Diet question? Should I cut off the pellets?

Chewy is almost 3 years old and he seems to have put on some weight during the past few months.
He is as active as usual and runs around alot, but he's fat, let's face it, and it's not just the winter fur!
I think it would be a good idea to stop giving him pellets? I would only give him like 1 or 2 pellets in the morning and evening, because the pellets is what regulates his days.
He knows that in the morning, after the pellets come, the hutch door opens and he can go outside. And in the evening, when he hears us shake the pellet bag, he knows it's time to come back in and runs inside his hutch.
He also gets a treat in the morning when my brother feeds him, because he likes to have Chewy jump on his lap to eat the treat. Should we stop giving him the treats too?

I think he would be better off on a timothy hay + greens diet only, with the 1 or 2 pellets to keep him in his routine. Is this a good idea?

Here's my fat boy :

Is it possible he has just put on his winter fat?

It isn't unusual for rabbits to lay down fat stores over the colder months and then start to lose them again in the spring. I put my rabbits onto a higher protein pellet October to March and then a higher fiber one April to September, they always loose the winter fat in the summer months.

Well I haven't seen him get that fat during the previous winters, but maybe.
Plus he is an indoor bunny mostly, his hutch is in the living room, he only goes outside when the weather is nice (which is, lucky me, almost every day here) and spends all the nights indoor so he really doesn't get cold.
So I should keep giving him the pellets and see if he slims down during the warmer months?

I think if you are only giving him a couple I dont think it would make that much difference sweet.

Perhaps it is just a bit of winter storage?

BTW. That pic of him is Bloomin GORGEOUS!!!!!!

I Chewy!!

I dont think he looks fat.Most bunnys look like that when laid down,both of mine seem to push their dewlaps out. I feed mine on length of time rather than amount as,like humans,somedays they are hungrier than others.They have 30mins to eat pellets[which is usually half a bowl between the two]& fill hay rack & in the evening they have four hours of veg plus more hay.They also get the odd carroty at bedtime.If anything,they have lost weight rather than put it on but sometimes I think thats because fur is sometimes thicker/thinner.I think Dill is tubby & B is underweight but our vet is happy with them so I'm not worried.
Also,if you look at my profile picture,B,the blue/white frenchie,has a very slim body but her dewlap looks huge.That actually isn't fat but extremely thick fur.She always looks bigger than she actually is because of that.

I don't like feeding pellets, and took my last bun off them altogether, however, since doing some more research, I realise that I can't feed Stewie the food that he would get in the wild, to give him a complete diet, so I've taken the advice of experts, that he should have an egg-cup a day as a supplement. It makes him eat an awful lot more hay, and I do get him some wild greens too

bump as I wanna know what wild greens I can get x

Jay wrote:I don't like feeding pellets, and took my last bun off them altogether, however, since doing some more research, I realise that I can't feed Stewie the food that he would get in the wild, to give him a complete diet, so I've taken the advice of experts, that he should have an egg-cup a day as a supplement. It makes him eat an awful lot more hay, and I do get him some wild greens too

Is this for the probiotics in the pellets Jay?

4390evans wrote:bump as I wanna know what wild greens I can get x

This is a good list of different vegetables, fruit and herbs for buns


http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/resources/content/info-sheets/safefoods.htm

Tuckerbunnies wrote:

Jay wrote:I don't like feeding pellets, and took my last bun off them altogether, however, since doing some more research, I realise that I can't feed Stewie the food that he would get in the wild, to give him a complete diet, so I've taken the advice of experts, that he should have an egg-cup a day as a supplement. It makes him eat an awful lot more hay, and I do get him some wild greens too

Is this for the probiotics in the pellets Jay?

partly, and also just that when wild food is scarce, like for the next few months, pellets provide the extra nutrition. I have to say though, that since hearing FH-B's talk the other week, I'm looking at this again.