Didnt stop feeding baby diet

[Samara87]

I completely dropped the ball on this one. I read that the ideal time to start phasing out the baby diet is around 6-7 months. Well, my counting is a bit off. For some reason I was only counting the months we’ve had him, which is six. But he was around 8 weeks old when I got him. Which means hes right around 8 months old. So, how should I handle this? He doesnt seem to be gaining weight from the alfalfa, unlimited pellets, and salad he gets every night. And I just bought a brand new bag of alfalfa, which usually lasts him a week or so. Should I just pick up a bag of timothy and start mixing it with the alfalfa to gradually change? Or should I be worried enough to just make the switch right away? And should I gradually scale back the amount of pellets he gets? Or just cut it down right away? I’m not super worried. Just wondering the best way to handle this. 

[tanlover14]

Definitely don’t switch right away — it can cause GI upset. Just begin gradually changing to timothy! I personally prefer transitioning to the timothy and then lessening the pellets. I prefer to do the changes separately to help make the change the least stressful. Some bunnies react to change, others are fine. I like to play it on the safe side though. The best way to switch to timothy is to do:
Week 1 – 3/4 alfalfa, 1/4 timothy
Week 2 – 1/2 alfalfa, 1/2 timothy
Week 3 – 3/4 timothy, 1/4 alfalfa
Week 4 – all timothy
With limiting food intake, I always go down each week by 1/8 of a cup until they are on the amount I plan to keep them long term.

[Samara87]

Thank you! I have one other concern, which is he has one of those automatic feeder things in his cage for pellets, and I havent been keeping an eye on it too much. So I have no idea how much he actually eats per day. Should I just start at maybe half a cup, and work my way down to an 8th of a cup? He’s a pretty small little guy.

[tanlover14]

I would give him a cup and measure how much he eats over the course of the day until the next feeding. Then limit down from there. Mine usually begin at about 1/2-3/4 of a cup and then I limit down from there.

[LBJ10]

Totally agree with TL. You can start mixing the food any time now to start the transition. And yes, you will want to start rationing him. See how much he willingly eats now and go from there. You’ll want to choose an amount that is appropriate for his weight, or less if you decide to do a lot of daily veggies.

[Beka27]

You’re absolutely fine! Six months is when it’s recommended to start switching, but some people wait until closer to a year. No harm done!

[Samara87]

I give him a LOT of veggies. Well, maybe not like a lot, but quite a bit. Like, two cupsish. Which seems fine, now that we’ve discovered he’s secretly a whale. Somehow he’s gotten to be a whole 5 lbs without anyone noticing.

[Author]

Messages