Worried About Mocha

[SunnieBunnie Rabbitry]

MyBunnyBoys wrote:

As for diabetes, he gains weight, I know that because Irecently increased his pellets so he has some winter fat on him. Iwould have taken him to the vet if things weren't normal by tomorrowmorning. Thanks for the help and sorry for being the over concernedmommy!

Hello MyBunnyBoys,

In all honesty and concern... you do not want to increase his feed forwinter fat. When the weather starts changing (getting colder)rabbits will tend to go off feed or not eat as much. Food =Calories, Calories = Energy... When a rabbit does not exhert as muchenergy (as done in spring & summer, playing, running, mating,etc.) they do not need as much calories, therefore they won't eat asmuch food.

Another important note... you do not want Fat on a rabbit. Itis unhealthy for them and it may cause underlying health conditions...like stress due to having too much weight on them. It will domore harm than good.... and I'm sorry to have to put it this way, butwhole heartedly --- "You don't want to love your bunny to death."

At the moment, I have 30 Mini Rex and 1 pet rabbit... The vast majorityof them, excluding the babies, have slowed down their eating habbits...they still consume their full ration, but it's taking longer for themto do it.... The weather has a great impact on rabbits. Iknow it's just a matter of time when they have left overs from theprevious day's feeding --- that's when I know it's time to cut theirfeed and how much to cutfor winter.

Good luck with your little one,

~Sunshine

 

[Spiced77]

hey Sunnie... do inside bunnies do the same withtheir food in winter?? i've noticed that both of mine are taking longerto eat their salad in the mornings, and seem to be eating lesspellets.. i thought it was just me, but maybe not!

 

[SunnieBunnie Rabbitry]

Yes, indoor bunnies will tend to do the same.

When the winter months come, it gets dark earlier - so it's a rabbit'snatural instinct is to metabolize thier food slower in the shorter daysthan in the longer summer days.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

SunnyBunnie Rabbitry,

What you have to understand is that I live in Canada. My boys would betoo cold to live through a winter with -40 weather if they didn't havesome weight on them. They are not overly fat, they are slightly biggerthan what I keep them at in the summer. I don't want my boys beingtoocold or too fatand I've been advised by my vetthat a slight inscrease in food should benefit them in the cold months.

 

[SunnieBunnie Rabbitry]

MyBunnyBoys wrote:

SunnyBunnie Rabbitry,

What you have to understand is that I live in Canada. My boys would betoo cold to live through a winter with -40 weather if they didn't havesome weight on them. They are not overly fat, they are slightly biggerthan what I keep them at in the summer. I don't want my boys beingtoocold or too fatand I've been advised by my vetthat a slight inscrease in food should benefit them in the cold months.

No problem... Please note: I don't pay much attention to the left side of the boards...lol, so I didn't see you were in Canada.

I was just posting in concern, as some people don't consult the adviceof a vet or breeder and just make do with what they think will work...such as thinking fat = warmth... therefore the more fat on the rabbitthe warmer it will be for winter. -I'm not saying this is you:shock:. Rabbits go through thier regular molt in Summer andfall to prepare themselves and grow in their "thicker winter coat" tobe able to accomidate the colder weather. There are also anumber of other ways to keep your boys warm in the winter months thanadding a layer of fat to them... By the way, How many boys do youhave?... I'm just curious, I love bunnies .

In addition, I thought I'd give some insight to what naturally occursin rabbits for winter months... such as slowing down their food intake,not finishing what's in their bowls, etc. --- there were some peoplelike MyBunnyBoysconcerned about that.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I'm not concerned about them not finishing theirfood, I only get worried when they don't eat any food at all or show nointerest in it like Mocha did the other morning.

I know about rabbits getting a thicker coat but I also noted lastwinter that he never got a really thick coat compared to Spice, it waspretty much as thick as his summer coat.

I, however, did not know about metabolism slowing down but it does makecomplete sense now that you pointed it out. I don't just increase thefeed all winter, I simply increase it to put a bit more weight on themand then adjust the feed to keep the weight at a good level. Mocha hadsuch a thin coat last winter that when him and Spice started fightingin January, I decided that Mocha was the one that could live in thegarage until Spring because I was concerned seeing as how January isour coldest month.

As for my bunnies, I have 2, Mocha and Spice. They are half brothers(same dad, different moms) and mixed breed "accidents", I prefer tocall them mixed breed blessings though. My friend was unaware she had amale and 2 females. I've had Mocha since he was about 7 weeks and Spicewhen he was about 15 weeks.

 

[rabbitgirl]

SunnieBunnie Rabbitry wrote:

In all honesty and concern... you do not want to increase his feed forwinter fat. When the weather starts changing (getting colder)rabbits will tend to go off feed or not eat as much. Food =Calories, Calories = Energy... When a rabbit does not exhert as muchenergy (as done in spring & summer, playing, running, mating,etc.) they do not need as much calories, therefore they won't eat asmuch food.

Weird. My bunnies have a major appetite increase when it starts gettingcold. They eat almost nothing in summer. But then, I'm in WI, the stateof extreme temps!

Rose

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

MyBunnyBoys wrote:

They are half brothers (same dad, different moms) and mixed breed"accidents", I prefer to call them mixedbreed blessings though. My friend was unaware she had a male and 2females. I've had Mocha since he was about 7 weeks and Spice when hewas about 15 weeks.

LAURA! Sebastian's little girl was one of"those"! Werefer to her as our "surprise" child rather thanour "accident"!It sounds much more dignified! Nowonder Mocha has anattitude!!!

Raspberry

PS- I just re-read and saw you call him ablessing....my apologiesdear!