Too many pellets? Not eating hay? Lunging?

[BiterBunny]

So, no name bunny is settling in really well! He still lets me pet him, but he does lunge rather insanely when I reach for anything in his cage. Aside from a nueter (Which he'll be getting) is there any way to treat this behavior? I'm worried that it'll be a learned behavior even after he's been altered. Aside from that, he seems so well adjusted. He begs at the cage door when he sees me come in, cause he knows I bring goodies. He takes treats from me and does not run when I get him.

Other than that, I don't notice him eating much hay. Mostly it seems like he throws it all around instead of eating it. He likes to dig in it. Would switching hays help? He's on Timothy now. And when he first came, he ate it. But now that he is well fed, he does not really prefer it.

He's still on crappy store brand pellets, but I'm trying to find an Oxbow supplier now. He eats A LOT of pellets. At least 1/3 cup daily, usually more. He eats until the bowl is empty and I'm trying not to give in and refill it every time, but he looks so pitiful.

He's been getting loads of veggies. Usually a few big romaine lettuce leaves, some chunks of green pepper, cucumber, squash, or zucchini. He's also had banana and tomato. All were bunny approved! But I did have to cut down on his pellets to get him to eat those.

Is there a feeding guideline I should be following?

Aside from that, he's pooping and PEEING SO MUCH, lol.

 

[1234bunnies777]

Unlimited hay always i cant really think of any kind of hay other than timothy i dont think it would help to swith because there arent really any types that are good for a rabbit his age

food should be 1 cup of pellets unlimited hay i do about a cup of veggies and maybe 3 leaves of lettuce and i give fruits as treats

hopefully some other people that know more about the hay will respond because i've never had a problem with that

good luck :biggrin:

 

[LaylaLop]

Amount of pellets depends on age of rabbit and size of rabbit. For my holland lops (about 3-4 pounds) I give them slightly less than 1/2 cup of food a day. They are both fairly young (about 8 months and 14 months) so once the youngest hits a year I'll probably limit to about 1/3 cup of pellets a day to prevent them from getting chubby and give more greens. They have unlimited timothy hay (the other common types are brome, orchard, or alfalfa) and they get about 1/2-1 cup of greens daily.

 

[LakeCondo]

Any grass hay [ie non-alfalfa] would be good. If there are feed stores near you, I'd get some there. I give greens about an hour before I give pellets, which increases the chance that the greens will be eaten.

 

[tamsin]

I should think he's eating the dry food in preference to hay because it's tastier. Unfortunately the tastiest things (chocolate cake yummm) aren't always good for us in large quantities. I would be really mean and restrict the pellets. It's normal for dry food bowl to be empty 90% of the day. I'd encourage him to swap his preferences by splitting the feeds into two or three and leaving several hours in between when his bowl is empty and he only has hay available.