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Fresh start for a chubby bun - suggestions and advice appreciated!

Beapig

Mama Doe
Hi everyone,

Yesterday my sweetie pie arrived at his forever home...meet Ham!

20170914_205316 by Rachel Brown, on Flickr

He is around five years old and has spent most of his life up until now in a hutch with little exercise. He was being fed a large bowl of pellets every day as well as fresh veg. I'm not sure what breed of rabbit he is or what a 'normal' weight is, but to me and my OH he looks overweight, and given his lifestyle that would be no surprise.

So what I've read from researching on RU and online in general is that he should only have an egg cup of pellets per day as well as two cups of fresh veg and an unlimited supply of hay. We gave him a lot less pellets today, probably a quarter of what he had in the past, and he seemed a bit distressed about it. I did see him eating a bit of the meadow hay we gave him, but not much. My other bun Beatrice is eating hay constantly throughout the day and doesn't even necessarily eat all of her pellets by the next morning, which seems more normal?

I'm also wondering if he should get all of his food first thing or at different intervals during the day, say morning and evening? I'm a freelancer working from home so can feed him whenever is best pretty much. These are my first rabbits so I feel worried about doing things wrong!

Both buns are going to the vet for a full check up on Tuesday and their first vaccinations, so hopefully the vet can advise us on his health too.

20170915_122024 by Rachel Brown, on Flickr

20170915_141617 by Rachel Brown, on Flickr

P.s, the hutch he's in at the moment is only a temporary set up. It's the hutch he came with and is definitely too small for him (also it was leaking like crazy and the chipboard floor was bowed/mouldy - my OH replaced the floor today and sealed the roof so it will do for now) - we're letting him out lots in the run and planning on getting the permanent walk in run up in the next two weeks. A huge improvement that he's in a cleaner environment now with a dry floor to sit on :)
 
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I'm sure someone will be along soon with better advice, but for starters, I would suggest the following
Make any change to Ham's diet gradually over several weeks not all in one go
Add a couple of different hays to see which one he prefers
I'm sure he will enjoy running around and eating the grass in his run, I hope he doesn't start digging up your lawn like someone here does

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When you take him to the vet for his vaccinations, they should weigh him and be able to let you know if he is under/over/just right. Mine weigh every time one of the bunnies go in, so they have a record should they need it.

With food, I tend to give vegetables early evening (about the time I cook dinner) and then pellets a bit later on at bed time. This is partly helping with routine at the moment, but I mainly like doing it this way because it means that for most of the day, including the periods where they're keenest to eat (early morning, late afternoon-early evening) they only have hay and so tend to eat plenty. It might be worth watching when he's keenest to eat, and avoiding giving him anything but hay at those times (and give veg/pellets in "down times") so that he's more inclined towards his hay.

Somebody with more knowledge will be able to say for certain, but you may want to phase out the amount of pellets he is getting, rather than cutting straight down? I'd be worried that if he stops eating enough that would cause more problems than him having too many pellets for an extra couple of weeks. Are you also able to try different types of hay? It doesn't have to cost a lot - we get big retailer's basic meadow and timothy hay, but it works to have both down. Monty rarely eats timothy hay and much prefers meadow; Ossie will eat either but goes for timothy hay for choice. So it may also be worth (slowly!) trying him with a couple of different types of hay and seeing if he has a preference.

And as I always say, if you are worrying about doing it correctly, you're already doing fantastically, so try not to worry too much :D
 
Ham is a stunner & its lovely to see him in his caring new home. At least he was fed pellets & not muesli - the latter carries a risk of dental disease (too little calcium if they don't eat everything in the mix) but nonetheless I'd get vet to take a look at his teeth. Ideally the nuggets will largely be replaced by hay & green leafy stuff but this obviously depends on his ability to eat the better stuff. Some rescue bunnies can't eat hay (poor teeth), others are more reluctant as they are not used to it. Readigrass, grass & forage are good too & may be more interesting for him. When he is bonded they'll copy each other so good his wife to be likes hay.

I like to feed my bunnies three times a day (with permanent access to hay). They have forage 1st thing, early evening & a small amount approaching midnight when they get their nuggets. I feel regular feeding is better on a number of counts - more positive interaction with your bunnies, more fun for them, more opportunities to assess if they are unwell (sudden food refusal is often the first but very significant sign). As wildies graze all day I think it makes sense to replicate that as far as possible
 
Hi there! Hello everybody :wave::wave::wave:

I have taken a few overweight bunnies on and really the first thing to think about is allowing them to settle in and get to know you. This can take quite a while, especially for an older bunny. When you feel he is happier in his new surroundings you can then start to decrease his amount of pellets, and possibly veg, but it can take a few months before he will start to look slimmer. You mustn't try to rush things as it can affect their liver. Good luck with him and well done for taking on an older bunny.
 
Thank you everyone for the fantastic advice :love: As suggested I'm very gradually weaning him off of the large quantity of pellets and introducing more fresh forage and hay. He doesn't seem to eat much meadow hay at all compared to my other bun Beatrice - do you think this is because he isn't used to it or might there be another type he prefers? Both went to the vet yesterday for their vaccs and were so very well behaved, I felt very proud of them. The vet agreed that Ham is a chubby bun and should have his diet gradually changed to help him become a healthier weight.
 
I would definitely do this very slowly. You want to be aiming at a very gentle weight loss.

Also don't underestimate the importance of exercise. If he now has more room to move around, he will be losing weight as well as keeping his muscles nice and strong.
 
He is gorgeous and so lucky to have a great new home :love: hopefully when you gradually decrease the pellets he might eat more hay, the vet can check his teeth to make sure that there's nothing stopping him eating his hay. Sprinkling his pellets into the hay might encourage him, or you could mix some readigrass in or a bit of grated carrot, or sprinkle with a bit of apple juice :thumb:
 
Thank you everyone for the fantastic advice :love: As suggested I'm very gradually weaning him off of the large quantity of pellets and introducing more fresh forage and hay. He doesn't seem to eat much meadow hay at all compared to my other bun Beatrice - do you think this is because he isn't used to it or might there be another type he prefers? Both went to the vet yesterday for their vaccs and were so very well behaved, I felt very proud of them. The vet agreed that Ham is a chubby bun and should have his diet gradually changed to help him become a healthier weight.
I think it may be because he has a lot of pellets at the moment that he's not so keen on hay. You could try timothy hay, that's a firm favourite of Doughnuts! It's not as soft as meadow. You can get a few different samples from the hay experts online and see what he prefers.
In your photo I just wondered if there is a "lid" on the run so foxes can't jump in?
 
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