Slowing down greedy guzzlers

[Tiggertime]

Tigger has been getting a little too over-excited with his bedtime Burgess nuggets, so short of hand feeding him or using the treat balls, I was looking for any other ways to slow his guzzling down.

I had looked at those slow-feed bowls you can get for cats and dogs but I'm not sure they'd work with a bunny.

Any suggestions?

 

[Omi]

Tigger has been getting a little too over-excited with his bedtime Burgess nuggets, so short of hand feeding him or using the treat balls, I was looking for any other ways to slow his guzzling down.

I had looked at those slow-feed bowls you can get for cats and dogs but I'm not sure they'd work with a bunny.

Any suggestions?

I hand-feed with my two. It doesn't take very long at all.

 

[a reader of books]

I'm not sure bunnies' faces are shaped right to be able to use those slow-feed bowls. And I think dogs and cats use their tongues/paws a lot for those bowls, which bunnies don't really do. Maybe you could try puzzle toys or snuffle mats? Like these: https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/dog/dog-toys/dog-boredom-busters-and-puzzles Mine really like them.

 

[InspectorMorse]

I hand-feed with my two. It doesn't take very long at all.

I agree with Omi. Not only does hand feeding slow down the intake it also provides some important bonding time between Rabbit and care giver.

If the ‘guzzling pellets’ is a new behaviour this *might* be because the Rabbit is unable to eat enough hay due to the onset of dental problems. Many people say ‘my Rabbit has access to a lot of hay 24/7’. But that’s only a good thing if the Rabbit is actually eating A LOT of it. So do be certain that your Rabbit is eating a lot of hay every day. Not just nibbling at it now and again. Monitor poo output. Rabbits with a poor hay intake tend to pass smaller,harder poo. Weighing your Rabbit weekly is another important part of routine health monitoring.

Do you feed pellets in a food bowl? This is a very unnatural method, scatter feeding is far better. It encourages the Rabbit to forage for food, a natural behaviour and therefore can be considered to be an environmental enrichment in a domestic pet setting.

Treat balls are an option, or snuffle mats. But supervision is needed if using any type of pellet dispenser that is made from a material that is indigestible, eg plastic or fabric. Personally I would not advise leaving anything like that with a Rabbit for hours on end if you are not able to make sure that the Rabbit isn’t chewing and ingesting plastic/fabric.

Another thing you could try is to push the pellets into an edible willow/sea grass ball. Something like one of these

https://www.viovet.co.uk/Rosewood-Boredom-Breaker-Fun-Balls/c11899/

 

[HouseOfRabbit]

Don't know if you're using an underbed storage box as a litter tray but you could try mixing the pellets through the hay in it.