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
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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