Can too much fresh grass make a bunny overweight?

[Sammy&Patch]

My bunnies had both been about 2.5kg, early this year they were both about 2.7kg. I had asked my vet if they were overweight but she said she could feel their bones etc and didn't think so. Hazel has been unwell with sniffles recently (posted on another thread) but she has still been eating well. She was weighed a few weeks ago at about 2.9kg! The vet commented it's not holding her back from eating!. She was weighed again last week and still around the same. After having her tear ducts flushed I noticed the after care sheet had her weight as 2.9kg but next to that it has a section saying ideal weight, they have filled in 2.5kg (different vet to my normal). I only saw that when I got home so now I am worrying she is overweight. I am taking her back next thursday so will ask the vet then but thought I would see if anyone has advice on here.

Both my bunnies are really good hay eaters and I have only ever given them a handful of nuggets a day each, about 50g between them. I put it in a dog treat puzzle thing and they get pretty much half each.

Here is their diet:
-25g nuggets each per day
-Hay
-I was giving them a small handful of redigrass but stopped that (I had some left over from a previous underweight bunny).
-One small piece of carrot about 1-2cm long (stopped that now to see if that helps but they have always had that).
-Cabbage
-Curly Kale
-Small piece of red pepper left over from my lunch.
-Small piece of cucumber.
-I had a forage mix with herbs in but stopped that for the last few weeks as the dust wasn't good for Hazel's sneezes.
-Fresh picked grass from the garden, a mix of nice lush light green grass and some darker more stem like pieces. I collect a mixing bowl amount of grass per day and Hazel eats most of it. Also a few dandelion leaves but not much left at the moment.
Recently I have added 2 apple tree leaves and 2 bramble leaves per day. About 2 inches of fresh apple twig.

I can't work out why she has gone up in weight other than if the grass is fattening? Everything else is pretty much the same as before or less. The grass is the only significant increase, I have always given them grass every day but she's been having more than she did over the summer as we haven't cut it and it's been growing very well. I thought it was great that she eats so much but I read something about spring grass being fattening for horses and wondered if this was similar for bunnies. I don't know what spring grass is but I thought it might be referring to the lighter green nicer looking stuff.
If this isn't likely to be making her put on weight, the only other thing I thought was maybe her being unwell is meaning she's not moving around as much and that could be why? She still seems as active as before but I'm not sure.

Thanks for any advice

 

[joey&boo]

the way I see it is that technically anybun can get fat on any food if they eat more than they need of it. I've heard (though not experienced) buns getting overweight on hay only diets.

Younger grass, as with any young plant will be higher in carbs & sugar (=more tasty) . Its so good for them though, I'd reduce the nuggets & lose the pepper before I adjusted the grass. Your bunnies have a nice diet. What are their poops like?

 

[tonibun]

I agree with J&B. Reduce the pellets a little and cut out the Pepper. Not too much Kale as it is high in Calcium.

 

[Omi]

I agree too. I'd keep off the carrot and reduce the pellets. I don't think the red pepper would hurt. The apple and bramble leaves are good. You could actually increase the amount of those. The apple twig is also good as it lasts a while, plus they are probably moving around while eating this.

I would also not make drastic changes at the moment as Hazel hasn't been well. I don't actually think you will need to either.

 

[Sammy&Patch]

Thanks, I'll maybe try and pick more of the older darker looking grass as she still eats that too and keep the quantity the same. Both of their poops are normally good sized, well formed etc. The odd problem ones here or there but nothing bad. I never thought I would need to watch the weight of these guys, I learnt from a previous overweight bunny to cut down the nuggets! Shadow is a lot more active than Hazel, he's a bit younger and always full of energy. I just thought of somethign else too, over the summer they were in the garden quite a bit and she spent hours digging holes and using a lot more energy than she does otherwise. I did get a sand pit and fill it with earth for them to dig indoors too but I've removed that with her sneezing issues and they weren't really using it much anyway.

the way I see it is that technically anybun can get fat on any food if they eat more than they need of it. I've heard (though not experienced) buns getting overweight on hay only diets.

Younger grass, as with any young plant will be higher in carbs & sugar (=more tasty) . Its so good for them though, I'd reduce the nuggets & lose the pepper before I adjusted the grass. Your bunnies have a nice diet. What are their poops like?

 

[Sammy&Patch]

Thanks for everyones suggestions, I will cut the nuggets down, not go back to the carrot and pepper and hopefully that will help

 

[bunny momma]

I had a mini rex who gained weight on mostly hay, some greens, and a few pellets as treats.because she was sedentary. She did not have arthritis, so just a very relaxed bunny.
The ideal weight may be based on the breed, and not your specific bunnies. Some bunnies have larger bones, plus muscle weighs more than fat, so overall condition should be assessed too.

 

[Orenoko]

It's the wrong time of year for spring grass but as others have said maybe cut back on the nuggets and a couple of bits of veg and increase the hay. It might be that because Shadow is more active he burns off more energy than Hazel.

I'm not sure if spring grass does have the same effect on buns as it does on horses (makes them full of energy and is the tastiest grass of the year so they go mad for it!).

 

[Sammy&Patch]

I had a mini rex who gained weight on mostly hay, some greens, and a few pellets as treats.because she was sedentary. She did not have arthritis, so just a very relaxed bunny.
The ideal weight may be based on the breed, and not your specific bunnies. Some bunnies have larger bones, plus muscle weighs more than fat, so overall condition should be assessed too.

Thanks, I have a vet appointment thursday so I'm going to ask the vet about it then.

 

[Sammy&Patch]

It's the wrong time of year for spring grass but as others have said maybe cut back on the nuggets and a couple of bits of veg and increase the hay. It might be that because Shadow is more active he burns off more energy than Hazel.

I'm not sure if spring grass does have the same effect on buns as it does on horses (makes them full of energy and is the tastiest grass of the year so they go mad for it!).

Thanks, I didn't know what spring grass was but did think it was probably the wrong time of year for it! I think Hazel is very happy that I'm not cutting back on the grass, she loves it Hopefully they won't notice a reduction in nuggets. I top up the hay multiple times in the day so they always have plenty. Shadow is the craziest bunny we've ever had, it's like every movement he makes has to be exagerated and used a bit more energy, whereas Hazel just takes things easy. He will run around and play with you but she only does a bit of running. They have 2 rooms and a hallway upstairs that they move about between and at least twice a day they decide to go off downstairs (2 flights of stairs) and have a little nosey round. Shadow runs up and down the stairs but Hazel does more dainty little hops! But at least she's being active too, just quite a bit less than Shadow!

 

[bunny momma]

I hope the reduced nuggets will help Hazel and vet goes well.