Feeding Pet Rabbits: The Guide

Once you know what they should be eating, a rabbit’s diet isn’t difficult to maintain.

A whopping 85% of everything they eat should be good quality grass and hay. Rabbits utilise hay in a number of ways, from using it for comfortable bedding to munching on it for a light snack. By purchasing large bales, it makes it extremely easy to ensure they always have their basic needs met! A higher quality of hay like Burgess Excel Long Stem Feeding Hay is more nutritionally beneficial to your bunny, so having a separate area for their feeding hay is ideal. It’s important to note that they should always have an abundance of hay and grass!

10% of their diet should consist of leafy greens. Greens like cabbage, broccoli and kale should be part of their varied diet and should always be given fresh. Whereas the pellets you buy for your bunny should only consist of only 5% of their diet. The pellet diet you offer should also be high in fibre and rich in vitamins and minerals like Excel Rabbit Food, Adult Tasty Nuggets.

Once you know the amounts, preparing their diet is a lot simpler than it might have first appeared, it’s not overly complicated at all and will soon be second nature.

Rabbits need feeding every day with any old fresh greens or wasted nuggets to be removed from their feeding area, so they’re not eating stale or withering food. Their water should be kept in small pet friendly drinking bottle. Their water should always be fresh with a change every day and checked regularly, so you can top it up if it needs it. On warm days you may notice your rabbit drinks a little more so you should keep an eye.

An abundance of high quality feeding hay such as the Excel Burgess Feeding Hay with Hedgerow Herd should be readily available at all times. Rabbits tend to graze rather than eat their food in larger meals, so a constant supply of hay is necessary to keep them well fed and healthy.

They should also be given a range of different greens and their quantity of pellets each day based on their weight. If anything is wasted, it should be changed out for fresh food the next day to make sure it doesn’t spoil in their hutch.

Every pellet diet will have its own specific feeding guide on the back and will vary depending on the size of your four-legged friend. For example, Pettex Wood Pellet Small Animal 5L recommends you feed 100-130 grams for a dwarf rabbit and 130-150 grams for an adult rabbit.

It will vary depending on weight and you can cut back if you notice them piling on the pounds, but the pellets are always complimentary to the rest of their diet and shouldn’t be the bulk of what you feed.

If your bunny is fed a good with a balanced diet, they shouldn’t need any additional vitamins. Adding vitamins to their water may sound healthy, but it can alter the taste of the water and either lead to your furry friend drinking too much at once or they become dehydrated because they don’t like the taste.

When you expose vitamins to water and air, they lose their effectiveness quickly so you’re better off just providing a high-quality diet.

When you’re trying to find different vegetables to provide a varied diet for your beloved pet, you have plenty to choose from. Some of the veggies that are great for making up 10% of their daily diet include:

They should have a daily supply of these veggies readily available, and they should always be fed fresh!

Rabbits love fruit, they can be incorporated into a healthy diet but should only be given once or twice a week and in small amounts. The sugar often found in fruit isn’t good for rabbits but a little here and there can really put a spring in their step. Fruit that rabbits enjoy including:

Everything should be fed in moderation for your pet rabbit, but there are certain foods that should always be avoided when it comes to creating a diet for your furry friend. These include:

Some of these food items can be toxic while others are just bad for their health and won’t benefit their diet in any way. If you think you rabbit may have consumed these foods, speak to your vet to discuss the best course of action.

For everything you need to make a balanced diet for your bunny and all other rabbit essentials, check out our wide range of stock available.