About 6 weeks ago we adopted our second bunny Aurelia, she’s just 5 months old this week and she’s so delightful. Before getting her, we have a 1.5 yo male dwarf lop Augustus, he was happy and healthy but I can see clearly how much happier he is now with the new friend.
They bonded after the lop boy claimed dominance. They are very happy together except for feeding time, it gets competitive. Details of their eating dynamic is 3 paragraphs down. And 1 time out of 10, he would try to hump her but since she’s physically more fit, he usually couldn’t catch her, so he just tries to pull hair off her back when he wants to dominate
Our lop was on a healthy diet, when he was the only bunny, he had unlimited normal hay, normal amount of vegies, gets a little bit of alfalfa (half a cup) for treat, his weight was very ideal and he poops beautifully.
The new bunny, I don’t know her breed but I think she’s a rex/tan cross. She’s very athletic and very excited about the world so she runs and jumps a lot. She moved into his condo where she can access all his food, plus I give them 2-3 times (2 is my intention, but sometimes me and fiance double fed them accidentally) amount of alfalfa since she’s still young. I noticed that at the rescue centre she was given those mixed food with lots of seeds and dried fruit, and she felt very dense and heavy when she hops on things when we first got her, so when she had her vet visit after 4 weeks for a bladder infection, she weighed 300 grams less and we thought it made sense since she went on our mainly hay diet.
Now I start to realise her weight loss is not purely from changed diet since he put on so much weight!
The problem is: Our lop is not a big food sharer, and rex/tan is not that eager about food. She has a smaller mouth, eats more elegantly, slower, and she just generally has less strength than the lop. So when they get 1 big piece of veggie, he would pull it away from her mouth and runs away, she chased him but he chews super fast so she doesn’t get much before the whole thing is gone. When they get their shredded alfalfa, he would stick to it until the bowl’s empty, while she eats half way through then hops away to just be content. Recently I found she’s getting lighter, she stops making big bang when she hops on wooden platforms, although being a lean breed, I can feel her bones easily when I held her. He, on the other hand, got rounder and heavier. So I’m suspecting it’s because the alfalfa mostly consumed by him!
If numbers make it more clear:
mini rex/tan: 1.9kg —(4 weeks)—> 1.6kg —(2 weeks)—> 1.3kg
dwarf lop: 1.3kg —(4 weeks)—>1.6kg —(2 weeks) –> didn’t measure but definitely heavier
I started giving her some alone time to eat alfalfa 3 days ago, but it doesn’t seem going that well. My approach is taking him to another room and close the door for ~20 mins, but I found both of them got a bit upset. He seemed to have little interest in exploring other rooms when shut out, he just sat in front of the door, waiting, scratch a bit, then wait again, it really made me sad. Similarly, she barely ate any alfalfa alone, she just sat next to the bowl, then when he’s back in the cage, they will eat together.
I think what I would do is having them in the cage room but he outside the cage when she eats rich food. I expect him to get mad and will do all his best to get in. I can try to hold him or distract him but I hope witnessing her having a privilege won’t provoke him and bring the humping and hair pulling behaviours back!
If any of you have experience or suggestions on feeding a bonded pair of adult and young bunnies, please share your insight!
Thank you!
Megan