starving bunny??

[lagadvocate]

I am perplexed about Charlie's eating. He acts as though he is starving. I had to adjust his pellets recently because I noticed he was having excess cecals/runny poops that were smooshed in his pen. So I cut the pellets back. He always has timothy hay available, and gets his salad in the evening.

In the morning when I give him his pellets, he charges the bowl and scarfs them down right away. But I don't think it's just a pellet addiction because he does this with his salad too -- he pounces on it and stays there eating until it is all gone.

He drinks a lot of water but I don't know if I would consider it excessive. I just am worried because I don't want him to ever be hungry.

Tonight, about an hour after he finished his salad, I noticed him hovering around his pellet bowl and getting up on his hinds everytime I passed by. I gave him a small baby carrot and I don't think he even chewed it before swallowing! Then he was still looking all hungry so I gave just a tiny bit of pellets and he scarfed it.

Any thoughts about this, any diet adjustments/recommendations? Thanks for any advice.

p.s. there isn't any "competitive eating" because he and Carmel aren't bonded so they eat completely separately.

 

[rabb1tmad]

My buns do this a lot. When they first started to do it I felt bad because they would run to the bowl everytime I walked past. But they're not starving. You give your bun unlimited hay, pellets and some veg/salad he is not starving. He may have been used to getting more food before and his appetite needs to adjust I guess.

 

[aurora369]

Does he eat very much hay? How recently did you adjust his diet?

He may just need to learn that hay will fill him up, it just takes more work... Keep giving him little bits of fresh hay though out the day. I find that encourages them to eat more hay.

--Dawn

 

[JadeIcing]

I know for a factfour of mine get more than enough food and they always charge all their food like they have never eaten. I notice them hovering aroundthe pellet bowls and one gets up on his hinds everytime I pass by too. We laugh at it.

 

[tundrakatiebean]

Wash does this too and he's getting chubby. I just think they are so excited about getting something different, like if someone made you a favorite meal that you hadn't had in a long time you'd hover it. Wash licks his bowl to get ALL the pellet dust up too. I just think that pellets and greens are tastier that the hay.

 

[maherwoman]

To me, it sounds like you're doing the right thing...

I recently cut my girls back to the recommended 1/4c pellets per 5lbs, and they all acted like that for a good while. Each of them pretty much do what you're describing...come bounding to the food bowl and wolf it down in one sitting.

As long as Charlie has a large, unlimited supply of hay, don't worry...he's getting enough food. Hay should comprise about 80% of bunnies' diets, so you're doing the right thing...especially by also giving him salad.

Question: what's in the salad you give him?

What brand & type of pellet food is he eating?

What other things (including quantities) do you give him?

:hug:

 

[lagadvocate]

Thank you all so much for your replies, it does make me feel better reading that Charlie is not sounlike other buns.

Maherwoman, his salad usually consists of a green leaf lettuce, parsley, sometimes cilantro and it's a pretty big salad. I tried some other things with him that I give to Carmel like brussel sprouts, but his tummy got upset so I pretty much stick to the basics for him.

The pellets are Purina High Fiber Complete and he's now getting a 1/4 cup a daybut I think I'd like to intro some timmy pellets to him alsoif anyone has any recommendations.

Other than that, he gets a baby carrot a few times a weeks. Carmel (gut of steel)gets so much more variety than him -- broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, papaya bits (as a treat), but he doesn't seem to tolerate any of those things well.:?

 

[Butterfinger]

Glad to see you're feeling better about it

Just wanted to add that Butter does this too; he'd plow me over for food if he were big enough, haha (He also has unlimited hay and such)

~Diana and Butter

 

[maherwoman]

I've been giving my girls Kaytee Timothy Complete...it has all the recommended percentages, and they really like it!

I would've tried Oxbow, but it's just too expensive.

 

[ec]

I've been feeding Oxbow Bunny Basics/T (timothy pellets).

As for charging to get food, Nibbles always acts like she's got to scarf it all down right this second. If I went by appearances only, she'd be an awfully fat bunny by now!

 

[spoh]

Lucy charges too, only usually her pellets though....she loves her pellets. She usually does zoomies for her veggies, as soon as she see's me coming she starts running around. Hay, she will just walk over to and start eating...nothing to exciting about hay I guess.

Joy

 

[Bo B Bunny]

I have noticed that Heidi does this also. She gets plenty of pellets - I gave Bo and Clover unlimited pellets as babies - BO still leaves some so I don't worry much and Clover always has pellets too - they get timothy ones and Heidi gets the Alfalfa based since she's a baby.

Anyhow...... I give her a ton of hay and she still acts as if she's not been fed for days!!!

Something I noticed with Bo is that he will get a bit of wet poos and extra cecals if he gets too much salad. Romaine lettuce is really notorious for this and both he and Clover love it. I have really limited their salad and they are back to nice normal poos.

 

[theevenstarlight]

Rabbits just love eating. I have 4 and they get so excited about whatever I give them - hay, pellets, greens, and an occassional pineapple/papaya tablet treat. As long as your bun has access to hay at all times he will not starve.