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Egg cup of nuggets/pellets - volume?

Sojsz

New Kit
Guidelines from lots of places (including my vet) say to feed rabbits an egg cup cull of pellets each twice a day. I wondered if anyone could tell me what the volume of an egg cup actually is. I don't own one! Somehow even the vastness of the internet doesn't seem to have a ready answer! Thanks for reading :)
 
This is one of those examples where the advice would be so much more accurate and helpful if the quantity could be specified in weight rather than volume. I think our eggcups are standard size and each contains around 28 g of Science Selective pellets. I think it's possible that if you use smaller pellets, there could be a larger quantity of them in an eggcup, with the result that the weight could be slightly more.

I have also seen the advice given as an eggcup of pellets once a day per bunny, but I give one twice a day.

I'm not saying what we do here is right, but it seems to work :) I also wouldn't get too stressed about getting it exactly right.
 
I think it's more of a guideline to make people reduce the amount of pellets they feed, rather than a fixed recommendation. So an eggcup is much better than a bowlful, for instance. Hay / grass are far more important as the main component of a rabbit's diet and pellets should be fed sparingly. Some people don't feed pellets at all. I use them as bribes to get them back into their hutches, and as a useful indicator that all is well, so uneaten pellets here are a sign that something is wrong, as they would normally be eaten within a few minutes.

I feed a small amount of pellets once a day using a small jug as a fixed measure for all the rabbits. I would suggest finding a scoop of some kind and using that for consistency. eg the lids of some roll-on deodorants are about egg cup size.

Rabbits vary in size - so a 1kg rabbit should be getting a much smaller volume of pellets than a 3kg rabbit. Some pellets are smaller and more dense than others, so even a fixed volume will give different weights of pellets for different brands. Look for something that suits you, and provide plenty of hay.
 
Ah, I see. I always want fixed rules when the world doesn't really work like that! This is one of those cases it seems. The reason I posted this question was because I thought I was feeding the egg cup sized amount but the vet noticed some weight gain. I was surprised as I felt I was feeding a small enough amount. I just wondered whether my idea of an egg cup was completely off or something! I have since started gradually to reduce the amount I feed. Of course it's not just the amount of pellets but of exercise too. But I wanted to make sure that, as I said, my idea of the amount of pellets was reasonable.

I do like the idea of avoiding pellets at all but as you say they are an excellent indicator of whether something is wrong as they are normally so excited to eat them.

Thank you so much for your helpful reply!
 
Yes I agree that providing the weight would be much better! Thank you so much for giving the weight of Science Selective nuggets - that's the kind I use.
 
I find it much easier table spoon per 2 lbs. Or i just weight. I never feed as much as the bag say. Ussualy 50% less. Unless bun needs more weight, has some issues.
 
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