46-48 Pollen Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland
T: (09) 360 0961
F: (09) 360 0938
Send an email

Feeding Your Rabbit

Step 1: Rabbits are designed to eat grass.
The most natural life for a pet rabbit would be to run loose in the garden, grazing on the lawn, sampling a wide variety of plants and vegetables and stripping bark from trees. This lifestyle may suit the rabbit, but it's not a very practical option for most rabbit owners!

Daily access to a large lawn run ensures survival of both rabbit and garden whilst still giving the rabbit the benefits of a grass-based diet. But with more rabbits living permanently indoors, it's vital that today's rabbit owners understand how to feed their pet properly.

The first step in designing a suitable diet for pet rabbits is to consider what makes grass such a perfect rabbit food and make sure your alternative fulfils the same criteria:

High fibre - at least - 20%
Moderate protein - 12 to 15%
Low fat, starch and sugar
Abrasive action on teeth

Step 2 - Hay, hay, hay
Unlimited, good quality hay is the foundation of a healthy diet for your pet bunny. As well as meeting their basic nutritional requirements it has many other benefits. In fact, hay is so important that we recommend it is fed to all rabbits, even those eating "complete" rabbit food. Rabbit2

Nibbling hay keeps bunnies busy for hours, reducing boredom and helping to prevent behavioural problems. Chewing hay strengthens teeth and jaws. And hay provides lots of long-strand fibre to maintain healthy gut movement.

Good quality hay - sweet smelling and with minimal dust - can be difficult to find in pet shops.

Step 3 - The "Hay & Veggie" diet vs. commercial food
Now it's time to decide on the proportion of green food versus commercial rabbit food. The "Hay & Veggie Diet" consists of:

- lots of hay. This should be 75% of the total diet.
- a large selection of greens and vegetables
- very small amount of mix or pellets

Most rabbit owners prefer to make more use of commercially prepared foods, which make feeding pet rabbits quicker and simpler. Used sensibly (in very limited quantities plus lots of hay!) they can form an integral part of a healthy diet for most rabbits.

Step 4 - Healthy treats
We all love chips and cakes - and so do many rabbits, if given the opportunity. If we over- indulge on such foods we tend to get fat and suffer from tooth decay. Rabbits do too, but they can also develop far more serious problems: excess sugars and starchy treats can wreak havoc with the sensitive population of bacteria in the gut leading to fatal digestive upsets.

Stick to healthy treats - chunks of carrot or broccoli~ apple cores~ carrot/swede/turnip peelings~ cauliflower stalks. Many of the treats marketed for rabbits (from milk-based yoghurt drops to sticks of sweetened cereals) should be fed in strict moderation or not at all.

Step 5 - How much to feed?
You're aiming for a bunny who isn't too fat or too thin and whose droppings resemble raisins. You should only rarely find caecotrophs lying about - these are the dark, shiny, smelly "night" pellets normally eaten directly from the anus. There are many possible causes of excess caecotrophs (obesity~ reduced mobility~ dental disease) but dietary problems are by far the most common: increase the proportion of hay, reduce the amount of rabbit mix/pellets, and get your rabbit checked by the vet.

Young rabbits can be offered food ad lib from weaning until growth slows down at 4-6 months. After that, adjust food intake to suit the rabbit. Obesity is a serious health hazard to rabbits and it can be tricky to tell whether your pet is the correct weight.

Incidentally, if a rabbit stops eating for more than 12 to 24 hours, or changes his favourite foods, take him to the vet. even if he appears otherwise okay. There could be a serious health problem developing.

Step 6 - Don't forget the water!
Rabbits must have access to fresh water at all times. Rabbits eating lots of greens may not drink very much~ those on extruded food and hay tend to drink much more. Bottles are easier to keep clean for hutch rabbits, but indoor rabbits usually prefer a water bowl.

Understanding rabbit food labels Mix, pellets or extruded?

Rabbit mixes look like muesli and are popular with owners. Choose a reputable brand - some are excellent, others poor. The main drawback is selective feeding by the rabbit - they will tend to pick out the easily chewed, yummy parts of the mix and leave behind the tough fibre which they need. Over time this promotes dental problems and dietary fussiness.

Rabbit pellets are bite-sized nuggets. Every pellet has the same composition which helps ensure that the rabbit eats a balanced diet. They're not as popular as rabbit mixes, largely because they look less appetising to the human eye.

Extruded foods are new. The ingredients are mixed, cooked and "extruded". They have all the important advantages of pellets but are much more palatable.

Complementary or Complete?

Complete foods provide the rabbit with all the nutrients it requires. However, feeding unlimited hay is still important, both to relieve boredom and strengthen the teeth. Complementary foods are designed to be fed as one component of the diet. Hay and sometimes green food will need to be added to provide a balanced diet.

Rabbits, calcium and vitamin D

Like all mammals, rabbits obtain calcium from their diet. Rabbits absorb calcium in proportion to what is present in their food and excrete excess calcium via the kidneys - which is why rabbit urine is often chalky.

Too much or too little calcium can cause problems. Calcium deficiency is linked to dental disease, but excess calcium causes urinary stones and bladder problems.

Rabbits also need vitamin D to enable dietary calcium to be absorbed from the gut. Outdoor rabbits with access to a lawn run can synthesize vitamin D from sunlight, but rabbits living indoors must either have vitamin D in their diet or spend time sunbathing outdoors, or they will become deficient. Vitamin D is added to commercial rabbit foods and also present in hay.

NEVER change your rabbit's diet suddenly: abrupt changes of diet can trigger fatal digestive upsets, especially in baby rabbits or those that are stressed (e.g. changing homes) Take at least 1-2 weeks to change over and feed lots of hay during this period.