Rabbits--are they bottomless pits?

[MiaP]

I am new to rabbits, so please pardon my utter lack of knowledge. I have one bunny and one foster bunny right now, and I am just amazed at the amount they eat. I don't know if I am doing things right, so please feel free to set me straight.

I am supposed to keep food available to them at all times, right? I feed pellets, timothy hay, and fresh produce. I have had guinea pigs for years, and my rabbits are small--about 2x the size of my pig, so I guess I expected that they would eat about 2x as much.

Well, even though I am home most of the day, I am having trouble keeping enough food in their cages to last them even a few hours. With my pig, if we fill her bowl with pellets and give her 3 or 4 giant handfuls of hay, a carrot and some greens, she is set until dinner time. She'll eat the produce first, then the hay, and if she gets desperate, the pellets. With these two bunnies, all the food is gone within two hours, at the most.

Am I just supposed to get a bigger bowl for pellets, or put in way more hay, or what? We are all very happy to deliver fresh produce throughout the day, but I am worried about how to manage the food situation on days when we'll be gone for long periods--like most folks with jobs are 5 days a week.

My foster bun, Silver, is underweight so I really don't want her worrying about food, but for the long haul, I don't want them to be dangerously obese, either.

Tips, advice, anything?

 

[aurora369]

The rule of thumb is more hay, and hay and then a little more hay.

The pellets should not be given free feed unless they are still growing (ie 6 months or less). I can't remember the proper amount, but I feed my guys (3-7 pounds) 1/4 to 1/3 cups of pellets a day. And lots and lots of hay plus their veggies.

--Dawn

 

[maherwoman]

My best recommendation for ANY new bunny owner: check the Lagomorph Library here on Rabbits Only.

There are sooo many topics...separated into the Rabbit Health and Bunny 101 sections.

In the Bunny 101 section, you can find sections on Pellets, Feeding Your Rabbit, Hay: All About it, Litter and Litter Boxes, Litter Training, Household Hazards, Communication and Language, Bunny Proofing Your House, Cages and Hutches: Housing your Rabbit, and Bunny Ideas and Accessories. And, though it's a LOT of reading, I recommend checking each one, particularly the Pellets, Feeding Your Rabbit, and Hay: All About it sections, for what you're asking.

So, check those out!

Hugs!

Rosie*

P.S. Sorry to inundate you with information and such...but there really is good information there.

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

Healthy adult rabbits should receive unlimted amounts of grass hays....timothy, oat, brome, orchard grass, etc. Very limited pellets. Everyone has their thing but the guideline should be just enough pellets to maintain weight and conditioning...of course that is using high quality hay. I feed my 30 pound Flemish less than quarter cup per day and he is still getting bigger. Some of my rabbits get only hay and limited greens. The metabolism of each rabbit is different.Rabbits have evolved into food processing machines and have developed to make the most our of the low protein, high fiber diet they eat in the wild. Too many pellets and/or treats can throw a very delicate gut out of whack. Low proteins, high fiber. Unlimited hay at all times.

Randy

 

[jam224]

Yes, I think that given free reign, rabbits are bottomless pits. Ours always act they're starving, lol.

The diet you feed your rabbits is going to depend on 1) their age and 2) their weight. Hay and water should be available at all times, but if they're adults, they should get a limited amount of pellets.

For our duo (about 6-pound adults), we feed them 1/4 cup ofpellets for breakfast, Timothy hay all day, 2 cups of greens for dinner (normally romaine and parsley), and then tons of hay at night. A schedule like that works really well for a normal 9 to 5 workday.

 

[MiaP]

Thanks, everyone. I have been working my way through Bunny 101, but so far I haven't made it out of the body language articles yet! I will keep reading, believe me.

My rabbits are shelter rabbits, estimated age is less than 6 months, so they could still be growing, in addition to needing to gain some weight. My guess is that they should weigh about 4 lbs when they stop being emaciated from shelter life.

So, while I've clearly been feeding them too many pellets, hopefully the fact that they needed to gain weight will make it okay. I will just increase the hay and keep up the produce while I am reading up on the subject.

The hay I have now is Oxbow, which I picked up when I visited the rabbit shelter in Delaware. Normally, I buy Kay-tee at my local food co-op. I may just start ordering hay online.

I feel like I might have to buy a bigger house to store all their hay!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Do we have a photo of this little man around these parts? I'd sure love to see him!

ra7751 wrote:

Hi,

Healthy adult rabbits should receive unlimted amounts of grass hays....timothy, oat, brome, orchard grass, etc. Very limited pellets. Everyone has their thing but the guideline should be just enough pellets to maintain weight and conditioning...of course that is using high quality hay. I feed my 30 pound Flemish less than quarter cup per day and he is still getting bigger. Some of my rabbits get only hay and limited greens. The metabolism of each rabbit is different.Rabbits have evolved into food processing machines and have developed to make the most our of the low protein, high fiber diet they eat in the wild. Too many pellets and/or treats can throw a very delicate gut out of whack. Low proteins, high fiber. Unlimited hay at all times.

Randy

 

[MiaP]

Yes, I think a photo of his 30 pound rabbit sitting next to my 5 pound dog would be a hoot!

 

[petkeeper]

Hi

I fill my rabbits bowl twice a day...once in the morning and once at night. They run out about 12 in the afternoon and don't get more pellets til night...but they have free hay. They seem to do really well with this diet and their weight is really good. If it is there they will eat it I have found and that is not really a good thing for the waist line!! lol

 

[tonyshuman]

ra7751 wrote:

...30 pound Flemish...

!


:shock:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

MiaP wrote:

Yes, I think a photo of his 30 pound rabbit sitting next to my 5 pound dog would be a hoot!

I love seeing things like that!