Please Help With My Underweight and Overweight Rabbits

I have two rabbits, both house rabbits, one is underweight and one is overweight and I'm trying to rectify this before I start bonding them because I know its going to be near to impossible to maintain different diets once they're living in the same space. They are both rescue rabbits and live in spacious runs with attaching cages. I'll explain what diets I've put them on, but it doesn't appear to be working for either rabbit yet.

Harvey is the overweight rabbit, he is neutered, a dutchx neatherland dwarf rabbit and 3+kg. He is on 15-20g timothy-grass based pellets and a high quality timothy hay. He gets a small amount of greens (spring greens or kale) once a day. He isn't losing weight, I was thinking about cutting his pellets out completely but I'm not sure if that will mean I'm cutting out any important vitamins? He has pro-C in his water though, so does the lack of vitamins from pellets matter?

Bruno is the underweight rabbit. He has a few problems health wise. He has an eye problem and chronic upper respiratory issues. He weighs just over 1kg. I'm trying to increase his pellets but he just has no interest in them, all he will eat is hay and kale. I've tried alfalfa hay/bakes, banana, different greens, nothing interests him. I took him to the vet and was told his respiratory problem isn't bad enough for antibiotics and shouldn't be affecting his smell or appetite. Any suggestions? I also tried weening him off junior pellets and onto adult pellets but he won't have that either, he is about 8 months now so should be eating adult pellets. He nibbles the pellets but never finishes the amount he should be eating. I'd say he'll eat 5-10g of pellets a day from choice.

Any ideas? Am I doing anything wrong? Thanks.

With Harvey, I would either cut out pellets completely or reduce them right down (by half at least). You can increase greens to compensate if he's happy with that. Keep in mind exercise is the other ingredient to weight loss so you want to encourage him to move about as much as possible - a treatball is one way to help with that.

What investigation has Bruno had with his eye/resp tract issues? Everything is close together in a bunnies skull so two issues could mean there is an underlying problem that's causing them both. Add in the weird food preferences and I would we wondering if there could be something going on teeth wise. He should be able to maintain a healthy weight on that diet and that he's not again says there is something your vet should be looking at.It might be you need a more savvy rabbit vet to help you dig a bit further.

As he's underweight, keep him on the junior pellets for now - they are higher calorie. I'd also see what he thinks to rolled oats (porridge oats) they are easy to eat and help weight gain. I'd be tempted to try softening the pellets in water and see if that makes a difference to how much he eats - that might hint if it's a food preference or a physical issue with the form of pellets. The other thing to try would be alfalfa - it's usually only fed to youngsters as it's higher calorie but in this case might help maintain weight.

Thanks Tamsin,

I'll definitely take your advice for harvey. He does have a treat ball, well more of a 'holly' ball with I put greens in for him. I'll cut his pellets completely, and take him to the outside run more often for a bigger run around.

Bruno has been seen by many vets. I actually work in a pet shop and when they moved him to an adoption centre I went and adopted him right away because I know his medical background. He has no 'tear duct', no way of lubricating his eye. Three different vets have tried to flush his eye and see if he has a blocked tear duct but nothing has worked. He is going to have it flushed and investigated properly soon, but the vet won't put him under anaesthetic until he has gain at least 500g. Here in lies my problem with him, if his lack of appetite is connected somehow to his eye problem it won't be fixed or understood until he's put weight on. I'll definitely try the oats, sounds like the kind of thing he'll like.

Thanks for your time, any more ideas would be really helpful

Hmm, that does make we wonder about teeth - with the long roots they have it can put pressure on the tear ducts and nasal passages. If they knock him out an xray might give you a better idea of what's happening there.

If he likes the oats then you can try mixing them up with other things in to a porridge - mushed pellets, veggie baby food etc.

For Harvey personally I would cut the pellets down and stop using Pro-C - its full of sugar which will attribute to weight gain.

I also agree ref possible teeth issues in Bruno. I would also stick with the Junior pellets. I'd also be tempted to see if he'll eat pro fibre pellets - they can help asorbtion of nutrients from his other food and promote weight gain. Have you tried soaking pellets in water, grated root veg etc see if he's tempted.

Oat hay is also another good hay for weight gain and normally a hit with even the fussiest of bunnies.