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Bunny Diet

Beau Belle

Mama Doe
So, a couple of my buns are a bit porky and this has been picked up by the vets (“no heavier than this”).

Pepper - she’s been bonding with Bertie who lost his sister in August. He went through deep grieving and lost his appetite (and lost weight). To encourage him, we offered pretty much free eating of whatever he was willing to nibble on, and Pepper made the most of this. They are now on restricted pellets and greens.

Teddy - not sure why he’s a bit heavy. He saw the vet today and when I asked her if I should cut down on pellets, she said that starving bunnies isn’t good either. He has 8 pellets in the morning and 8 pellets at night.

Every bun has pellets (I count these out) twice a day (Sience Selective), they get fresh trays with hay and dried stuff twice a day.

They like herbs and veg so get regularly although not strictly every day.

None of them really like fruit.

I don’t give them treats but OH does (things like Fenugreek crunchies).

Of course, the treats should be the first things to go, but then what? Do I cut down pellets more? I don’t feel I’ve gotten useful advice by the vets.

All three are free ranging in their rooms, but Teddy doesn’t like too much exercise - he wants to snooze & snuggle. Pepper is very active, and Bertie joins in.
 
So, a couple of my buns are a bit porky and this has been picked up by the vets (“no heavier than this”).

Pepper - she’s been bonding with Bertie who lost his sister in August. He went through deep grieving and lost his appetite (and lost weight). To encourage him, we offered pretty much free eating of whatever he was willing to nibble on, and Pepper made the most of this. They are now on restricted pellets and greens.

Teddy - not sure why he’s a bit heavy. He saw the vet today and when I asked her if I should cut down on pellets, she said that starving bunnies isn’t good either. He has 8 pellets in the morning and 8 pellets at night.

Every bun has pellets (I count these out) twice a day (Sience Selective), they get fresh trays with hay and dried stuff twice a day.

They like herbs and veg so get regularly although not strictly every day.

None of them really like fruit.

I don’t give them treats but OH does (things like Fenugreek crunchies).

Of course, the treats should be the first things to go, but then what? Do I cut down pellets more? I don’t feel I’ve gotten useful advice by the vets.

All three are free ranging in their rooms, but Teddy doesn’t like too much exercise - he wants to snooze & snuggle. Pepper is very active, and Bertie joins in.
Don't have any great advice... But one of my buns struggles with her weight... There's potential reasons for this, even though she has the same diet as everyone else [emoji38] mine all get 5 pellets each a day that's it [emoji38] I give out treats but when my absolute unit of a bun was very heavy I only fed her fibre first sticks and hay [emoji38] she lost weight then.

Sent via carrier pigeon
 
can I ask how old Teddy is?

if he is older it might just be old age slowing him down. some buns as they get older just become more inactive, and some act like the day they were born :lol: its really bunny dependant.

depending on the age too, even if he is younger, could be an early onset of arthritis. some buns can get arthritis around 2-3 sometimes. it is rare, but its a possibility. Luna is a bit more of a special case being a rescue, and her arthritis is likely by her early life and breeding, but it can still happen.

generally cutting out treats is the best way to go, and then pellet, but they're already on small amounts so I'm not sure how helpful that would be. but moving around would be very helpful.
 
He’s a rescue so I don’t know exact age, but the info I have says he’s coming up to 4 years. Whilst he’s been with us, he’s always been very lazy :D The only time he’ll run is if OH has treats. We’ve never never told him off from jumping on furniture, but he chooses not to (a few times a year, maybe). Pepper and Bertie jumps on furniture all the time, for comparison.

All he wants to do is snooze and snuggle. He loooves snuggling. He’d be quite happy having one of us to stroke his head 24/7 if it was an option. He likes to watch tv too - he has a special rug for this.

He has toys and he plays with them. If the weather is good, we let him out into the yard where he’ll sit in the bunny castle. Running is just not a thing, but he binkies if he thinks he’s being naughty.
 
4 is still young. I would cut down on the veg personally and monitor. What type of hay do they eat?
 
4 is still young. I would cut down on the veg personally and monitor. What type of hay do they eat?

Pepper will eat any hay put in front of her. Bertie eats all hays too, but doesn’t have quite the same voracious appetite - he’s learning tho: when she runs to the tray, he follows :)

Teddy likes alfalfa hay best but it doesn’t agree with his tummy. We buy Timothy hay, oat hay, hay with dried petals (I don’t remember all names as OH orders it) - we get several bags and mix in big tubs so they always have a selection.

Teddy isn’t a great hayeater - it’s ok but could be better. I don't think his previous owners gave him hay (certainly none there when we went to collect him - he had a bit of baguette in his cage. He used to come running when we had our dinner, so I have a horrible feeling they used to give him human food.)
 
They don't eat a lot of Alfalfa hay do they as that could put weight on as it's higher in protein and calcium, ok for babies or pregnant rabbits.
 
They don't eat a lot of Alfalfa hay do they as that could put weight on as it's higher in protein and calcium, ok for babies or pregnant rabbits.

No, only if OH managed to sneak it in without my noticing. (I’m going to have to go and look in the tubs)
 
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