weight/diet help

i've been meaning to post a thread about this for a while now but i am worried that i will get a bad response or be told i am a bad owner it has been along journey for me and my buns (a story for another time) and i just want the best for them, please be nice, i just want help! ok here goes-

their diet- handful of spring greens in the morning, forage in the afternoon, 100g of pellets in the evening (+unlimited ings hay and water)

poos- i get a set of big golden poos (pretty sure they are phoebes as she has always loved her hay) and a set of little dark ones they still crumble ok but look very differnet to the golden ones(think they are bensons) and ALOT of excess caeothrophs (think they are phoebes as i have never seen her eat hers but always see benson eating them.

Phoebe- 9 year old doe weighs 3.8kg. she has always been a fatty and shes a big bun anyway. her diet wasnt good in the past and i cant seem to shift the weight since then, which has resulted in her being super bony on top ( think this is to do with her age) with a huge big flabby belly that sticks out. she used to get a messy bum, as a result of this and bad diet. she still gets a little bit of crusty poo now and then but not nearly as bad as before!! she doesn't do much exercise, hop to her food and hop back to her bed kinda gal, though when she is free ranging she does have a bit of a run.

picture of her:


Close up of the belly, it looks like a mass but its fatty and goes when she runs/flops



her little face (coz shes a little cutie!)



also could any one suggest a breed?

Benson- 8 year old buck weighs 1.9kg. benson is generally a good weight but can get a little bony at times, also need to find out what breed he is, i cant remember whether he is a dwarf lop or mini lop any ideas?



thanks in advance for your help.

Benson looks like a Mini Lop and Phoebe a Dwarf Lop. Anyway I am not sure what 100 g of pellets looks like but it sounds a lot. They should need about a dessertspoon full of pellets each per day with a good amount of hay and greens every other day. The problem is with your bunnies being elderly it might not be possible to get any weight off Phoebe but would suggest you get your Vet to check out her "tummy". I have never seen a rabbit like that and although it might be fat, it could also be something else. (Hopefully it isn't). As much exercise as you can give her will help her weight along with a reduction in pellets which should also help with the uneaten cecals. Good luck, your bunnies are a good age!

:wave: bless you, don't be scared of posting, you can see from your photos you are most definitely not a bad owner
I don't weigh my pellets, so I wasn't sure how much 100g looked like. I've just weighed out what I give to my group of 4 and that is 80g roughly. I give mine 4 handfuls (1 per rabbit) scattered, as my rabbits are very lively and need quite a bit. On the packaging I think it always recommends to feed loads of pellets. It is actually recommended to feed only an eggcupful of pellets per bunny once a day. So I would start to gradually reduce the pellet part of the diet until they are getting an egg cupful each in the evening. It's important to do it gradually so as not to upset them. Hopefully you will find they will eat more hay and forage then as the pellets are decreased. It's great they are already getting unlimited hay and forage, mine love forage

You could try feeding the pellet ration scattered or in a treat ball to encourage her to exercise more :thumb:

It's rabbit awareness week this week, and some vets are doing free vet checks, you could find out if there is any near you for a freebie check :thumb: http://www.rabbitawarenessweek.co.uk/event-locator/

yes i did plan to get a free vet check this week:thumb: i have tried to cut down on the pellet but benson lost loads of weight (he loves his pellet) do you think i did it to fast?

Hmm, I'm not sure on that one, depends how quickly you reduced it I suppose :? You could try reducing them again but slowly, and see if he maintains his weight. Must be difficult for you if he is generally a good weight or has a tendency to lose weight. You could try feeding him his pellets seperately, so that you can give him more than her

A free vet check would be a great idea. Ask about the weight and ask them to give you ideal weights for each bunny. I know the really tough thing is judging whether a rabbit is just right or a bit under/over so if you have a weight to aim for you can pop them on the scales and check which makes things much easier. Sometimes I look at Scamp and think he looks a bit skinny but the scales say no - it's usually just he's a bit scruffy from a moult.

It sounds like Phoebe may have some excess skin left over from when she was heavier. It's quite common in the neck area of does but you can get it other places too. There isn't really much you can do about it - at her age I don't think surgery is something to bother even considering, particularly as it sound like she generally copes well. You might find that even with a healthy weight/diet she does get some sticky poops, just because the spare skin gets in the way of eating them as she normally would. I'd consider rearguard or similar which helps prevent flystrike as she'd be a slightly higher risk - just a precaution.

Benson looks a nice healthy weight. I'd tend to slip him a little extra separately if you think he's dropping - just a couple of pellets handfed whilst handfeeding Phoebe healthy greens

I'd definately recommend reducing the pellets - they may need more than a younger bun as they are that little bit older but 100g between two is still on the higher end. You should find if you decrease them gradually they'll compensate by eating more hay and forage. Other than that their diet sounds great, the fresh foods are really good for them.

You could try a treatball for the dry food see if that encourages a little extra exercise

thanks for the advice!

Tasmin, its not an easy task!! phoebe smells food from a mile off! she comes running flab and all and butts benson out off the way!!! :lol: will have to lock her away and feed benson extra... oh how she will hate me!!