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How much to feed?

aimz

aimz

Young Bun
Hi guys,

I have a 4kg large unneutered male.

Does anyone have any advice on exactly how much he should be eating.
the vet said his weight is fine for his size, but don't want him putting on too much more.

But as its coming up to winter he's not going out as much, although everytime its nice, i do get him out.

Thanks
Amy x
 
People on here seem to recomend an egg cup full of pellets per day :) I dont have an egg cup so I give my pair a small handful each day between them and find that they are fine with that even in the winter...however my indoor bun rosey gets pellets morning, noon and night as she is a bit of a poorly bun at the moment... Mine all then get veg and herbs for tea (probably a handful between the pair and a handful on its own for rosey to have by herself :)

Obviously they have an abundance of fresh yummy hay too :thumb:

Does he have a weather proofed run he can use (attached to his hutch) even when the weather is bad? Or is he a house bun?
 
A pile of hay the size of himself everyday, and a tablespoon of pellets per kg of bodyweight or less. Some greens/herbs/forage is also good for some variety.
 
Hi guys,
Thanks for your replies.

He has plenty of hay, and fresh veg too, I have two guinea pigs as well,

They all have a mixture of muesli and nuggets, at the moment I give them both a handful or 2 (i got small hands lol)

They all have meadow hay occassionally too.

He doesn't have an attached run, my dad builds my hutches for me, and we have to plans to build one attached to his hutch but he hasn't the time at the min, due to work etc.

My partner finishes earlier than me so as long as its nice, he gets them out.
 
Does he get fresh hay every day and actually eat a pile the size of himself every day?

I'd advise you to look at the back of the packets of your food, as museli is generally low in fibre (normally under 14%) and this isnt great for their guts, which have evolved to be eating a very high fibre diet of almost exclusively grass.
 
nessar said:
Does he get fresh hay every day and actually eat a pile the size of himself every day?

I'd advise you to look at the back of the packets of your food, as museli is generally low in fibre (normally under 14%) and this isnt great for their guts, which have evolved to be eating a very high fibre diet of almost exclusively grass.
Click to expand...

If they get pellets too it shouldn't be a problem. I've given a mixture of both in the past as well.
 
I wouldn't advise feeding muesli, much lower in fibre than good pellets.

Is there any reason he isn't neutered?
 
bethepoet said:
If they get pellets too it shouldn't be a problem. I've given a mixture of both in the past as well.
Click to expand...

But a pellet and museli mix would be lower in fibre than just feeding a good pellet. Depends on the brand of pellet too - they're not all good. I've seen some as low as 14% fibre, and some with too low or too high protein percentages too.

Aimz, ideally you want to be feeding pelleted food with a minimum of 19% crude fibre, although personally I'd go higher. You also want a protein level of 13 or 14% and its best to have a calcium level of less than 1%.
 
Babsie said:
I wouldn't advise feeding muesli, much lower in fibre than good pellets.

Is there any reason he isn't neutered?
Click to expand...

He has a mix of pellets and muesli as he doesn't eat the pellets so am trying to wean him onto them, he's a fussy bug-ger lol!!

He's not neutered as I've only had him since March and he doesn't have a reason to be neutered, he lives by himself and has the guineas in a seperate run to talk to, he's always been by himself and he's happy. I've not seen him have a sad day, he gets lots of cuddles from me and he doesn't mind. He also has a girlfriend called Betty lol!! don't laugh, she's a teddy bear, he's allowed to play with her under supervision so he doesn't rip her to pieces and eat it.
 
I also go by the 1tbsp per kg per day rule for my big frenchies (5.5 and 4.5kgs). No way would an eggcup full be enough for my two.

And poor Betty would have a much better time with her boyfriend (lol) if he was neutered :) He would spray less and it would be much easier to litter train him (so cleaning out hutch is easier). You could also get him a spayed real girlfriend and, believe it or not, he is likely to be happier. Many rescues will bond for you so you don't have to worry about getting a bun, and then returning her if it doesn't work!
 
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