What should you feed a pet rabbit?

Answer 1

Pet Rabbits should eat mostly dry, clean hay, as well as leafy greens, and limited amounts of high-quality pellets. Other fruits and vegetables are fine as a treat.

The following is information for an average, healthy rabbit. You should visit a rabbit-savvy vet to make sure YOUR rabbit is an average, healthy rabbit. Always introduce a new diet gradually and watch for adverse reactions (e.g. diarrhea, gas, signs of pain, Allergies, urinary difficulties). Offer fresh water every day.

HAYRabbits should have unlimited access to fresh hay. Hay should be greenish, it should smell sweet, there should be no mold, and it shouldn't be very dusty.

If your rabbit won't eat hay you must seek help and be inventive: it needs hay to live. (A tip: Encourage your rabbit to eat as much hay as it wants by giving it fresh hay several times a day.)

What about grass?

If your rabbit is caged, do not let it eat wet grass. They will die from it. Allowing a rabbit to eat wet grass outside is perfectly fine since rabbits are sporadic feeders in nature, hoping around from patch to patch very few minutes. However, rabbits can pick up parasites from grass if wild animals have access to it (if they defecate on the grass, and there are parasites in the feces, the parasites remain even if the feces is removed or washed away). If you let your rabbit outside, you should test it annually for parasites at the vet's.

What kind of hay?

One opinion: Adults should eat grass hay (e.g. timothy, orchard, meadow). Babies should eat alfalfa hay. Between 7 and 13 months, you should slowly transition rabbits from alfalfa to grass. Straw is not a suitable substitute for hay.

Another opinion: All ages of rabbits should have an unlimited supply of timothy hay. You can also give them oat hay, grass hay (sometimes called orchard grass) and/or straw. Young rabbits will benefit from the additional nutrition of alfalfa hay, but older rabbits should have their quantity of alfalfa hay restricted as it is high in calories and calcium which can cause bladder sludge. It is good as a treat for older rabbits.

More about fiber

Fiber is important for a rabbit's dental health, digestion, and mental health (prevents boredom). Hay should be the primary source of fiber in your rabbit's diet. Other sources of fiber your rabbit might enjoy for the sake of diversity include certain safe twigs (willow, apple; never pine, cedar, or cherry, as these are toxic! - see links below), as well as cardboard/paper products (like a plain banker's box, or a Yellow Pages, or the tubes inside toilet paper and paper towels - choose plain, unbleached, no stickers, no toxic glues or inks, clean, no shiny labels or coatings).

GREENSRabbits should eat fresh greens every day. You should rotate the greens you serve, and serve a wide variety. Not all plants are good for rabbits, so research is required beforehand (there are many resources online - see the links below). PELLETSPellets should make up a small part of your rabbit's diet.

General portion guide: 2 tbsp - 1/3 cup daily for a 5 pound adult rabbit. Babies can eat unlimited amounts. From 7 to 13 months, transition your rabbit to an adult diet.

Babies can eat a pellet slightly higher in fat and protein, and slightly slower in fiber.

If your rabbit gets bloated or gassy, or seems lethargic after eating pellets, you may want to remove them from its diet or try a different brand. Some rabbits do not do well with pellets, and for them you might want to avoid pellets entirely. If you remove pellets from your rabbit's diet, you will need to compensate by making sure it eats as much hay as possible. Increased vegetable intake is another option, though your rabbit should be monitored to make sure that the increase isn't detrimental to its well-being.

TREATSRabbits shouldn't eat any dairy, nuts, grains (with a few exceptions), chocolate, coffee, human treats, or most commercial rabbit treats, amongst many other things.