Is it cruel not to have a regular feeding time?

[gingernutty]

My two rabbits have access to hay 24/7, this never gets low as I understand they are grazing animals.

With food pellets I measure out the correct amount they should be eating according to the science select packet and give this to them each morning. The days I'm working they are given the pellets at 6am and the says Im not at work it may be 10am/11am. My mum has told me I am mistreating the rabbits by not feeding them at the same time each day. Is this true?

 

[tonibun]

No, it isn't true. Agree, rabbits like a routine but as long as you feed and care for them it really doesn't make any difference as to the time. And if thy have access to hay 24/7 then they will be just fine. We are not machines, we have appointments, work, juggle with the weather etc. Don't worry about it :thumb:

 

[Freakinfreak]

Oh gosh, I'd be the worst bunny mummy in the world.

I think it's more cruel to ALWAYS feed them at EXACTLY the same time for them to be confused if one day you don't!

Neo gets his at all time, in so many different ways...

Treat ball
Mini ball-pit, scattered amongst them so he has to dig and poke around for his food
Scattered in his hay
Scattered around the front room
Scattered around his play pen

This can range from between 6am - 2/3pm and sometimes even in the evening rather than morning.

To be honest, as long as they have 24/7 access to hay, don't see why you need a routine other than to make life routine for yourself for it to fit in with your daily life?

If the worst thing you're doing is not feeding your rabbits at identical times every day, you are a million times better than hundreds of owners.

Don't sweat it!

 

[cpayne]

No I don't think it's cruel. I do think you may be giving them more pellets than they need though as the packet says a lot more than is really recommended. Obviously they want you to run out quickly in order to buy more. Most people give an egg cup full of pellets a day, half in the morning then the same again in the evening. Also rabbits love herbs which are gentle on their tummy.

You're doing the right thing with lots of hay as this should be about 85% of their diet. They say a rabbit should eat it's body size in hay a day and the head should represent the other things, such as pellets or treats.

 

[gingernutty]

Yep I know about the body weight in hay thing, I think it is a point that alot of first time owners are not aware of, but Ive been a bunny mum for a long time now Sorry I didn't mention it in my first post because my point was about timing, but yes my rabbits gets the recommended amount of fresh veg/fruit, sometimes including herbs throughout the day.

 

[yaretzi]

Nah, it's definitely not cruel to delay pellets by a few hours due to other commitments as long as they have plenty of hay and water. It's easy for others to forget that pellets only make up a very small part of a rabbits diet. It most certainly would be cruel to let them run out of hay but with other types of food any time is fine as long as it's fairly regular.

If you do feed animals on the dot every day they can become accustomed to it which can make it boring for them, and occasionally cause anxiety and/or nervous disorders (although this is more often found in zoo animals, especially carnivores). A bit of variety in timing is totally okay, as is a variety in the way you feed it (scatter feeding, treat balls, hiding in things, mixed up with hay etc).