Is my rabbit overweight?

[MachibosMama]

Hello, I'm a first time rabbit owner and I have a concern over the appearance of my rabbit.
His name is Machibo, he's a Dalmation Rex Rabbit, he's 2 years old (I adopted him and have had him for 5 months)and I love him to death.
He eats the normal Alfalfa hay mostly, but I fill his dish everyday with Bunny Banquet Delux Blend it has : Alfalfa pellets, rolled corn, sunflower seeds, dehydrated carrots,papaya, and banana, ground milo, safflower, peanuts, squash, pumpkin seeds, and soybean meal.
He's picky and doesn't eat the sunflower or pumpkin seeds and he's too lazy to open the peanut shells himself.
Everyone who meets him tells me he's fat, but in all honesty he doesn't feel fat.
When I had to bathe him regularly for fleas (they're gone now thank goodness) he seemed so skinny when he was wet.
I have yet to take him for an annual check up, so I don't know what he weighs, my guess is around 6 or 7 pounds.
He's very active, running around constantly, jumping up on things, exploring, and I take him for walks occasionally.
So is he just plush? Tell me what you think.

THANKS!

 

[Imbrium]

aww, what a cutie! his diet needs some tweaking, though

rabbits over 7 mos or so of age shouldn't have alfalfa hay - it has too much protein, calcium and calories for adult rabbits. adults should be fed some type of grass hay (timothy, coastal, bermuda, meadow, orchard grass, wheat grass, oat, etc... with things like wheat and oat, you need to pick out the bunches of oats or w/e if it's a later cut)

also, seeds, corn and nuts are a BIG no-no for bunnies! (and things like carrots, squash, papaya and banana should only be fed in very small amounts). you need a PLAIN pellet - no mixes with anything other than pellets in them

he should also be eating fresh leafy greens.

here's some great diet info:
http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html#babies
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.3bunnies.org/feeding.htm

 

[JBun]

Cute bun!!! Can't really tell from the picture if he is overweight, but he looks sooo sweet napping in his little bunny bed

Jennifer's right about the diet though. That could definitely be why he seems overweight, and those kind of treat feeds can actually end up causing serious digestive problems sooner or later, and alfalfa hay has too much protein and calcium for an adult rabbit. You want to feed a plain pellet feed with no treats in it. A timothy based pellet is the best for an adult rabbit, but a lot of people feed an alfalfa based rabbit food too. Pellets should be limited and the guideline is about 1/4-1/2 cup per 5 lbs. of normal body weight, per day. It just depends on the metabolism of your rabbit. I have a 5 lb rabbit that gets the same amount of pellets as my 2.5 lb rabbit, just because she puts on weight so easily. If you switch your rabbits food and hay, you want to do it very gradually so his digestive system can get used to the new food, so he won't get sick. I like to do it over 2 weeks, where at the start you add little amounts of the new food and hay, and gradually over the two weeks, increase the new food and hay, and decrease the old food and hay, so that at the end of the two weeks you will only be feeding the new food and hay. Just changing his diet in this way will probably help him get to a healthy weight. You want to keep an eye on his little poops and make sure they stay normal. If they get soft at all, you may be increasing the amount of new food too quickly. Good luck

 

[MachibosMama]

:O I had no idea, the person I got him from isn't a normal bunny person and when I did research I only found sites that said alfalfa, that must've been because they were breeder sites with baby bunnies.
Thanks so much!
I feed him salads on occasion, I was told they were treats. My poor baby! I had no clue!
Thanks so much.
I'll definitely change his diet. With great timing, I'm at the bottom of the bag!

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Darling bun....But ya his diet needs some work. I agree with the comments on the alfalfa hay. Feed timothy or orchard grass and about 1/4 to 1/2 cup pellets. Veggies of course and that is about it except for small treats....Lol don't feel to bad though. I have no room to talk. :biggrin2::biggrin2::biggrin2:

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Another thing that should be pointed out is your bun is a rex and rex rabbits are prone to weight gain and hock sores. The fur on there hocks is thin and being overweight can cause pressure sores.

 

[MachibosMama]

Thanks! What's a hock though?
Thanks for the comments btw, I fell in love with him when I met him. He's such a little prince. C:

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

Its the underside of the back foot. When your bun has his back feet kicked out then the pads on the back feet are his hocks. Another member found a great (and adorable) way to treat her rex's hock sores....

 

[MachibosMama]

Thank you! I'll check his little feetsies right now.
He's still a little shy with me so he gets nervous when I try to pick him up or get near his underside.
I'm patient though and I don't like to push him.

 

[MachibosMama]

:C I found little sores on his back feet. My poor bun bun!
I don't think he'll let me wrap them up though. Is there any other way to treat them?

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

What kind of flooring is he on in his cage? How much free time does he get? Rex rabbits can not be on wire flooring of any kind. If you cant do "socks on hocks" (photo above) then you need to try and keep him on soft material like fleece. Put him on a timothy diet and make sure he is not on any wire flooring... You can also use neosporin as long as it DOES NOT contain pain reliever. The pain reliever is toxic. I highly recommend posting in the infirmary about the hock sores. You will get a lot more advice then mine.

 

[MachibosMama]

His cage is a high walled plastic bottom wire-cage. The top is wire the floor is solid plastic. His lil' bun bed (in the picture) is in there at all times for him to lay in. Sometimes he lies in his litter box too. For most of the day he spends his time in my room, which has carpet.
I'll definitely read more in the forum, thanks for your help.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

I googled the type of pellet your using and you should really change to a plain pellet. Oxbow makes the best pellets you can get and there great for weight control.
The kind of pellet your currently using is what we like to call "lucky charms". All that extra fluff is really just color for you and not healthy for the bun...

 

[MachibosMama]

Well thank you so much! I'll definitely switch over right away.

 

[cwolfec]

He's an ADORABLE little (ahem) "fluffy" fella!

Here's an illustration of the bun food pyramid

http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/diet/graphics/Rabbit_Food_Pyramid_July08.pdf

 

[majorv]

It's hard to tell, but I'm not sure that he is overweight. If he's purebred Rex then an adult male's ideal weight is 8 pounds...normal weight range is 7 1/2 - 9 1/2 pounds. The Rexare built to be "full figured" and have a stocky build. I believe he's also considered to be a "broken".

The others are correct that at his age he should be eating good quality plain pellets and grass hay, rather than alfalfa hay. As someone said, make sure that you transition changing his pellets slowly. Feeding your guy veggies and greens are a matter of personal preference.

 

[Hyatt101]

He doesn't look terrible overweight, maybe just a little

 

[audrinasmommy88]

My Olivia was a Rex. She was considered overweight when I got her. She was 9lbs. They wanted me to keep her at no more that 7.5-8lbs. She had a problem with sore hocks one time. I used the neosporin WITHOUT pain reliever and she did very well with that. She wouldnt allow me to do the socks on hocks. Definitely take the advice oyuve been given and change his diet. That will help tremendously with the sore hocks also. Too much weight on a rex can cause sore hocks too. But, what a cute guy you have there. Enjoy him! Rex's are fun Here is a pic of my Olivia (RIP)
This is when I first got her (overweight)

This is after we worked on her diet

 

[Imbrium]

another thing I've heard of people using on sore hocks is liquid bandaid

 

[missyscove]

I definitely wouldn't just go on how much he weighs, but rather on body condition scoring. Here is an adapted body condition score chart for rabbits http://www.pfma.org.uk/_assets/images/general/file/PFMA%20Rabbit%20PSOM%20Final%20Web%20Version%20070809(1).pdf
You want to be able to easily feel his ribs, hips and spine when you run your hands over him. If you're having to push through fat to find them then he's overweight.