We’ve all heard that joke in a fancy restaurant when a plate comes out sparse and fancy: “What To Feed Rabbits.” That expression is on to something because feeding a rabbit properly may require more attention than you might think. While the cat and dog food article was brief, this article is longer because a rabbit’s diet needs more preparation than you might suspect.
Changing a Rabbit’s Diet
To prevent gastrointestinal distress, you should gradually make dietary adjustments to your rabbit over time. If your pet’s health is not the best, or if you are unsure whether the changes this article suggests should be made, please consult your veterinarian before proceeding. This article’s food suggestions are for PETS WHO ARE NOT BREEDING OR PRODUCING.
Grass Hay
One of the most crucial components of your pet’s diet is grass hay. Your rabbit needs hay, which should be supplied in a box or hay rack and available at all times. Hay is suitable for rabbits of all ages, beginning with weaning. Hay offers numerous benefits to your rabbit’s health, including:
- It is rich in nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and proteins
- Gives the microorganisms that comprise cecotropes meal
- Supplies indigestible fiber that supports the digestive tract’s normal motility, or movement of its contents.
- It is the most effective prophylactic for digestive and stomach issues, including persistently soft stools.
- Encourages appropriate tooth wear by offering a healthy chewing experience (all rabbit teeth grow constantly throughout life).
Green corn can be stored in uncoated and unglazed baskets, empty boxes, empty paper towels or toilet paper rolls, and other materials to stimulate foraging ideas when paper and household items that chew on unsuitable materials can be minimized.
Grass hay makes up a substantial amount of a rabbit’s diet since, as its primary food source, grasses, and leaves are what they are meant to eat. Hay comes in two fundamental varieties: grass and legume.
Legume Hay
Legume hays consist of legumes such as alfalfa, clover, beans, or peanuts. These hays are loaded with nutrients but have more calories, calcium, and protein than a house rabbit needs. Feeding only legume hays may lead to gastrointestinal disorders and obesity and, for this reason, we do not recommend feeding these hays. We do not advise mixing grass and legume hay since the rabbit could identify the calorie-dense legume hay and overindulge in calories. Alfalfa hay can be given to house rabbits in tiny amounts as treats, but it shouldn’t be their main supply of hay.
Grass Hay
Bermuda, meadow, oat, rye, barley, and Timothy grasses are used to make grass hay. The supply of grass hay varies widely across the nation and the globe. Where you reside could limit the variety you can get. Try to feed mixed grass hay, though, or offer two or more different kinds, if at all possible. Contrary to what some sites claim, it is much better to give a range of grass hays when available, rather than just Timothy hay. While grass hays are high in nutrients, they offer a lower-energy diet suitable for domestic rabbits. The healthiest methods of feeding are these. Select sun-dried hay over commercially dried hay if you can, as the former has more of its nutrients preserved.
Do not feed straw. Because straw lacks most nutrients, even if it is safe in moderation, a diet high in straw will cause substantial nutritional deficiencies in rabbits.
Brands & What to Look For
Hay can be obtained from horse barns, pet stores, feed stores, rabbit clubs, and an increasing number of internet retailers. A few internet retailers that sell grass hay are Sweet Meadow, Kaytee, and the Oxbow Company. The following should be taken into account when purchasing hay:
Purchase fresh-smelling hay; never purchase wet or stale hay.
Purchase from a reliable vendor who regularly restocks the hay
To avoid hay that has come into contact with animal or bird droppings, choose hay that hasn’t been on top of the pile when purchasing from a feed store or horse barn.
Hay Tips
Hay can be kept dry and well-ventilated in an area. Leave the hay bag open instead of closing it. Adding hay to the litter box can aid in litter box training, as rabbits frequently pass feces while eating. There’s no need to worry about sanitation because they won’t eat dirty hay. Hay ought to smell clean. Hay can be offered to rabbits of any age without the need for any specific preparation.
Green Foods
The next most crucial thing in a rabbit’s diet is green stuff. The advantages of green foods are the same as those of hay. In addition, they offer a greater range of vitamins and—most importantly—provide water for the diet. Even with a water container in the cage, rabbits do not always drink as much as they need. Feeding green foods forces the rabbit to consume liquid and helps promote healthy gastrointestinal function as well as kidney and bladder function. It’s usual to discover that your rabbit will drink very little water if you offer him a lot of green vegetables.
Provide Greens Sparingly
You should NEVER give your rabbit a diet that is mostly made up of green items. The green foods available in grocery stores do not have enough concentrated calories to sustain a rabbit’s normal body weight when this is the primary source of food. To get extra calories, rabbits would consume dry grasses as well as leaves from trees and shrubs in the wild. Although they should never make up the entirety of a person’s diet, greens are a valuable complement.
Greens Tips
When choosing and preparing green meals, adhere to the following recommendations:
- If at all possible, purchase or cultivate organic food.
- Clean any produce that is green first.
- First, make sure your bunny is getting enough hay to eat.
- Over several days, gradually add greens to the diet and keep an eye on the feces for any changes.
- Feed your pet a diversity of green meals regularly—three kinds at the very least—to provide them with more cerebral and nutritional stimulation.
Feed a maximum of about one packed cup of green foods per two pounds of body weight at least once a day or this amount is divided twice a day. Uneaten fresh foods should be removed from the cage after three to four hours to prevent spoilage.
What to Watch For
Sometimes a particular green food will put you in a condition where you have a soft stool. After serving the problematic food for twelve hours, you will be able to determine if this is the case. Feed just one green item every 48 hours until the harmful food is found, then just eliminate it from the diet if you are feeding a variety of greens and are unsure which one is the culprit. Although it can be messy, this is not a dangerous scenario, and feeding food that is creating issues is not necessary.
Safe and Nutritious Green Foods for Rabbits
You can offer your rabbit a huge variety of green foods. You might even consider growing some yourself! This would include the grass in your yard, but you can only use grass that hasn’t had any pesticides or other chemicals applied to it. Maybe you should grow a special area of grass for your rabbits. And don’t throw away those dandelions when you pull them up! They are a great source of nourishment if they haven’t received any chemical treatment. Generally speaking, a food’s nutritious content increases with its shade of green.
Therefore we do not recommend iceberg lettuce. It has very little nutritional value yet is not harmful. If the box contains some dark greens and isn’t mostly made up of romaine or iceberg lettuce, you can use it for mixed salad greens. Please, no salad dressing!
The following are some green foods you may want to think about:
- Baby greens
- Bok Choy
- Borage Basil
- Broccoli (leaves and top)
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage (red, green, Chinese)
- Carrot/beet tops
- Celery (leaves are good)
- Chicory
- Collard greens
- Dandelion greens (and flowers)
- Dock
- Endive
- Escarole
- Kale
- Leaf lettuce
- Mustard greens
- Parsley (Italian or flat leaf best)
- Radicchio
- Romaine lettuce
- Swiss chard (any color)
- Watercress
Fruits and other Vegetables (Treat Foods)
Depending on the time of year, rabbits in the wild would have access to additional foods such as fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Since these items do not make up most of the diet, we recommend feeding these treats in limited quantities.
Another reason for limiting the amount is that some rabbits like these foods so well that they will eat them to the exclusion of all others, thereby creating a potential for health problems. You can feed foods on this list daily, and you could even want to employ them in a system of rewards or training.
Guidelines for Feeding Treat Foods
To monitor your rabbit’s hunger, find at least one meal on this list that it enjoys and feed a small quantity of it every day. If your bunny refuses to eat her treat food, there may be more serious issues at hand. You should closely monitor your bunny for any health issues.
Compared to commercial treat foods sold for rabbits, these foods are far healthier and more affordable. Commercial-treated foods should generally be avoided because many are loaded with starch and fat and, if fed in quantity, can cause serious health problems.
List of Recommended Treat Foods
Treat foods should be chosen and used according to the same rules as green foods, except for quantity. You can give your pet any combination of the following foods up to one tablespoon per two pounds of body weight every day:
- Apple
- Bean or alfalfa sprouts
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cactus fruit
- Carrots
- Cherries
- Cranberries
- Edible flowers, like roses and nasturtiums, that are produced organically in the yard rather than purchased from a florist
- Daylilies, pansies, and snapdragons
- Green or red bell peppers
- Kiwi Fruit
- Mango
- Melons
- Papaya
- Pea pods (flat, NO peas)
- Peach
- Pear
- Pineapple
- Raspberries
- Squash
Dried fruit can be used as well, but since dried fruit is so concentrated, use only one-third of the amount as fresh. Instead of one tablespoon, use one teaspoon. Pets In Stitches advises against giving bananas and grapes to rabbits since they can develop an addiction to these items.
Forbidden Foods
All the nutrients required for a pet rabbit can be found in a diet consisting primarily of green foods and grass hay, with minor amounts of fruits and vegetables. Regrettably, a lot of marketed treat foods for rabbits are overly heavy in fat and starch. In addition, some people still feel it necessary to feed rabbits high-starch foods such as cereals, cakes, and cookies. Although a pet rabbit can eat very small amounts of starchy or fatty foods without ill effects, the problem is that people often feed excess amounts because the rabbits eat these foods so greedily. For your rabbit, we advise avoiding diets heavy in fat or starch entirely. You will be able to prevent any possible issues that these foods may bring about, such as obesity and severe gastrointestinal disorders. Disease prevention is always simpler than disease treatment.
Foods heavy in fat and/or starch that you should AVOID include:
• Any additional grains
• Wheat, grains, beans (any sort), breads, chocolate, corn, nuts, oats, peas, and refined sugar
Commercial Rabbit Pellets
Typically, a pet rabbit’s diet should consist primarily of other foods rather than rabbit pellets.
High-calorie content can lead to obesity. Unfortunately, the concentrated and small form of the pellets does not lead to a feeling of fullness that a diet based on grass hay can provide. Even though rabbits should eat to their caloric needs, in captivity, with boredom, they will overeat pellets if provided free choice.
Low indigestible fiber content can lead to a sluggish gastrointestinal tract and eventually more serious disease, including complete gastrointestinal shutdown.
Impact of Pellets on Dental Health and Behavior
does not encourage the regular wear of teeth because of the food’s concentrated composition. A couple of chews and the food is pulverized as opposed to the much longer chewing time needed to break down hay or greens.
Due to the concentrated structure of the food, insufficient chewing and a full feeling in the stomach might result in behavioral issues like inappropriate or excessive chewing on furniture, plants, and wallboards. This could be compared to being bored. Rabbits in the wild spend a significant amount of time eating, and pellets can be consumed in a matter of minutes.
Because of their concentrated and dry texture, pellets may not encourage a healthy water intake, which could lead to urinary tract disease.
A healthy rabbit’s diet should preferably consist of 10% or less and no more than 20% pellets. The following factors may necessitate feeding more frequently in various situations:
- In families where hay cannot be utilized owing to human allergies or lack of availability
- To implement weight gain, most often related to a debilitating illness
- when the owners are unable to provide a varied diet consisting of several types of green vegetables and high-quality grass hay.
- Pellets can assist in supplying some of the trace nutrients that a diet low in certain foods may omit.
- For female rabbits are used for breeding, during the pregnancy and nursing period.
Guidelines for Selecting and Feeding Rabbit Pellets
When choosing a pellet, keep an eye out for the following:
• 1.0% or less calcium, 2.5% or less fat, 16% or less protein, and 18% or more fiber.
Pellet mixtures containing seeds, dried fruits, or nuts should not be purchased.
Purchase pellets made from grass hays, NOT alfalfa hay, such as Timothy, Orchard grass, Brome, etc.
A healthy bunny should be fed around ¼ cup of pellets for every four pounds of body weight each day. This can be fed all at once, or divided and fed twice a day. You can also utilize pellets in a training program and feed them one at a time. We recommend ¼ cup maximum for other than giant breeds and ⅛ cup maximum for dwarfs, but even less for each if there are medical issues.
Pellet Care
Pellets should be bought in amounts that will be used within three months and kept in a closed container in a cool dry place to prevent spoilage. Pellet mixes including grains and seeds should not be used with pellets. The addition of the grains and seeds only adds to the calorie and fat content, which can result in obesity, liver, and intestinal disease.
See our post Healthy Food Options for Your Rabbit for additional details on feeding rabbits. Enjoy nourishing your bun!