Plan of Action?!

[kazz]

:wave:

Marleybum was at the vets Friday to check his wet nose and runny eyes that had developed. The vet gave him some baytril to take home so hopefully that will stop any respiratory problems. The vet also said although he had good confirmation of teeth that his left bottom molars had spurs that were just about catching on his tongue. So he's booked in for a dental on Monday. While my friend was having him she just continously topped his pellets up when it was empty. Since having him at my boyfriends we've cut down gradually on the pellets to half an egg cup full in a morning and at night. Hes got a lot better at eating hay which is currently the stuff from the range and hes having herbs everyday.

He has however lost a bit of weight by the feel of holding him. And I'm worrying I'm doing it all wrong. Therefore after he's had his dental and we're back to what they should be I would love it if everyone can tell me exsctly what I should do for feeding him the roughage he needs to not have any reoccuring problems with his teeth. At the moment he constantly has hay, half an egg cup morning and night of pellets and regarding herbs he's had tarragon, thyme, dill, basil and parsley. He absolutely loves parsley and I only read the other day its full of calcium :/

Plus I dont know if I'm giving him too much or too little? The fact he's lost a bit of weight worries me but hes still got a glossy coat and doing browner poos now (previously black). He eats everything as soon as its put in as well, I dont knoe if hes starving or greedy?

Please help me!

 

[kazz]

Just bumping this, 21 views and no help :S dont know why?

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

Some people will have looked but didn't know what to say to help:wave: it might not have been members as I think guests or people finding it from google count as a view too. I only hang around on 'New Posts' and only just saw this, I don't really go on diet and digestion as I don't think I can really help much. I've had threads going into hundreds of views but no replys people who know diets well might not come on much on weekends either

How much did he weigh before? Perhaps he has lost weight because there are no pellets fattening him up? Can you feel his spine and hips quite a lot, as in pretty visible too?

Is he eating all of his pellets and plenty of hay? When mine need dentals they tend to stop eating as much/altogether.

 

[kazz]

I'm such a worrier I thought I was going to still be panicking tomorrow night when hes back home! Thanks ever so muxh for replying I worry so much about him, the boyfriend dreads to think what I'll be like when we have kids (if) :lol:

He's still eating everything and well, he only has an egg cup of pellets now and herbs but I dont know if I'm giving him enough? He gets about a bag of herbs (smaller versions from tesco) and continous hay. He weighed 2.17kg but o think hes lost some since. Can feel his spine and hips moreso but not see them. I'm scared he'll have his dental and end up growing spurs again. What do you feed your rabbits? I don't know what other roughage I could give him to help.

Any help is appreciated :wave:

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

I am also a worrier :lol:

Eggcup is plenty (I've recently reduced my pairs pellet intake to.. Zero! Hay only diet as one is producing too many excess poos, the ones they should eat)

Tbh, he souuunnddss as though he's just lost weight because of having less pellets but after his dental you'll be able to keep a closer eye on him to determine if that is the case I know mine put on a bit of weight after dentals Leo gets spurs every now and then but he's going 6+ months between them which is good and he gets a small handful of pellets and just unlimited hay he is a skinny boy too and has recently lost some weight but our vet said its probably because he's become more active, his leg muscles are getting stronger too so I'm pleased (he was in a horrible 1ft high hutch for 5 years :evil

All of mine have science selective Rabbits don't need pellets, they're more commercial so should be thought of as a treat more than anything hay/grass is much more important :thumb:

Forage'y things are good- dandelion leaves, rose petals (dried), you can buy bags of forage from The Range, I bought one and mine are loving it also from The Hay Experts or of course, pick your own there is a thread somewhere on safe things to pick.. Might be in the diet and digestion bit

Edit: yep, in the "Old useful diet thread" sticky thread at the top there are loads of things and the forage threads

 

[kazz]

Im glad its not just me! :lol:

He gets half an egg cup morning and night and fresh hay 3 times a day. He's never shown any signs of excess poos up to yet, maybe he was chubbier than he should be for his size before but he did seem to feel better for it when handling him. He has burgess and his poos have become more brown but are still dark, not like some of the lovely brown ones I see posted here.

I never even saw the sticky thread at the top until you mentioned it! Completely oblivious :lol: I'll go and have a good read. Do you think herbs are okay? I get his hay from the range (will be trying some of the timothy and rye I've seen lots of people recommending from the hayexperts once the boyfriend has his own place, cant imagine having a hay bale at his parents' :lol

I can imagine you're very happy with his progress! Poor bun good job he's landed with you, I think Marley never dreamt he'd be pandered to like he is, gets settled on the end of the recliner settee and sprawls out. He was housed by his previous owner with another intact male who bit through his skin in several places and basically herniated his testicle, I was on work experience at a vets, she said she'd have to put him down as couldn't afford it so I asked to have h and paid. Was covered in scar tissue and infection bless him. And now I'm obsessed with rabbits!

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

Aww bless him, lucky boy

I used to give mine hay from The Range but they stopped eating it:roll: I'm going next week to get a bag though because its been pretty green recently and I need to pad out the litter tray until my dad can go fetch another bale for me:lol: Mine have the Timothy and rye from hay for pets and eat sooo much more than they every did from shop bought hay! :thumb: that only goes in their hay racks so I can save a bit of money :lol: the £16 bags last my pair ages and they eat so much so it's good value I find

In The Range they have 2 different packs of forage things, £1.99 for a smallish bag but as a treat mine have been loving it I got the meadow forage pack but there's another one I'm going to get next week

His diet sounds fine I think I know some buns don't do too well on burgess and have darker/excess poos. If you wanted to move him slowly on to science selective then I recommend them it's just finding a food they are comfortable with

 

[kazz]

I'll have to look out for the forage pack next time I'm there! Will definitely be getting some from the hay for pets when we go.

He's back from his dental and his poos are small :S I don't know what this means? He seems a bit sorry for himself too. I don't know how to get him to put more on without having more pellets, been stroking him earlier and you can't see his hips or spine but they can be felt when running a hand along his back.

Am I just panicking too much?

 

[RogerRabbit999]

I think I would wait until after he has had his dental, because he might have lost a bit of weight because of his teeth and some discomfort eating. After the dental though if he still continues to loose weight, I would give him an eggcup twice a day. That is what my buns have and I really do just use an old eggcup to scoop them out. I know the hay has to be the main part of their diet, but it is very low calories, and when I took on a bunny nearly starved to death, my vet said to not give so much hay because she wouldn't put weight on with it, but to give her more nuggets. For some time she really just had ad lib nuggets to get weight on her, and now has an eggcup morning and night, loads of hay and fresh stuff, and her weight is being maintained on that. I think to put weight on though you do need to feed more nuggets.

 

[kazz]

Hes had his dental today, hes just been sprawled on the floor and he still has a belly, is active and eating etc. I think msybe he was a bit overweight with all the pellets he'd had previously. I'll monitor his poos and see if they get bigger and monitor his weight too.