2 boys and a girl...possibly?

[Lady Logamorph]

awww she is lovely

 

[nessar]

Nessar, I will definetly go back to her for a bunny friend, she was really knowledgeable and can help me with bonding which I have no idea about! And she is only up the road, bonus! She even gave me a bunny book for nothing bless her!
At the minute she is on the adult pets at home nuggets as that's what she came with. Do you think I should change it slowly to something else? Been giving her fresh veg as well, a tiny amount of carrot and brocolli, trying something new each day and keeping an eye on her poo. Is that OK to do? She wolfed it down! And of course she is having as much hay as she wants, she is munching her way through that too.And yes the vet says she is too underweight to spay he was saying she needs to put some weight on, but didnt ask what she was eating?

Keep an eye on the vet, he might be fine but it is really hard to get a good rabbit vet as they are classed as 'exotics' (so normal vets learn nothing more than the very basics when training) and I would have expected him to ask about her diet, knowing you are new to rabbits and that she is underweight too. Nothing to worry about, just keep an eye on his advice and maybe when you next go ask questions that you already know the answer to, to test him. I do this with all new vets and it's a good way to weed out the ones that don't know much.

As for diet, looks like you already know about hay, encourage her to eat as much as possible, you can try different types to see which ones she likes. Ideally you want her to be eating a pile the size of herself every day, but don't panic if she isn't now, if she hasn't had much of a chance to before (not enough available or stressed from being harassed by the boys or fed too many pellets) then it will take time to get there.

As for pellets, I'd keep them the same for the week or two whilst she settles, but then I'd look at changing them gradually. They aren't high in fibre (15%) and they are also lower than most in protein (12%) and I think a normal 13 or 14% protein might be more beneficial in rebuilding her muscles - and if she is pregnant then personally I would not want an already underweight doe feeding her kits whilst on a low protein pellet. You've got plenty of time to look at brands, but Burgess Excel and Supreme are the most popular ones - personally I'd go with Supreme as both fibre and protein levels are higher for most of their adult foods than Burgess Excel. Normally for amount, you would feed roughly a tablespoon per kg of her weight per day, which works out as about an eggcup for a normal sized rabbit, but I'd feed more than this as she may be pregnant and is also underweight - as there is a strong chance that she is pregnant I would feed double that at least. If you already feeding her a fairly large amount of pellets and her poos are healthy and she is eating a good amount of hay, then I'd just stick with the amount she is used to for now, but I wouldn't go nuts with them.

I wouldn't feed a new thing every day - a good rule of thumb is to only change one thing at a time in their diet (except for most hays) and to always do so slowly. I would go easy on the veggies for now and just feed the ones that you know she is fine with until her weight is a bit better - purely because at the moment the last thing we need is a stomach upset.

Did the vet give you an idea of her age?

Sounds like you are making a lovely home for her and eventually a friend as well She really has fallen on her feet with you!

 

[LauraLou1982]

Thanks Captain Helen and Lady Logomorph, I think shes pretty but am biased lol. I liked the boys but I did have a soft spot for her

Wow Nessar, thanks that's fab! I didnt know they count as exotics?! Surely after cats and dogs they are the next most popular pet?! That seems ridiculous! :shock:
The food information is brilliant too, thanks! She isn't eating a lot of hay - I couldn't tell when the three were together and it was all being eaten but don't think it was her! Gave her a big pile this morning and when I just checked on her not much of it had gone, but she had cleared her bowl entirely of food and eaten the carrot and broccoli I gave her, plus she was out today for about 3 hours in the playhouse eating grass too. I will leave the veg at the carrot and broccoli for the moment then and wont try anything else.

As for age, he asked me how old I thought she was and I said I was told 10 months and he didn't disagree! Can anyone recommend any good rabbit savvy vets in my area do you reckon? Is there a link somewhere?

I hope she has fallen on her feet with me, I feel a bit out of my depth still and am just desperately trying to do the best for her! all your help is greatly appreciated xxx

 

[nessar]

Thanks Captain Helen and Lady Logomorph, I think shes pretty but am biased lol. I liked the boys but I did have a soft spot for her

Wow Nessar, thanks that's fab! I didnt know they count as exotics?! Surely after cats and dogs they are the next most popular pet?! That seems ridiculous! :shock:
The food information is brilliant too, thanks! She isn't eating a lot of hay - I couldn't tell when the three were together and it was all being eaten but don't think it was her! Gave her a big pile this morning and when I just checked on her not much of it had gone, but she had cleared her bowl entirely of food and eaten the carrot and broccoli I gave her, plus she was out today for about 3 hours in the playhouse eating grass too. I will leave the veg at the carrot and broccoli for the moment then and wont try anything else.

As for age, he asked me how old I thought she was and I said I was told 10 months and he didn't disagree! Can anyone recommend any good rabbit savvy vets in my area do you reckon? Is there a link somewhere?

I hope she has fallen on her feet with me, I feel a bit out of my depth still and am just desperately trying to do the best for her! all your help is greatly appreciated xxx

Yeah you would think as they are so popular that would be the case, but I think they are meant to be quite complex medically.

Not sure where you are but if you post a thread asking for rabbit savvy vets in your area in Rabbit Chat then you'll get more replies - make sure to put the location in the title.

Grass is just as good as hay for her to eat, so it is good that she likes it, just make sure you introduce it gradually and keep an eye on her poos - from what you've said it is unlikely she's had access to it before.

How much are you giving her of the pellets a day? If she is filling up on those she may not want to eat much hay, but with time she should improve. You can try different types of hay - different rabbits like different types and brands, you can find most on www.thehayexperts.co.uk or if you can get hold of some baled hay that is often better quality than pet shop hay, plus it is about a tenth of the price. http://www.hayforpets.co.uk/ willow warren and dust free hay all sell baled hay, but it is much cheaper if you can get some from a feed store or stables.

 

[LauraLou1982]

I have posted a thread asking about good rabbit vets so hopefully someone will reply.

She hasn't actually touched her hay at all, but she has cleared the bowl again (probably 3-4 egg cups full) and all her brocolli and carrots plus she was out on the grass yesterday and again today but I dont know how much she has actually eaten. Should I be worried about her lack of hay eating? I am going to try a different type of hay tonight and see if she eats that. should I feed her less pellets? Thanks!

 

[elmoandfern]

I have posted a thread asking about good rabbit vets so hopefully someone will reply.

She hasn't actually touched her hay at all, but she has cleared the bowl again (probably 3-4 egg cups full) and all her brocolli and carrots plus she was out on the grass yesterday and again today but I dont know how much she has actually eaten. Should I be worried about her lack of hay eating? I am going to try a different type of hay tonight and see if she eats that. should I feed her less pellets? Thanks!

:wave: you should be aiming for about an eggcup full of pellets a day, if you cut them down hopefully she will eat more hay, although as nessar said it's great that she's eating grass. also just thought i'd mention that carrots are very high in sugar so should only be fed sparingly, mine get a few 1/2 inch slices once a week.

also, if no one can recommend a good vet near you, you can email the rwaf and they will let you know if they have a recommendation on their database :thumb:

glad its all going well with her so far

 

[nessar]

:wave: you should be aiming for about an eggcup full of pellets a day, if you cut them down hopefully she will eat more hay, although as nessar said it's great that she's eating grass. also just thought i'd mention that carrots are very high in sugar so should only be fed sparingly, mine get a few 1/2 inch slices once a week.

also, if no one can recommend a good vet near you, you can email the rwaf and they will let you know if they have a recommendation on their database :thumb:

glad its all going well with her so far

Whilst an eggcup would be right for a normal adult bun, I wouldn't reduce her pellets down that far as she needs extra to help build herself up and in case she is pregnant.