Rabbit questions for Fluffybunny.

Just wondered how do you know if your rabbit is getting enough food Rosie is fed every night with Science diet and when I go up to her in the morning about 10 ish - she has scoffed the lot (She is a Netherland Dwarf rabbit) Should I give her some more food or not? I hate to think that she has nothing in her bowl all day if she fancies a nibble. Is there any set amount that a rabbit should eat a day? She's about 7 months old and doesn't look overweight or anything Binka doesn't seem to eat his food as readily as she does - but perhaps thats cos he is older than her.

Another question - If you buy two female rabbits from the same litter, will they get on okay and live together happily or will they probably start fighting and have to be separated when they reach maturity?

Thanks Fluffy

Or if anyone else can answer these questions please do

Hello Foxy! It's perfectly good for a food bowl of an adult bun (i.e. one that has stopped growing, which Rosie probably has at 7 months old) to be empty most of the time. Rabbits should have constant access to hay and/or grass as this what grinds their teeth down and provides the right amount of fibre. If they have constant access to their dried food they will eat that all the time and not their hay/grass (bit like leaving a big bowl of sweets out all the time for the children!).

If Rosie isn't losing weight and eats her grass/hay, then it's nothing to worry about. Some rabbits are a right pain to get them to eat hay and obviously if they would rather eat nothing, then that's a problem, but as long as her weight is ok, that's fine. My buns get a handful (literally a handful!) of pellets per pair, twice a day. The other advantage of only giving a few pellets is that it is obvious when you go to feed them, if they are feeling ok! They are so excited to get their food (like children with chocolate!) that if you feed them and one is sat quietly and doesn't want it, it gives you an early warning that they need to get to the vets!

As for two female littermates - it varies depending on the individual rabbits. Some will get on perfectly well for life, others will fight at maturity. Partly it depends on the size of the accommodation (so if they have somewhere huge, they have plenty of room to get away from each other, whereas if it's just a normal hutch they are very likely to fight), how much they have to 'do' and whether they can smell other rabbits. Many years ago I had a pair of female littermates in a hutch and run and they lived very well together, but I do know of plenty of people who have had to separate them or get them spayed and slowly reintroduce them. If someone you know is wanting to get some baby buns, please please encourage them to go to a rescue rather than a pet shop or breeder - I know a lot of rescues have taken in litters this year so there are lots of happy healthy baby buns in rescues too, and rehoming has been very slow

Hope that helps!
Fluffy xx

Hiya Fluffy - thanks for the good advice

Yes Rosie does eat hay too - looks like she is eating too much of the Science diet then. She has hay in her bedding part and I also put hay in her exercise pen because we had to put paving stones down in there because she kept digging huge holes if you remember She is a lot more active than Binka though - she plays throwing her toy jingly rabbit all over the pen and loves getting in her igloo and moving it all over the place (it looks really funny as if the igloo is moving on its own )

No it was my sister who wanted to know because she had to have her Netherland dwarf rabbit put to sleep a few weeks ago because he had an abcess on his tooth or something and she wanted to get a pair of rabbits if possible. She went looking at a rescue and saw some she liked but her hubby wanted a baby netherland dwarf one again - I haven't seen her this weekend so I don't know whether they got one or not. I am definitely going to get a rescue if any of my rabbits die - I saw some beautiful ones there on Sunday.

My sister has just emailed me and she has got a new rabbit and its sort of a rescue - its come from a 'broken' home as she put it. The parents split up and the mother wouldn't let her daughter take her rabbit with her So at least it saved the rabbit going into rescue didn't it

Hi Foxy.
I feed my Hare in the morning and when I shut him in at night, he would eat all day if I let him!

He gets veggies in the morning when i let him out and a complete food last thing. You will be able to tell by the look and feel of your Rabbit if she is heavy enough.
Dawn.

Thanks Dawn She definitely isn't overweight but I will be careful how much I give her in case she starts putting weight on as she gets older

What do you feed your hare on - just normal rabbit food?

Hi, can I just say thanks Foxy for posting this. Marsha and Bob are being really fussy since we took them down off their big open run because of the weather getting bad. Marsha just wants to eat "junk food", she is a bad girl. Bob isn't so bad but I worry about him too.
Oh and thanks Fluffybunny for your reply.

x

Yes Foxy, he's a bunny really, its just a breed of Rabbit bred to look like a Hare. I like the athletic, natural appearance, which is why I had one.
Dawn.

Sounds lovely, have you got anmy pics Dawn?

Absolutely! The best kind of rescue, that way the bun only has the stress of moving once, not twice! Glad they have got themselves a lovely new bun!

Fluffy x