Hands tell you more than eyes ever will
A rabbit's coat is designed to deceive. A round-looking rabbit may be mostly fluff, and a sleek-looking one may be padded underneath, so judge by touch and by scale rather than silhouette. Sit your rabbit on a non-slip surface at a calm moment, let it settle, and run both hands slowly along the sides from shoulders to hips.
On a rabbit at a healthy weight, the ribs are easy to find with light pressure, each one distinct under a thin layer of flesh. The spine feels like a row of gentle bumps along the back, and the hip points are rounded rather than buried or knobbly. On an overweight rabbit the same hands slide over a smooth, spongy surface: ribs take real pressing to locate, the spine disappears into padding, and a roll of fat may sit in front of the hips or along the shoulders.
Weigh, record and watch the trend
Touch is a snapshot; weight gives you the story. Weigh your rabbit on a flat scale, in a carrier or box it already knows, and write the number down each time in your own notes. The same rabbit weighed the same way every few weeks shows a creep that hands miss, especially in a rabbit whose exercise drops in winter or whose treat intake quietly rises with a new household member.
Interpret the number with the frame in mind. Rabbits vary hugely by breed and build, so there is no single correct weight to aim at — the useful questions are whether your rabbit is gaining, and whether that gain matches what your hands feel. A rising weight plus ribs that are getting harder to find is a clear answer even without a breed chart. Ask your vet at routine visits to confirm your reading of your rabbit's condition; a hands-on check from them calibrates your own.
The everyday clues owners notice first
Behaviour often reports weight before the scale does. A rabbit carrying extra fat may stop reaching around to groom its rear end, leaving a dirty bottom that then attracts flies — a serious risk in warm weather. Healthy rabbits eat some of their soft droppings directly as they are produced; a rabbit who can no longer reach will leave them squashed in the bedding or stuck to its fur, losing nutrition and giving you a visible sign. A growing dewlap, reluctance to hop up into a favourite level, moving less around the run, and pellets or treats disappearing faster than the hay pile all belong in the same picture.
Check the hocks too. Extra weight presses sore, balding patches into the feet, especially on hard flooring, and those sore spots are both a sign of the problem and a reason a rabbit moves less, which deepens it. Soft, deep bedding and getting the weight moving down helps on both fronts.
What to do with a yes
If your hands and the scale agree your rabbit is overweight, change the extras first: hay stays unlimited, pellets get measured rather than poured, fruit and carrot become rare treats, and floor space and interesting runs get bigger so movement is inviting. Make changes gradually and keep weighing, expecting a slow trend rather than a plunge. See a vet before starting if your rabbit is elderly, has sore hocks, a dirty bottom that will not clear, or any other health concern, and go promptly if a rabbit stops eating at any point — rabbits must never be fasted, whatever their weight.
KinsLe's Care Teams turns the regular weigh-in into a recurring shared duty, marked complete with a timestamp each time, so the trend is never lost between one person's memory and another's.