Tubby bunnies already eating 90% hay?

Hi all,

Finx, Tango and Pepper have just got back from the vets for health checks and vaccinations.

Pepper is a bit overweight and Tango has put on 0.3 kg since last time, but Finx is a good weight.

I've been told to cut down on pellets, but they only get 2 egg cups a day between them! I guess since Pepper arrived and they became a trio I must have given them more than 1/3 more pellets...

Are different types of hay more fattening than others? They eat meadow hay from a local farm.

To me, what they're eating sounds absolutely fine :thumb: so maybe its not the food, but that they aren't getting enough exercise? I'm definitely not saying that you don't give them enough space or opportunity to do so, just that perhaps you could find ways to encourage them to move around more- perhaps by making them work a bit harder for their food: using a treat ball, have things hanging so they have to stretch up to reach it, food scattered throughout their run/living space so they have to move about to get it rather than just sit still and stuff their cute little faces! :lol: you might well be doing all of this anyway, i don't mean to imply that you aren't, but I thought it's worth suggesting, just in case it helps spark some ideas!

To me, what they're eating sounds absolutely fine so maybe its not the food, but that they aren't getting enough exercise? I'm definitely not saying that you don't give them enough space or opportunity to do so, just that perhaps you could find ways to encourage them to move around more- perhaps by making them work a bit harder for their food: using a treat ball, have things hanging so they have to stretch up to reach it, food scattered throughout their run/living space so they have to move about to get it rather than just sit still and stuff their cute little faces! you might well be doing all of this anyway, i don't mean to imply that you aren't, but I thought it's worth suggesting, just in case it helps spark some ideas!

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I agree with this - some bunnies are incredibly lazy. Also you don't say how old they are - if they are older might be worth checking no arthritus (sp?) is making them less active.

Cereal hays like oat can be more fattening but meadow should be fine.

Thanks for the ideas! They are all between 2 and 4 years old and are quite lazy, I'll see what I can think of to get them moving.

Some rabbits are the exception to the rule and are just fat, even with a good diet. My Annabella is one of them. She is like a ball, round and wobbly. She's very chubby but not actually obese. And she is like that even if on a hay-only diet for months. I guess she is just very good at getting nutrients out of hay, she's generally a healthy little girl and is pretty active, she's just a fatty, always has been. Just like humans, some rabbits must be more prone to putting on weight.

To keep her at a healthier weight, she doesn't get pellets every day. She has 1 stick of fibafirst a day at the moment as a reward for allowing me to do her eye-drops (blocked tear-duct), but normally she will get 1 stick OR a small amount of greens, not both. I generally alternate them. That's it apart from occasionally as a treat. If she was indoors she would probably get 1 stick everyday, for vitamin D, but she's now an outside bun so can get that from the sunshine.

I'd recommend you reduce pellets a bit, cut out any sugary veg or fruit and encourage exercise. I'm not sure what setup you currently have, but it's a good idea to let them have a permanently large space, so they can exercise on their own schedule (i.e. probably when you're asleep!). For example, Annabella sits on her bum most of the day, but at dawn she tends to dart about at full-speed, binkying around the run. She's also more active at night, so if I kept her in her hutch at those times she'd probably be a lot fatter; even though she had access to space in the day, she wouldn't exercise anywhere near as much.

The maturity of a hay will affect the protein and sugar content, and so would affect a rabbits weight. But I agree that some buns are just prone to weight gain because of their metabolism. One of my buns has always been chubby, no matter how much her pellets were reduced. But now that she's getting old I'm having to try to keep weight on her.

I've just given them a bit less than normal and scattered them a bit further. There's plenty of hay to fill up on if they're hungry

It sounds like you have them on a great diet, I agree with others...metabolism.

Some breeds of bunnies are less active and bred for round bodies. I mean I have NEVER seen a chubby Brit Petite or Tan...they are busy bodies, but some lop breeds just tend to be loafers.

And even on hay, look how big Elephants get!

time to pull out the bunny treadmill? lol.

Tango is a lop, and Pepper is still a bit overweight from his previous home where my Mum and Dad fed a few too many treats!

Finx is an uppy eared crossbreed, she's the one who is is good weight. Interesting

Their run is double storey, downstairs is 8x4 ft and upstairs is 6x3, but more often than not they can be found dozing or munching hay!

They get extra supervised play in the garden when I'm in and able to keep watch