question:
How do you recommend I do this?

She gets feed twice a day. I give her pellets, one yogurt drop (she loves these, we call them num-num drops,) plenty of timothy hay, in the morning she gets a handful of kale, and at night she gets a carrot. Plus, I have treats (like broccoli) to give her. I never thought I was overfeeding her, but I don't want her to go hungry. Suggestions please.

First off I'd stop the yoghurt drops completely, regardless of how much she loves them. Rabbits shouldn't eat dairy anyway and they're doing nothing for her diet!

I also wouldn't feed a whole carrot every day. Carrots are high in natural sugars which is why rabbits like them so much. My two get one slice of carrot once or twice a week and even that is too much really.

How much fresh veg is she having per day? My two rarely have vegetables per se, they have herbs which are much better on the calorie front for the slightly larger rabbit. (I have a little chunkster myself)

How many pellets does she have? My two between them have an eggcup of pellets averaged out throughout the day, half morning and night. I give them the majority of their pellets in a treat ball so they have to run about and work for it. If she's having a lot of pellets you can easily reduce them down a bit at a time in order to encourage her to eat more hay, and by putting it in a treat ball she'll have to work for it!

I have a Dutch boy and his daily diet is:
Pellets - 1/2 eggcup daily
Hay - unlimited (two different kinds to encourage munching)
Fresh veg/herbs - small handful mixed herbs (basil/parsley are favourites here) and a tablespoon (equivalent) of spring greens/kale
Treat veg - 1 broccoli floret, 1 slice of carrot a week (maybe! Not every week)
Fruit - none. They get a slice of apple maybe once a month, between them
Treats - no shop bought ones at all. They have one homemade one every few days (made from organic oats, baby food, crushed pellets and fresh herbs) but if either of them get a bit chunky these are the guys first things to stop.

Louie has no commercial treats at all.

His diet is:-

Grass
Hay
A few pellets
Herbs

I will have to buy some herbs for her. I give her veggies everyday. I am going to stop the treats, keep giving her kale, maybe half a carrot or broccoli head once a week, cut down on her pellets, and look into a food ball

OK, day 1 of official diet. I have decided to go on a diet myself so poor Bojangles doesn't have to do this alone. Last night's dinner was hay, a handful of pellets, and some dried clover. This morning, she has another handful of pellets (and I do mean handful, I take a handful out of the bag and put it in her bowl,) more hay, about 4 leaves of kale, and one little stick of broccoli (I went out with a friend last night and feel bad that Bo was left alone, hence the broccoli.) She is not happy about the lack of food, but until her chunky butt gets a little slimmer she has to deal with it. Tonight dinner will be a handful of pellets if her bowl is empty, more hay, and maybe more dried clover. Sadly, rabbit toys are a rarity here (I bought her a bird toy a while ago and she likes that,) but I am going to look around and see what I can find. I lot of my kiddos have Slinkys and I once saw a rabbit on a rescue page playing with one, so I may buy her one of those.

I wouldn't diet a rabbit based on an ideal breed weight. They are guides for winning a show, ie to win a show a rabbit must be between that weight bracket, that doesn't mean very healthy dutch rabbits that are bigger or small than the breed standard don't exist, and the likelihood of being outside increases even more with pet shop/cross breed rabbits. Like with people, their healthy weight depends on their height and build.

Has she been to the vet before? They may have a record of her weight you can compare against. The only accurate guide to an individual rabbits weight is what they are when they are a healthy size and compare in future against that.

I think I drive her vet nuts Tamsin because I am always calling them with questions. They told me last time that she was borderline on being chunky, and by looking at her I feel like she could stand to lose a little bit. I guess I do have bad habits with what I feed her. I used to give her a bowl full of pellets all the time and if the pellets were gone, I filled the bowl again (like I would a dog.) I gave her lots of kale leaves in the morning and a whole carrot at night. Plus, she could always get some treats out of me. I have to be more disciplined about what I give her. I was always just under the assumption that rabbits like veggies, so give her veggies. I was never aware of the high sugar content of some of these veggies. Like I said, Bojangles was a rescue and I am learning as I go.

Awww bless you

Does she get a lot of exercise?

How big is her living area and how much exercise does she get? If she is just sitting around a lot when you are out, it won't be helping her diet.

She doesn't get a lot of exercise. When I try to get her to run and play, I get a dirty look and the bunny butt. Sadly, when I am out, she is in her cage so no exercise at all ther.

Can you maybe get her a run/pen something that you can attach to her cage so that when you are out, she can get out and runaround? Just doing that will do wonders for her weight

I am ordering her a new cage, maybe I can order her a run to go with it. I will have to do research.

There aren't really any suitable indoor cages available on the market, unfortunately are you able to buy puppy pens anywhere? They are quite cheap and you can attach them to indoor cages to increase space when you are out

my little Buttons is a chubster too, she eats everything but it doesn't help when your O/H keeps feeding them all treats!! :evil:

i'd definitely try and ensure your bun gets more exercise

I wouldn't say Bojangles is really chubby, but she is about half a pound over weight. I don't want her to have health problems so I am nipping it in the bud. The only treat she had today was dried clover.

moonturtle said:

I wouldn't say Bojangles is really chubby, but she is about half a pound over weight. I don't want her to have health problems so I am nipping it in the bud. The only treat she had today was dried clover.

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About the same as Buttons then :wave: We will be cutting veg down in Buttons' diet, limiting her pellets and encouraging more hay

Bo isn't really an active bunny either. She was out of her cage all day today and she did not want to play at all. I tried to encourage her to play and she had no interest. Sometimes I worry about her but her vet says she is healthy and she does bunny flop and binky which means she is happy right? She plays, but not that much.

They are most active at dawn and dusk so day time is mainly (mainly) for chillin'.

I would definitely be increasing her living area. As Tulsi said, rabbits are most active at dawn and dusk, usually when you are asleep, so she will spending her most active time in a cage. Is it not possible to let her free range all the time? If not she would need at least a 6x2x2ft cage/pen with something attached to this so she has room to run about. Anything smaller and she may start to develop problems with her muscles if she is shut away for most of the day/night.

If a rabbit is overweight, they will not be very active anyway. My dutch x is only 1.9kg, but as somebody mentioned before, you can't really go on breed guidelines with cross breeds. You should be able to feel her ribs/backbone and hips under a layer of muscle. They shouldn't be prominent, but you shouldn't have to struggle to find them. This is obviously difficult because some buns are more fluffy than others. :lol: I have three bunnies in my care at the moment, all are at their ideal weight (Fiver is maybe a touch overweight) but they all feel different. :roll: If you feel she needs to lose weight, then you are probably right. You know her more than anybody.

Ever thought about getting her a friend? This will probably get her moving, but you really need to increase her living space before doing this.

I think completely cutting out the veg and sugary foods is ideal. Dried herbs is a nice treat for them and it's healthy. A handful of pellets twice a day seems a bit much imo, my pair get an eggcupful between them once a day with probiotic pellets added in.

As much as I want to get her a friend, it is not in the cards. I live in a very small apartment and I feel guilty about how small it is with her. Plus, if I have to leave for home, it will be expensive for one rabbit. I would really like to free range with her, but I am so scared she will chew something. Maybe I will try tomorrow.