Acting like he’s starving

[Deleted User]

my buns will officially be seniors in 3 days! On that note, I’ve been decreasing their pellets gradually to get them down to the recommended 1/8 cup per day. Right now they are on 1/3 cup, and next week 1/4 cup, then the week after they will finally be at 1/8 cup. I feed them their 1/3 cup at night around 11pm, which is when I’ve consistently fed them since bringing them home. Bombur acts like I’m starving him! The second he sees the cup measure enter his cage he freaks out and sticks his nose in the pellet dish and inhales it. Like they are gone within two hours. He begrudgingly will eat hay the rest of the day, but if he hears anything remotely similar to food he just freaks out. Is this normal when decreasing pellets? Asriel, on the other hand, has been such a good boy. He will literally ration his pellets throughout the day and eat hay willingly. Sometimes he won’t even eat all his pellets before I feed them again. They both get unlimited access to hay, and I feed them fresh greens 3 times a week. I just don’t understand why Bombur is being like this while Asriel is coping nicely. Any ideas?

[DanaNM]

Moose is like this…. he wolfs his pellets down very quickly (within a minute!), and tries to yank the pellet scoop out of my hand. I feed a very small ration too.

Is he eating the right amount of hay? We recently found out Moose had a rotten tooth, so he wasn’t eating enough hay… so he was really hungry all the time. He’s doing better and is eating more hay again, but still acts as crazy as ever for pellets!

So idk, haha. I think if his hay consumption is good (a lot), then it’s normal. But if he isn’t much hay, have his teeth checked!

Do you really only feed greens 3 times a week? Or was that a typo? Mine get greens twice a day every day.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Boston's Mama]

My boy only gets small amount of greens due to sensitive tummy so he is on 1/4 cup of burgess pellets a day ( 1/8 morning and 1/8 night )
If yours aren’t having 2 cups of veges each a day you will need more pellets otherwise you wiht be replacing the nutrition from them, that is why I do 1/8 cup of pellets twice a day as greens and veges are not everyday here

Aside from that ^ , all bunnies once on limited pellets act like that my boy here’s the cupboard where pellets are kept and he goes crazy. He stomps his feet and runs madly to his pen door and acts like he’s a crazy pellet addict

[Bam]

It’s normal for rabbits to act like they are starving. You mustn’t cave. Hay is the most important food, more pellets and vegs makes them eat less hay, and that isn’t good for them. Buns can eat fresh grass just as well as hay though, so if you have somewhere you can cut fresh grass that’s not been treated with pesticides and where there are no raccoons, you can give that. It’s more popular than hay, but it’s still the same thing because hay is dried grass. Rinse it thouroghly before serving. Nutritional deficiences are unlikely but if your buns are losing weight, you can up the pellets a bit again.

Why some buns are hungrier than other buns is probably due to the same mechanisms that make some people hungrier than some other people. It’s very complicated and has both genetic and environmental causes. It has to do with hunger hormones and dopamine and signalling pathways and lots and lots of things. How it really works is a nut science yet has to crack, and they really do want to crack it. Imagine to money to be made if someone were to invent a safe drug that could make all of us slim and slender without having to be hungry.

[Azerane]

Rabbits are just as bad as dogs when it comes to begging for food and treats and acting hungry all the time. Any time my pair hear anything that sounds remotely like the pellet bag or treat bag they go beserk. They’re not starving, they’re just greedy

[joea64]

Posted By Azerane on 9/20/2017 3:47 AM

Rabbits are just as bad as dogs when it comes to begging for food and treats and acting hungry all the time. Any time my pair hear anything that sounds remotely like the pellet bag or treat bag they go beserk. They’re not starving, they’re just greedy

Preach it. I had to open a couple of bags from the pharmacy last evening to get out my new medication refills, and those two furry food hoovers of mine were at the X-pen fence in half a trice, bouncing up and down in anticipation of the tasty they were absolutely sure was coming. They can even hear me opening their bag of pellets from clear across the room.

[Deleted User]

Phew! Good to know!
Dana: I had been giving them 2 cups of greens everyday, but Bombur especially has a sensitive tummy and mass produces cetrocopes if he gets greens more than 3 times a week. Asriel gets them usually everyday cause his tummy is fine. Bombur is my problem child in terms of health ?

[Deleted User]

As for hay, Bombur’s teeth are fine, he just loves his pellets over the hay. He’ll eat it when he sees no other alternative. I was impressed, he actually ate almost his entire hay rack yesterday. It was a first since he was a little bun

[DanaNM]

That’s good! Just wanted to cover the bases. :p 

I’m pretty sure bunnies are actually just little pigs in fur coats. 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Deleted User]

Hahaha he actually got the name Bombur from the dwarf in The Hobbit that eats a ton. I think it suits him nicely ?

[DanaNM]

Haha yes! That’s amazing! That’s how Moose got his name too, he eats like an animal many times his size!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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