Overweight rabbit?

[Hermelin]

I wonder if my rabbit looks overweight, he have got quite a lot rounder than half a year. This year he will turn 2 years old. He weight between 600-700 grams.

He dosen’t get any pellets, only hay and veggies but I know my parents give him treats when I’m not home or in the same room as him. I can no longer feel his spine or rib cage, just a fluffy small ball.

 

[Popsicles]

If you can’t feel the spine or rib cage then yes, he is overweight. This chart explains to you how to body condition score your rabbit.

 

[Hermelin]

Thanks for the help, must make sure my parents stops feeding him.

They dosen’t exactly listen on me. When I’m telling them, he’s overweight and they can’t say no to him when he beg for treats.

At least my little brother helps me to take away all the treats my parents give to my rabbits, when I’m not around.

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

He looks like Netherland dwarf, and 700 grams is just fine for them. They weigh up to 2 pounds. So the treats he is getting as long as it's not excessive should be fine.

 

[Popsicles]

It’s difficult to establish if a rabbit is in a good condition just by weight, as even within pure breeds the weight can vary drastically in different lines, and if you don’t have a purebreed they can be any size at all. It’s also very difficult to tell from a photo. The only way to tell is to put hands on your rabbit and score it as I have shown with the chart above.

 

[Hermelin]

Can I lock him in the cage most of the day and only let him out when I’m home.

Only during a month until he lose some weight and manage to stop my parents givning him treats. Because how it is now, it dosen’t work and he’s building up fat around the chest/neck.

He can easily run in the cage because he’s tiny and can run around. He will get around 4-6 hours outside the cage.

He’s used with only 5-6 hours cage time and that’s during the night.

 

[Popsicles]

I'm confused, how would locking him in help him lose weight? He will be better off having the space to run around and burn off that fat.
What treats do your parents give him? If you cant stop them giving treats, could you encourage them to use a healthier alternative? For example, they could give him his pellets as treats (rather than in a bowl or however he receives them now?), that way he isn't gorging himself all in one go, and he isn't getting any extra food than he should be. It means they could treat him throughout the day, if you give them a portion of pellets and they can give him a couple every now and then.

 

[A & B]

Can I lock him in the cage most of the day and only let him out when I’m home.

Only during a month until he lose some weight and manage to stop my parents givning him treats. Because how it is now, it dosen’t work and he’s building up fat around the chest/neck.

He can easily run in the cage because he’s tiny and can run around. He will get around 4-6 hours outside the cage.

He’s used with only 5-6 hours cage time and that’s during the night.

Could he be kept outside of the cage during the night? Just for the extra exercise.

 

[Hermelin]

They give all the wrong treats to my rabbit. Because he’s indoor free roaming he get daily hard bread and some carrots ( this is what my dad give him, every time my dad take a coffee break, eat lunch, breakfast and so on) Apples and bananas depends on if my dad are having a snack. Rice and pasta it’s what my mom give him or hard bread. This is something they give daily. Becomes hard when I’m not home often during the day, and my dad often forgets he have given my rabbit a treat.

My dad it’s home everyday, so my rabbit spend all his days with my dad and begging for treats.

I’ve tried with pellets but he no longer gets any pellets because of all the snacks he manage to get. I have a treat jar in the kitchen with healthy treats as timothy treats, dried roots, dried leaves and so on but my parents never use it.

My rabbit often sleeps during the night and he dosen’t like being alone. If he’s alone in the house, he will sit outside my bedroom.

And my bedroom is not bunny proofed so I can’t have him free roaming in my room during the night. So he have to spend his time in the cage.

At least he eats plenty of hay.

This it’s the indoor cage but the rabbit in the picture it’s Toste my outdoor rabbit and he’s 3 times larger than my indoor rabbit.

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

Rice, pasta, and bread are very bad for your bun and should be stopped immediately. Please tell your mom that this could cause gastric upset, lead to GI Stasis and ultimately death. The yeast in the bread, rice, and pasta expand in the stomach which can cause bloat. A serious disorder in rabbits that can be life threating. Rice is probably the worst. She needs to know how serious this can be if it doesn't stop.

 

[SableSteel]

The way I judge if they're overweight:
The first place you can start noticing fat deposits on a rabbit is on the shoulders. If you feel anything but muscle and shoulder blades over its shoulder than the rabbit is overweight. Otherwise it's usually not. Sometimes with very old rabbits you can get loose skin that makes it harder to tell but this is a good rule of thumb.

 

[Hermelin]

I’ve told them that but they dosen’t listen. So I’m trying to find another solution. I would rather think my little brother would do this stuff, because he always listen to me more than my parents. So it would have been easy to fix.

Maybe making him temporarily an outdoor rabbit, my outdoor rabbits only get half a carrot or apple sometimes. When dad go out and have to fix something. So they are healthy. Instead of getting treats everyday which my indoor rabbit gets, except on weekends when I’m home and can keep an eye on him the whole day.

 

[Bailey ❤️]

My first bunny.....she was well fed with hay, pellets, and fresh veggies. But one day we were all at the park, and she ate some leaves I was unfamiliar with. They looked like Acacia leaves. Anyway, she was never the same after that....she died within a few days, and we’re still heartbroken over it. And this was all over some leaves eaten only once. She was a dwarf/Rex.

I’m amazed at how your bunny can stomach the rice, bread and pasta for this long! All those things are no-no’s for bunnies! He must be a bun of steal! But yes, please spare your family the grief of possibly losing that sweet bunny to GI stasis and do whatever you think is best for him!

 

[Hermelin]

My first bunny.....she was well fed with hay, pellets, and fresh veggies. But one day we were all at the park, and she ate some leaves I was unfamiliar with. They looked like Acacia leaves. Anyway, she was never the same after that....she died within a few days, and we’re still heartbroken over it. And this was all over some leaves eaten only once. She was a dwarf/Rex.

I’m amazed at how your bunny can stomach the rice, bread and pasta for this long! All those things are no-no’s for bunnies! He must be a bun of steal! But yes, please spare your family the grief of possibly losing that sweet bunny to GI stasis and do whatever you think is best for him!

I think he manage to stomach that food because he ears a lot of hay, the rest of the day. And I spend quite a lot of money when I try to find my rabbits, around 50 $ every month for hay.

I’m just annoyed with my parents because everything my bunnies have comes from me. The money dosen’t even come from my parents. Yet they are making it hard for me, taken them to the vet cost so much money and my rabbits have insurance.

Soon they will get a yearly vaccination and check up and it will cost over 300$ for me to pay. Dosen’t want my spoiled baby to have to go to the veterinarian for stomach problems, my budget for the rabbits it’s gone for the moment. Because I started a new course on school and have to pay my monthly train tickets and school supplies.

At least today my rabbit haven’t got any treats and have to be happy with only hay and water.

My first rabbit also passed away with wrong quality of hay, so I know how the diet can make the rabbit sick. Already been through that once but that rabbit was 8 when he passed away. My rabbit it’s only 1,5 years old so he have many years to live and be happy.

I always check my rabbits droppings everyday and feel their stomach. But I have more stomach problems with my cute french lop doe (outdoor rabbit) than my netherland dwarf buck which it’s something weird.

 

[Bailey ❤️]

How many bunnies do you have? Maybe they can rotate and take turns being the “indoor bunny” for that week?

I gotta hand it to you though....seems like you take good care of all your buns I hope you can come to an agreement with your parents about the bunny situation. It sounds like they love your bunnies too, and the way they show it is through food, but they just need to be educated on proper bunny care.

 

[Hermelin]

How many bunnies do you have? Maybe they can rotate and take turns being the “indoor bunny” for that week?

I gotta hand it to you though....seems like you take good care of all your buns [emoji173]️ I hope you can come to an agreement with your parents about the bunny situation. It sounds like they love your bunnies too, and the way they show it is through food, but they just need to be educated on proper bunny care.

I have 3 rabbits, 2 outdoors and one indoors. I can’t rotate my rabbits because it’s winter so the outdoor rabbits have thick fluffy winter fur while my indoor don’t have it. So my outdoor rabbits can only come in short periods of time. And one of them hate being indoors and will become destructive and depressed, she loves being outdoors or else all my rabbits would be indoor rabbits.

 

[Lily]

View attachment 39152 If you can’t feel the spine or rib cage then yes, he is overweight. This chart explains to you how to body condition score your rabbit.

Thank you for the diagram, very helpful!