Have let my two new buns settle in a little before I gave them an all over check.

I had already noticed that their nails were all really long and starting to turn sideways so I've clipped them.

I turned them over and had a good look and found huge lumps (bigger than a raisin) stuck in their scent glands, they were hard and very dark brown, obviously never been cleaned. So I've cleaned all that away and the fawn one had a slightly messy bum because of his long fur so I got that sorted too.

Their teeth and ears, nose, eyes, look fine.

My first question is - Is there anything else I need to check? :roll:

Secondly - Funky, the fawn one, is much bigger than Fluff. I'm guessing he may be a cross breed, but I also think he's over weight.
As my limited experience is all to do with Nethies, I'm not sure what size he should be or what his ideal weight is but I do know that his last owner was giving them as many pellets as they would eat, alfalfa hay and yoghurt treats amongst other fattening foods. I have noticed though they really aren't eating any hay but that could be because they have been using those mesh cubes meant for chinchillas so I've replaced that with hay racks but they're still not eating it even though I've cut down the pellets. They weren't eating greens either but I have started them on a little spring greens and they have eaten some.
So, my question is, what weight should he be, and, what's the best way to help him shed a few pounds?

Thankyou in advance :D

Its hard to say what weight he should be especially if he is a crossbreed, i guess a lionhead would weigh 2kg ish (please correct me if im wrong anyone!) so it really depends on what he is crossed with. As for shedding the pounds you could wean him into excel lite and see if he eats it? :)

when ours were weighed recently, Billy weighed 2.6kg but he is a fairly big rabbit.
(probably his ears that weigh the most!)

The vet didnt think he was fat

:)

Tracey
x

What type of hay do you have? Sometimes you have to try different ones to temp buns that aren't use to it. Reducing the pellets will help loads. Do you feed carrots? They are quite high in sugar so may be worth cutting those out (if you are feeding them that is! :D )
Hard to say what he should weigh as Kim said :confused:
As to if there is anything else you should check..........ummmm might be a good idea to check through their coat just incase they have any little friends! :D
Hope that helps :D :D :D

My Lionhead is about 2kg :)

My hay atm is regular horse hay, my other buns love it. Thing is, they weren't eating the alfalfa hay either. (well not since they came to me, i left them with it for the first 24 hrs)
I haven't fed any carrots as yet, just spring greens, I wasn't sure they were used to much veg so I just decided it's best to introduce greens n veg slowly, one at a time. They didn't eat much of it though, my other buns eat a big bowl in seconds flat! They also didn't have any grass in their garden so I doubt they've had it before. I'm hoping that now I've cut back on the pellets that they may be hungry enough to eat more hay.

I can't find any little friends, lol

I guess it's wait n see, just worried about Funky's weight though, he was the bun with the dirty bum so I'm worried he can't clean himself and he hated being on his back when I cleaned his scent glands, poor thing.

Do they seem to be eating the pellets ok?

Yes, they are eating pellets but I'm not giving them as much as the lady was. So they must be hungry.

I just took the spring greens out to them, Funky came running down his ramp and started munching. Fluff stamped his foot at me, how dare I open his cage? lol