Feeding two rabbits

[stargazerLily]

We are getting closer to bringing a new bun home and I was wondering, how do you feed two rabbits that are housed together? I know that dealing with this is a ways off still, but the question hit me today. Do you seperate them, throw enough food for two in the pen and hope they eat what they are supposed to or something different?

 

[~BunBuns~]

Since i dont have two bunnies (yet) You can probably just put in unlimited hay and a bowl of pellets.. Hope this helps..

 

[myLoki]

When my two bunnies lived together I would feed them unlimited hay and half a cup of pellets. I started having problems with Loki producing too many cecals. I wasn't sure what the problem was since I was feeding them the proper amount of food. Well, by observing them for a couple of hours after feeding one day I discovered that Loki was eating more than his fair share of pellets. Naugty Bunny! :shame Because Lily is now hormonal and they are seperated, he is no longer producing extras. I'm not sure how I'm going to solve the issue once she is spayed and they are living together (they get play time together). I guess I might just have to seperate them at feeding time.

This is one problem that may or may not arise when you have two bunnies living together. One could turn out to be a piggy! :eats:



t.

 

[MsBinky]

I give mine unlimited hay and there are two bowls for the pellets so they each get their share. I don't starve them but I feed them when they are hungry so that they eat their portions at the same time so I don't have one playing and the other eating his portion and the other bun's. I have a large bowl for their water and change it twice a day.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I also just feed unlimited hay and give veggies and pellets in one big bowl for both to share. I haven't had an issue with individual rabbits not getting their fair share but if it does get to be a problem, you may have to split rabbits up at feeding times.

 

[pla725]

Smitten and Sawyer share everything. I do have make sure that Sawyer does get his share but I also need to make sure he doesn't overeat. Smitten is about twice his size so I really have to be care.

 

[HoneyPot]

It took my guys a while to figure it out because Misty would always eat Charlie's share of pellets, and CHarlie would eat Misty's share of vegetables. After a few months, they figured it out and now they know as soon as the food goes down, they have to eat or they won't get any.

I did have to cut back on pellets though because Misty woudl still eat too much, but less pellets aren't a bad thing.

______________
Nadia

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Both of Korr and Sophie go wild for pellets. I feed them twice a day, morning and evening. I don't have major problem except that Korr want to eat them all. But then take turns. Korr eats some, the Sophie eats some until the bow is empty. If you need to feed the separately, then do so but feed them at the same time.

 

[rabb1tmad]

I have two rabbits and I put the food in one bowl and they have access to unlimited hay. When I feed the veg I just chuck in enough for two and let them get on with it. On occasions Lacey will try and get more than Starsky and will succeed but over time he has learned to stand up for himself so he doesn't always let her get away with it. I think you'll be fine if you start out with letting them share but keep an eye on what they each consume. If one has much more than the other then you'll have to change the way you do it.

 

[Bunnicula]

Pipkin and Emmaline share the hay rack. They each get their own bowl of pellets in the morning...but they tend to eat together out of one and then go to the other together. When it comes to their evening meal (salad) I will often separate them...depending on what is in the salad. They each have some favorites (Emmaline goes CRAZY for watercress) and would gobble up both bowls, so I'll separate them until the bowls are clean. Emmaline would also steal treats like baby carrots from Pipkin, so I will separate them if I'm giving treats, too.

You can try feeding them together and observing their behavior. That will give you a good indication of what you need to do.

Good luck!

-Mary Ellen

 

[JadeIcing]

With the trio I feed Connor and Teresa 1/4 cup alone and Dallas gets 1/8 because even 1/4 gives him extra cecals. He needs to be seperedated because he will eat it all. That is only with pellets. Not veggies.

 

[Gordon]

My two bunnies have free roam of the house, but I have two open cages in the kitchen, where I set two equal meals every day. They use the cages to pee/poop/eat in, and believe it or not, they are extremely diplomatic with each other regarding sharing. They hop into one cage and dine together, and then a couple hours later, each one takes his pick of the other meal.

My guys are bonded brothers, though, so that might be why it works out so nicely.

 

[Bunny Mum]

Yeah my five get fed together every morning and they hear my husband shake the bag and they all run down the tube from inside the house to outside. Occasionally the only female wil hold back but this is only occasionally. They have learned to work it out.

 

[Michaela]

Pebble and Ebony get one bowl of pellets between them, and two bigger bowls of veggies. They are amazing at sharing, they actually prefer to share, they always eat out of the same bowl , even eat out of each others mouths sometimes! :rofl:

Once you get your new bunny you will work out what's best for you, monitor who eats what firsts, and if one is scoffing the lot you may have to separate them for feeding, or they might be great at sharing.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Inmy experience I've found that as long as both rabbits are healthy and there isn't a dominance issue then they will share food just fine. The only problems I've had in 5 and a half years with my two, is oncewhen Ruby was very dominant and started chasing Millie away from her food, and now because Ruby is ill therefore isn't eating as much.

As long as you closely monitor your buns eating habits you will easily be able to make sure they are both getting their fair share.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Bunnys_rule63 wrote:

Inmy experience I've found that as long as both rabbits are healthy and there isn't a dominance issue then they will share food just fine.

The problems come in when one rabbit is the type to 'hang back' and eat at their own leisure and the other rabbit is the type to dig in and eat until he/she can't eat any more. I have had a minor form of this happening here myself, but it's not happening all the time. I don't split mine at feeding time because this hasn't affectedany bunny's weight so I know it isn't happening a lot, butabout onceevery few weeksSpice will hang back and Reese will dive in, by the time Spice wants to eat, Reese has eaten most of it.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

MyBabyBunnies wrote:

Bunnys_rule63 wrote:

Inmy experience I've found that as long as both rabbits are healthy and there isn't a dominance issue then they will share food just fine.

The problems come in when one rabbit is the type to 'hang back' and eat at their own leisure and the other rabbit is the type to dig in and eat until he/she can't eat any more. I have had a minor form of this happening here myself, but it's not happening all the time. I don't split mine at feeding time because this hasn't affectedany bunny's weight so I know it isn't happening a lot, butabout onceevery few weeksSpice will hang back and Reese will dive in, by the time Spice wants to eat, Reese has eaten most of it.

That's why I said to closely monitor her buns eating habits. All rabbits eat differently, usually with my buns Ruby eats the most - so I give her pellets in a treat ball to slow her eating down, and give Millie a bowl so she can eat more. It worked great for me and they both stayed at healthy weights until Ruby became ill. Like I said, the only real problems I have found are from dominance issues or illness. Other small problems can usually be fixed pretty easily.