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Amount of Nuggets

Natalie

Warren Scout
I've been told and read in several places on the internet that one eggcup full of nuggets per day is about enough. BUT on the side of the Burgess Excel Nuggets with Mint rabbit food it says for Dutch rabbits weighing 2 - 2.3kg an amount of 50-60g of nuggets per 24 hours, and for English rabbits weighing 2.7-3.6kg an amount of 70-100g per 24 hours.

So I weighed an eggcup full and it came to about 15g which is way below what is stated on the packet.

I had also seen, somewhere else on the internet that older rabbits can be given more nuggets in order to help keep their weight up and as Caramel is 8 and as she demolishes an eggcup full of nuggets in next to no time, I have actually been giving her an eggcup full in the morning and another in the evening. And even that amount is less than it says on the packet (I hope I've read the instructions correctly because it is largely done in pictures).

Certainly Caramel easily gets through the two eggcups full. She weighs about 2.1kg.

She also has access to ample amounts of hay and grass 24/7. And of course plenty of fresh water. And also a small amount of fresh veg, forage and herbs twice a day.

So to be honest I'm tempted to give her more than the two eggcups full. I asked her previous owners how much they gave (they were having difficulties continuing to look after her so we offered to take her on) and was told that they just gave her 'a handful'. It was the granddad who I asked, so I imagine that was a good bit more than even 2 eggcups full.

AND, having been to the vets last week and this week for her eye problem, we took the opportunity to also get her weighed and she was 2.1kg last week, and 2.08kg this week. The vet said the decrease was negligible, and that it could be the difference between whether she had just had a wee or not, but I couldn't help wondering whether I'm just not giving her enough food!

Can anyone please advise.

Many thanks - Natalie :)
 
Hi Natalie. Most healthy rabbits carry on like they have been starved when you feed them. If you feed too many pellets they can get lazy about eating hay which is essential. They will not go hungry with a limitless amount of hay. If you are feeding pellets as you say, small amount twice a day, some veg/forage and Caramel is still eating plenty of hay and maintaining her weight then be assured she is getting what she needs. Keep weighing her and keep a log. You are right to be considerate of her age but only if she is losing weight. Try not to succumb to bunny "I need more food desperately" excitement when you feed her. Sadly Bob's meagre portion of pellets is the highlight of his day!


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Hi Natalie. Most healthy rabbits carry on like they have been starved when you feed them. If you feed too many pellets they can get lazy about eating hay which is essential. They will not go hungry with a limitless amount of hay. If you are feeding pellets as you say, small amount twice a day, some veg/forage and Caramel is still eating plenty of hay and maintaining her weight then be assured she is getting what she needs. Keep weighing her and keep a log. You are right to be considerate of her age but only if she is losing weight. Try not to succumb to bunny "I need more food desperately" excitement when you feed her. Sadly Bob's meagre portion of pellets is the highlight of his day!


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:thumb:

If it's any help to you... my buns don't get pellets at all. Although we may introduce an egg cup between the two of them over winter as fresh forage reduces.
Phoebe is prone to dental issues and the pellets appear to have been the problem. Once we got rid of those she didn't need any more dental treatment.

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Hi Natalie. Most healthy rabbits carry on like they have been starved when you feed them. If you feed too many pellets they can get lazy about eating hay which is essential. They will not go hungry with a limitless amount of hay. If you are feeding pellets as you say, small amount twice a day, some veg/forage and Caramel is still eating plenty of hay and maintaining her weight then be assured she is getting what she needs. Keep weighing her and keep a log. You are right to be considerate of her age but only if she is losing weight. Try not to succumb to bunny "I need more food desperately" excitement when you feed her. Sadly Bob's meagre portion of pellets is the highlight of his day!


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She has so much hay, she has it all through the top hutch area, loads in her bedroom, another lot in her hay feeder, in the litter tray and some stuffed into a couple of toys as well, that it's difficult to tell how much hay she is eating. But I could definitely see that she might eat more pellets and less hay. So I'm not sure what to do now. What about the quantities stated on the side of the packet? Is that just Burgess trying to get us to feed more so they sell more?
 
Pretty much although some rabbits would likely be Ok with it. They really don't need it though if their diet is good and as dp said (and several
owners on this site also) she feeds no pellets at all. If you are not sure she is eating much hay you might need to encourage her with different types. Also they can be very fussy if it is not deemed fresh out of the bag, so try and give a fresh handful everyday. Have you tried readigrass? Also called friendligrass it is freeze dried, bright green, more nutritious than regular hay. Most rabbits love it and it might stimulate more grass/hay eating. Hope that helps x

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You might be able to get a good idea how much hay Caramel is eating by the colour of a poo, a light golden colour = hay being eaten
We add fresh hay and shuffle the existing hay a couple of times a day, to get the tasty bits at the bottom of the pile to the top

Our buns currently have an eggcup of pellets between them, fed as treats throughout the day, we have to monitor the weight of one of them as she gains weight easily

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You might be able to get a good idea how much hay Caramel is eating by the colour of a poo, a light golden colour = hay being eaten
We add fresh hay and shuffle the existing hay a couple of times a day, to get the tasty bits at the bottom of the pile to the top

Our buns currently have an eggcup of pellets between them, fed as treats throughout the day, we have to monitor the weight of one of them as she gains weight easily

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Oh right, well definitely not light golden poos. They are just brown. Maybe I need a rethink. She has the lovely green, fresh smelling, low dust Timothy Hay from the Timothy Hay Co.

I'll have a look for the readigrass/friendligrass as well.

Thanks everyone for you help
 
Oh right, well definitely not light golden poos. They are just brown. Maybe I need a rethink. She has the lovely green, fresh smelling, low dust Timothy Hay from the Timothy Hay Co.

I'll have a look for the readigrass/friendligrass as well.

Thanks everyone for you help

As far as I am concerned, brown poos are fine :) I know everyone considers that "golden" is something to strive for, but in reality I can only hope to achieve this here perhaps in the middle of Winter when they don't eat other fresh food. Any grass, forage or vegetable food will darken the colour. I think you only need to be concerned if the poos become small and black, which indicates that the gut is slowing down.

There is another benefit (apart from dietary) to not giving rabbits most of their calories in one go with pellets, which is the boredom factor. If they have lots to graze on during the day, their lives will be much more interesting.
 
Whoops sorry, yes of course Omi is correct [emoji15]
I was thinking of the output of our indoor buns, which is usually a golden brown, if they get out on the grass for a day their pooh goes a darker brown

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My buns get an eggcup between them in Summer, often less. They get fresh forage 3 times a day (the OH walks past loads to and from work and we have plenty of stuff in the garden) and hay in 3 large receptacles. In winter there's less forage and they start to lose weight (I check their spines for fat coverage!) so I increase their pellets accordingly. I use pellets to get the buns where I want them: we always feed them last thing in the day on the windowsill in their playhouse. If we want them in the playhouse, we use pellets. They usually oblige! Otherwise I think we wouldn't need to bother feeding them pellets in summer :)

As for the side of the packet, that's so you buy more ;P It's the opposite to human portions, which are always smaller so the calories are fewer! :lol:
 
As far as I am concerned, brown poos are fine :) I know everyone considers that "golden" is something to strive for, but in reality I can only hope to achieve this here perhaps in the middle of Winter when they don't eat other fresh food. Any grass, forage or vegetable food will darken the colour. I think you only need to be concerned if the poos become small and black, which indicates that the gut is slowing down.

There is another benefit (apart from dietary) to not giving rabbits most of their calories in one go with pellets, which is the boredom factor. If they have lots to graze on during the day, their lives will be much more interesting.

Having had four rescue dogs for many years, and now three (we sadly had to have our eldest girl, 18, PTS earlier this year) I'm finding there is at least one element of common ground in the care of dogs and rabbits, and that's 'poo watching' :lol: , but joking aside it can help us to know how they're doing. I always find myself keeping an eye on all the poos, so I'll continue to watch Caramel's output.

I have ordered some readigrass and some fibrefirst as well, just to give those a try. All new foods are tried with extremely small amounts just to see how she goes. I have to admit, I'm not seeing her spend a lot of time munching on the hay but there is a lot of time when I'm not watching her so that doesn't mean she isn't.

At the moment, she does seem okay, but I might in fact reduce the pellets a little, in order to encourage her to eat more hay. Also my daughter has bought one of those ball toys that you put the pellets in and it dispenses them as the ball is rolled around. Don't know if we will be able to get her to use it, but if we do, that will help her to take longer over eating the pellets and will also be a nice boredom breaker :D
 
Also my daughter has bought one of those ball toys that you put the pellets in and it dispenses them as the ball is rolled around. Don't know if we will be able to get her to use it, but if we do, that will help her to take longer over eating the pellets and will also be a nice boredom breaker :D
When Lopsy was a single bun, we had one of those: best £5 we ever spent :D We donated it with a bun we transported :) Hours (well, minutes) of fun for all involved :thumb: (Especially if you're cruel like us and make them chase it on a laminate floor ;P :lol:)
 
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