Rabbit Food
Rabbit Care by Oxbow Animal Health
This a wonderful overview created by Oxbow Animal Health
What Rabbit Pellets should you feed your bunny?
Rabbits should never be fed muesli mixes as they cannot properly digest corn, peas and seeds. The types of mixes are low in fibre and will lead to dental issues and deadly digestive disorders and a large nutritional deficiency. Feeding these mixes will shorten the life span of your rabbit.
Avoid cheap based pellets as these contain a large amount of alfalfa (Lucerne) which can cause bladder stones and other issues due to the high calcium content.
Feed your rabbit non muesli mixes such as Burgess Excel nuggets, oxbow rabbit food, science select. These can be fed daily and in addition to hay and grass.
Feeding:
25 grams for a 1 kg rabbit, 37.5 grams for a 1.5 kg rabbit, 50 grams for a 2kg rabbit, 70 grams for a 3kg rabbit and so forth.For pregnant, nursing or rabbits younger than 6 months of age, pellets should be available all day due rabbits requiring the extra calcium for development. *Please note that these are guidelines. If you have questions about your pet’s daily feeding regimen, please contact your veterinarian for more specific feeding information.
Rabbit Pellets
Pellets
Rabbits should never be fed muesli mixes as they cannot properly digest corn, peas and seeds. The types of mixes are low in fibre and will lead to dental issues and deadly digestive disorders and a large nutritional deficiency. Feeding these mixes will shorten the life span of your rabbit.
Avoid cheap based pellets as these contain a large amount of alfalfa (Lucerne) which can cause bladder stones and other issues due to the high calcium content.
Feed your rabbit non muesli mixes such as Burgess Excel nuggets, oxbow rabbit food. These can be fed daily and in addition to hay and grass.
Feeding:
25 grams for a 1 kg rabbit, 37.5 grams for a 1.5 kg rabbit, 50 grams for a 2kg rabbit, 70 grams for a 3kg rabbit and so forth.
For pregnant, nursing or rabbits younger than 6 months of age, pellets should be available all day due rabbits requiring the extra calcium for development.
*Please note that these are guidelines. If you have questions about your pet’s daily feeding regimen, please contact your veterinarian for more specific feeding information.
Rabbit Hay & Grass
Hay
Grass or hay contains a large amount of fibre which is vital for your rabbit’s digestive system whist also promoting good dental health. Rabbits teeth constantly grow and as such require large amounts to keep teeth trimmed. Not providing unlimited fresh hay or grass their teeth will over grow causing dental disorders, reduce eating and lead to deadly digestive issues.
Fresh hay or grass must be provided in unlimited quantities, available at all times and not be provided in compressed formats such as biscuits, pellets etc.
They will learn to love their hay and will be happier & healthier for it. Do not mistake straw for hay. Although rabbits may eat straw, it has no nutritional value. An average rabbit’s diet should consist of unlimited hay and grass, 1-2 cups safe veggies/greens, 1 egg cup quality, non-muesli pellets, tsp. of occasional fruit/treats.
Types of hay:
Timothy hay (Burgess UK brand provides this, which we have in stock), oat hay, teff hay and orchard grass.
Caution:
Alfalfa (Lucerne) is not so much a hay but rather a legume, which contains a large amount of calcium, providing this to adult rabbits can lead to bladder stones, bladder sludge and other issues.
Alfalfa (Lucerne) can be provided in addition to hay to pregnant, nursing rabbits who need the calcium for development of their babies, or to baby rabbits younger than 6 months of age.
Allergies:
Please test that you don’t have allergies to hay before getting a rabbit, this is one of the main reasons that rabbits are dumped, rehomed or sent to shelters.
If you are unsure whether you have allergies to grass hay, buy a bag of grass hay (Timothy, teff and oat) and keep it open in your home to test for any reaction