I know it sounds weird but ever since a few weeks ago he's gotten way too over weight. He's a dwarf rabbit but he looks like a regular rabbit because of his weight gain. I'm scared something might happen to him because he's gotten over weight. I feed him normally but I'm not sure why he's over weight now. Thanks :]How can i make my rabbit lose weight?
My advice is in stark contrast to the other advice given, but I've been raising rabbits for 26 years and I studied animal nutrtition in college. Plus I've read a couple books and several articles on the subject.
Be concerned about the amount of fat your rabbit has and not the amount of weight it has. A heavy rabbit can be perfectly healthy as long as it is not fat.
A good example of explaining what I mean would be like:
If I told you a guy weighed 300 pounds, would you say he needed to go on a diet? Now what if I added after you answered that he was a 6'4'; professional body builder. That changes the answer a little doesn't it?
The problem I see all to often is that people see their rabbit as weighing too much or being too big and they put it on a diet. But if you put a healthy rabbit on a diet, it would be like putting that body builder on a diet. The only thing your rabbit would lose would be muscle. And it is very unhealthy for your rabbit to lose muscle. If you can feel the bumps on your rabbit's backbone, then your rabbit isn't getting the nutrition it needs and it is also a sign that your rabbit has lost muscle.
The best way to determine if your rabbit is healthy or not is to grab the fur around the rabbits neck. The more loose fur you can grab, the fatter your rabbit is. This is the best check because most of the rabbit's fat accumulates right under the hide, making the hide loose. A fat rabbit is normally the result of either of two things: genetics or what you feed it.
Notice that I didn't say how much you feed it. I said what you feed it. Rabbits quit eating when they are full. So that normally isn't what makes them fat. What makes them fat is what you feed them. What you want to avoid is a diet that is too high in energy.
Don't worry about the protein percentage being too high. Protein doesn't make a rabbit fat. If a rabbit has too much protein, it just pees the excess out. What you have to worry about is the amount of excess energy, % of fat, and amount of carbohydrates. Fat/lipids are high in energy and if it isn't used as energy, fat goes to fat. Carbohydrates are used to produce energy for the rabbit, but if they aren't used they get stored as fat. Protein is high in energy, but if it isn't used it just gets peed out of the system, so it can't become fat.
So here are some things you should do:
1. Check how loose the rabbit's fur is around it's neck.
2. If your rabbit is fat and you are feeding any treats or snacks, then stop. Treats are normally high in energy and carbohydrates and sugars and will make your rabbit fat.
3. Check the label on your feed bag. Look at the percentage of fat. That should not be over 3%. Around 2.5% is pretty good. Also look at the ingredient list. The ingredients are listed from largest percentage by weight to smallest percentage by weight. You do not want corn to be near the beginning of the list. It is high in energy and carbohydrates and can cause you rabbit to get fat.
One person on here gave you some percentages as far as protein to feed to your rabbit. The percentages they gave you are definitely on the low side as far as protein. If your rabbit gets that little of protein it will stunt their growth, which is not good. Think of it this way. If you have a kid that should grow to 6 ft tall and he only grows to 5'2 because he had a poor nutritional diet. That's basically what you'd be doing to that rabbit.
A growing rabbit should get at least 16-18% protein when it is growing. A rabbit that is over a year old should get a diet that is about 14-16% protein. Rabbits require a higher percentage of protein in the summer than they do in the winter. Rabbits eat less in the summer so they need a higher percentage of protein to get the same amount of protein in less feed. In the winter, rabbits need a diet with higher fiber and less protein because they will eat more. They will get the same amount of protein, but by eating more feed.
Another note is that many pet stores refer to any small rabbit as a dwarf. If you got it at a pet store, the rabbit could have been a young rabbit from a larger breed and now it could be growing to its normal size. People such as myself that show rabbits normally only refer to the breed of Netherland Dwarfs as a Dwarf. Although the one exception might be a Dwarf Hotot. Pet stores often do not know very much about rabbits and usually are lucky to get the breed of the rabbit right.
If you are looking for any good books on rabbits, especially on rabbit nutrition then I recommend looking up books written by Peter R. Cheeke. He has a more general book on how to raise rabbits called Rabbit Production. And he has another book he wrote on rabbit nutrition which I would say is the authoritative book on rabbit nutrition. That book though is hard to get your hands on and normally costs at least $160. Peter Cheeke is a professor at Oregon State University and does research on rabbit nutrition, so he is a very credible source.How can i make my rabbit lose weight?
I had the same issue with two of my rabbits. The rule of how much to feed a rabbit is 1/4 cup of pellets a day for a 5 lb rabbit so a dwarf requires even less. If that doesn't help keep him only on hay and water, that is what I had to do with one of my bunnies and he was able to lose the weight, plus he is healthier for not eating so many pellets. Good luck.
For rabbits under one year old free feed (as much as they want) a fresh, plain, high fiber (18-20%), mid-range protein (14% - 16%) pellet. Adult rabbits should get 1/4 cup of low protein (10% or lower), high fiber pellets PER DAY, per five (5) pounds of optimum* body weight. If you have a rabbit that is difficult to keep weight on or off, consult your vet. Do not feed your rabbit any of the many commercial pellet mixes that contain seeds, dried fruit or colored cereals. These commercial treat foods are geared to look pleasing to us humans, but they are definitely not in the best health interests of your pet rabbit. Rabbits are not seed, fruit or cereal eaters by nature and these types of junk foods are high in sugars and carbohydrates, which as we talked about earlier can lead to an overgrowth of bad bacteria.
Basically dont feed it anything abnormal, hay helps because of high fiber in the digestive track, and since rabbits generally eat veggies it's important to have a blanced diet, so protein pellets would help. If that doesn't work consult your vet.
Maybe his food is too fatty. You can try a different food brand. Here is the food that I like:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js鈥?/a>
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js鈥?/a>
If he is on a diet with seeds in it, you may want to switch to pellets. Seeds are fatty, and don't give the high quality meal that they need. Any plain pellet works good, and if it has little bits of orange and green little circles, or shapes, thats good too. Sunflower seeds are the most fatty seed.
Do you have him on any Timothy Hay??? Timothy Hay is high in fiber, and that is great for digesting easily, and gets rid of extra fat:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js鈥?/a>
Feed him less of the food you give him. Do NOT give him a full cup of food. Just give a half, or a little more than a half of a cup.
Only feed a little bit of Timothy Hay.
Take him out of the cage, and have him run around a bunny-proofed area for an hour! Walk him on a bunny leash around the house! Have him play on the bed, and run all over!
Good Luck!!!
This is normal and needs to be taken care of fast. My rabbit got overweight and the vet told me to follow these steps.
1. Control Feeding Ask you vet for you rabbit I cant tell you how much would be healthy for him , vet can
2. PLAY : You can walk rabbits on a leash and it helps
3. Limit Snacks if any given
These steps do help but I would tell you to play and walk your rabbit
Good luck %26amp; Contact your Vet
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