Rabbits & Other Small Animals

how to tell if your rabbit is stupid? I'm kidding. Eddie's honking me off tonite. I don't know why he's being such a freaking grumpy pain in the arse. Anyways..............

How do you tell if a female is overweight?

I think Lolli's overweight, but I'm not sure cause she seems to be more solid than Eddie. If that makes sense. I can only feel her spine and can slightly feel her ribs. Lullabelle is the same way. So are they just overweight oinkers or is their shape normal for females - solid barrel shaped when they are hopping around?

Yes, I need to quit giving them so many treats. But I seriously only give them like 4 raisins a day - 2 each when I leave in the morning and then 2 each at night. Plus a few oats. lol unless they are being horrible. I have to give them some treats to get their arses back in the pen. Which defeats the punishment purpose, but it somewhat saves my sanity. LOL

Eddie and Lollipop!  

Dried fruits are really high in sugar and you shouldn't give them as treats every day. One per rabbit 2 or 3 times a week is more like what you should give them as far as raisins go.

Feeling a rabbits spine doesn't work like it does for cats and dogs. Even a highly obese rabbit will still have feelable ribs. When Lolli is up running around, look at her from the side. You should be able to see a bit of a tuck up in the belly area. If you can't, she's most likely fat.

MOST house rabbits are obese. Pellets were originally designed to fatten up rabbits for butchering and the recepie hasn't changed much since then. While there are some that are healthier than others, they're still highly concentrated food and will fatten your rabbit up nicely if used as the main part of their meal.

Cut WAY back on the treats or switch to something like half (or even quarter) of a grape instead of raisins. Make sure you're not over feeding them on pellets. It's something like 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 pounds of rabbit per day. If they've got access to plenty of fresh hay and water all day long then they really don't need any more than that. Most veggies aren't a problem but some have high sugars and shoul be given sparingly, such as carrots. Fruits should only be given in tiny portions 2 or 3 times a week.

If you think your rabbit is over weight, she likely is. Putting them both on a diet won't hurt them any even if they're not.

Turdle

I agree with Turdlewhipper.

My Jim is actually looking fat, but he's not.  He's solid, as in muscular solid.  Jack is floppy, so any weight he puts on (which is only when James' Grandmother takes care of him.  I think she feeds him steak and potatoes LOL) is soft and squishy.  Bella was the same, soft and squishy.

Baby on the otherhand is like Jim, very muscular.  So it's sometimes hard to tell.

But Turdlerwhipper is right.  There should be a slight indentation from the end of the ribs.  It shouldn't sticking out round like a barrel.  And sometimes you can tell by the dewlap too.  If your bun is getting too chunky, often the dewlap gets much bigger.  Like a fat person with a double chin? LOL.

She's also right about the pellets and other foods.  Our buns are so freaking spoilt LOL.  But we know no better right? LOL LOL LOL.  Just keep telling yourself that and it'll be fine :) LOL.

I was watching Lolli tonite. Got down on the floor and talked to her cause I think she did a binky right into the wood box. LOL And....she's definitely overweight. Her belly's almost touching the floor and so is her chest. And she keeps going to the cage where the treats are kept on top and stretching up there, like she's wanting to get to them, but doesn't want to get in trouble. HAHAHAHA!

I know Eddie's weight is fine cause they weighed him last month when I took him to the vet. So us girls need to lay off the sweets! hehehe

Michelle

Eddie and Lollipop!