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How to know if a bun's weight is healthy?

B

Beapig

Mama Doe
I've been a little concerned about Maple's weight recently. She is behaving happily and healthily, but to me she looks to be a lot thinner than my other three rabbits, including her sister who is from the same litter and is the same build as her.

I might be worrying about nothing, but to me her pelvic bones look more obvious than Lily's. My other bunnies generally look more 'rounded' on their bottoms. Is there a good way of telling what is a healthy weight for each rabbit, like a ratio calculation based on their length?

The only thing that has changed diet-wise is that they got a new batch of hay recently and were really fussy about it, however they are having different hay now and eating lots of it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
 
Could it be her moult?

I find Rodney's hip bones start looking really pronounced when he starts shedding heavily. I guess because the fur is looser and thinner.

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CarelessSquid07 said:
Could it be her moult?

I find Rodney's hip bones start looking really pronounced when he starts shedding heavily. I guess because the fur is looser and thinner.

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Click to expand...

I took some photos comparing her to my other buns, and I think I might just be really paranoid haha, because they pretty much look the same! It's just sometimes when she's hopping about, I feel that her pelvis bone looks too sticky-outy. I am a really anxious bunny owner so, I might be worrying over nothing! The moult could be playing a part too.
 
Thank you so much for that link a reader of books, it does help a lot to compare. Here are some photos of her - she doesn't look underweight going by those diagrams. I don't know why, I just feel that she looks thinner. But she was quite overweight when we got her last summer.

2021-03-25_08-31-00 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

2021-03-25_08-29-27 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

2021-03-25_08-29-42 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

I haven't weighed her Jane, as I don't have any animal scales. I don't know if normal human scales would work? I'm not sure what breed she is as she was a 'freebie' from Gumtree, but her and Lily are both very large. Maybe I should try weighing her and call my vet to see what she weighed when she was vaccinated at the beginning of the year? At the time my vet said she was a healthy weight.
 
Beapig said:
Thank you so much for that link a reader of books, it does help a lot to compare. Here are some photos of her - she doesn't look underweight going by those diagrams. I don't know why, I just feel that she looks thinner. But she was quite overweight when we got her last summer.

2021-03-25_08-31-00 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

2021-03-25_08-29-27 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

2021-03-25_08-29-42 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

I haven't weighed her Jane, as I don't have any animal scales. I don't know if normal human scales would work? I'm not sure what breed she is as she was a 'freebie' from Gumtree, but her and Lily are both very large. Maybe I should try weighing her and call my vet to see what she weighed when she was vaccinated at the beginning of the year? At the time my vet said she was a healthy weight.
Click to expand...

Was it your buns that were exactly the same weight at last health check ?If so it would possibly be worth investigating if there is now more than a subtle difference between them I guess you can try the human scales - I don't know how sensitive they are. It might help to weigh you or your patner on your own forst then holding each bun. If not baby scales start at a tenner on ebay (or were)
 
joey&boo said:
Was it your buns that were exactly the same weight at last health check ?If so it would possibly be worth investigating if there is now more than a subtle difference between them I guess you can try the human scales - I don't know how sensitive they are. It might help to weigh you or your patner on your own forst then holding each bun. If not baby scales start at a tenner on ebay (or were)
Click to expand...

It was Jellybean and Hamilton who were exactly the same weight. I don't remember the weight of Lily and Maple - I will call up tomorrow and attempt to weigh her. I can't put my finger on it, she just seems more slim to me.

Something else (which might not be related) is that on occasion, there will be a puddle of wee on top of the litter tray lid (it is a manor pet housing litter tray) and a pile of poop all soaking in the wee. I'm not sure which of them is doing it and I'm not sure if it's an incontinence type thing or just a bad habit of not going in the litter tray below.

I'm probably reading into everything too much, I just have a strange hunch that something isn't right but can't put my finger on it. Maybe I'll purchase some small animal scales - might be a very handy thing to have.
 
If they are too large for kitchen scales but not easy to hold for bathroom scales, you could try what we do - use digital luggage scales (about £6) and put the rabbit in a bucket or tubtrug with something yummy to nibble. Weigh the bucket and zero it before putting the rabbit in. We got scales that freeze the weight once it stabilises which makes it easier to be quick and stressless.
But I use condition scales to keep an eye on all my animals - if you learn the scale it is easy to get into the habit of checking each day by feel, becomes second nature. That way if something feels off, you can weigh and check, and over time you will be able to pick up small changes by feel which might be very useful if there is a problem, you'll have chance to spot it before they lose too much weight. Also means if they start gaining weight, you'll notice before they are actually fat and can alter the diet slightly, rather than having to do a more substantial "diet" if they actually get fat.
 
Ahhh- right owner, wrong rabbits

Was it Maple or Lilly with excess cecos & has that now resolved?
 
Maple is beautiful:love: She looks like a Harlequin rabbit, yet may be a mix with those markings too.

Sometimes my bunnies feel different too. It depends if they have full tummy from just eating,less hydrated, moulting, or condition of muscles. Also when they do loose weight or muscle their skin feels loose.
I am glad I took Jane's advice and purchased a baby scale. It was great when I had to have vet update med dose in a growing bunny during covid, to adjust pellet/treat rations,or identify possible illness/dental issues.
My vet goes by how much bone/fat he feels around ribs and spine. He must use chart linked in Jane's post.:D
 
Last edited:
Beapig said:
Is there a good way of telling what is a healthy weight for each rabbit, like a ratio calculation based on their length?
Click to expand...
Definitely not that: Lopsy is round and Aboleth was long but they weighed about the same.

Lopsy feels a bit skinny at the moment, has done for a while (not underweight but not 'normal' for him). I should try and weigh him: my approach might be pick him up in the litter tray and weigh us altogether then just me and the litter tray. He won't necessarily sit quietly in the litter tray but he won't jump out IME XD I like the bucket idea!
 
I read somewhere that when you run your hand over a Rabbit's back you should be able to just feel the spine which means Bunny is a good weight. Your Bunny looks fine to me BP.
 
a reader of books said:
Does this help? https://www.pfma.org.uk/_assets/docs/pet-size-o-meter/pet-size-o-meter-rabbit.pdf It's from this page, which tells you more about how you can tell if the bunny's weight is okay: https://www.pfma.org.uk/rabbit-size-o-meter/

I don't know of any way to calculate an ideal weight for a bunny, but I find that the vet can usually tell me what a good weight would be for each bunny, so you could ask next time you're at the vets. :)

Edit: Oh, that's a good guide that IM linked to, too. :D
Click to expand...
Really helpful

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Beapig said:
Thank you so much for that link a reader of books, it does help a lot to compare. Here are some photos of her - she doesn't look underweight going by those diagrams. I don't know why, I just feel that she looks thinner. But she was quite overweight when we got her last summer.

2021-03-25_08-31-00 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

2021-03-25_08-29-27 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

2021-03-25_08-29-42 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150123870@N07/, on Flickr

I haven't weighed her Jane, as I don't have any animal scales. I don't know if normal human scales would work? I'm not sure what breed she is as she was a 'freebie' from Gumtree, but her and Lily are both very large. Maybe I should try weighing her and call my vet to see what she weighed when she was vaccinated at the beginning of the year? At the time my vet said she was a healthy weight.
Click to expand...
I don't know much at all on this subject, but she doesn't look underweight at all to me. She is very pretty

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
dollyanna said:
If they are too large for kitchen scales but not easy to hold for bathroom scales, you could try what we do - use digital luggage scales (about £6) and put the rabbit in a bucket or tubtrug with something yummy to nibble. Weigh the bucket and zero it before putting the rabbit in. We got scales that freeze the weight once it stabilises which makes it easier to be quick and stressless.
But I use condition scales to keep an eye on all my animals - if you learn the scale it is easy to get into the habit of checking each day by feel, becomes second nature. That way if something feels off, you can weigh and check, and over time you will be able to pick up small changes by feel which might be very useful if there is a problem, you'll have chance to spot it before they lose too much weight. Also means if they start gaining weight, you'll notice before they are actually fat and can alter the diet slightly, rather than having to do a more substantial "diet" if they actually get fat.
Click to expand...
Excellent weighing hack. I've been really stressing about how to weigh my bubbas

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Thank you so much for your messages everyone, so sorry for the late reply, I'm really struggling to get on the forum much at the moment :( I'm ordering some scales so I can weigh her myself. However, I think she probably is completely okay, and if anything my other three bunnies are a big too chubby...especially Jellybean, I'm looking at you Mrs :lol:
 
Beapig said:
Thank you so much for your messages everyone, so sorry for the late reply, I'm really struggling to get on the forum much at the moment :( I'm ordering some scales so I can weigh her myself. However, I think she probably is completely okay, and if anything my other three bunnies are a big too chubby...especially Jellybean, I'm looking at you Mrs :lol:
Click to expand...

Not chubby, just ‘well built’ :lol:
 
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