What kinds of foods can my dwarf rabbit eat?

Question

I love my rabbit,Biscuit,but I dont want to give her anything that is bad for her. Like today I wanted to feed her a piece of fruit but I was afraid that it would be bad for her. So If anyone knows what kind of foods that are safe for my rabbit please respond.

Answer 1

Vegetables:

Alfalfa sprouts
Basil
Beet greens (tops) *
Bok choy
Broccoli (mostly leaves/stems) *
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage leaves (outer)
Carrot *
Carrot tops *
Celery
Cilantro
Clover
Clover sprouts
Collard greens*
Dandelion greens and flowers (no pesticides) *
Endive *
Escarole
Green peppers
Kale (!) *
Mint
Mustard greens *
Parsley *
Pea pods (the flat, edible kind) *
Peppermint leaves
Raddichio
Radish tops
Radish sprouts
Raspberry leaves
Romaine lettuce (no iceberg or light colored leaves) *
Spinach (!) *
Swiss chard
Watercress *

(!) Use sparingly. High in oxalates or goitrogens and may be toxic in accumulated quantities over a period of time

Fruits (as treats only):

Apple
Blueberries
Cactus fruit
Melon
Mango
Orange (the peel, too!)
Papaya
Peach
Pear
Pineapple
Plums
Persimmon
Raspberries
Strawberries
Tomato
Banana (Can be "addicting"; use only occassionally)
Dried fruits can be used
Raisins (Watch out for sugar!)
Craisins (sun-dried cranberries... watch out for sugar!)
Grapes

Things you shouldn't feed:

Any grains (many suggest this; however, it is not good for them)
Chocolate (poisonous to rabbits)
Cookies, crackers, cereals, bread, or pasta
Yogurt drops (Almost pure sugar--can kill your rabbit!)
Other "human treats"
Salty or sugary snacks
Nuts
Corn
Onions (can be fatal!)

Salt or Mineral Block:

This is not necessary for a house rabbit on the diet described here and on the diet page

Night Droppings:

Cecotropes, a kind of dropping, appear 4-6 hours after eating. They are necessary for rabbit nutrition. Cecotropes are softer, greener, and have a stronger odor than normal waste droppings. Cecotropes are very nutritious. Rabbits know when these droppings are being produced and will eat them on their own. A rabbit with a low-fiber diet or a high-starch diet may lead to chronic and persistent cecotropes which are too soft and liquidy to be eaten. These are left in little puddles with normal waste stools.

Water:

Water should be fresh, and the crock/bottle should be cleaned often to prevent bacteria from growing. Do not use medications or vitamins in the water, because your pet may not drink if the taste or color is altered.

Pinecones?

Pinecones make wonderful snacks/toys for rabbits, but you must prepare them properly first. Take a pinecone and wash it thoroughly to remove dirt, insects, and sap. Dry off the pinecone. Put it in the oven and bake it for one hour at 200 degrees.

The truth about store-bought snacks:

Treats for rabbits which are bought at the store usually aren't very safe. They contain ingredients which aren't good for rabbits. Save your money and buy your rabbits timothy hay and vegetables... these you can be sure are good treats!

Answer 2

In addition to chocolate, lettuce and rhubarb are bad. Lettuce will give them the runs, which can kill in less than a day. Rhubarb is poisonous.

Rabbits don't know of all the things that are bad for them (just like people).

Not all rabbit food is created equal either. Look for food based of timothy instead of alfalfa. Alfalfa has too much protein, which can lead to problems. You should also give them hay (again timothy, not alfalfa). Old rabbit food was designed to make the rabbits grow as quickly as possible at the expense of longevity, since it was used where rabbits were raised for pelts and food.

Once the rabbit is full grown, you should limit how much they eat, with the exception of hay. Wild rabbits live off very low energy food, so they naturally eat as much as possible. A good guideline is 1/2 cup of pellets ("rabbit food") per 6 lbs of body weight once per day. The same amount of fresh, dark green veggies once a day. And as much timothy hay as they can eat. You can give them the occasional treat, say once or twice a week. Fruit makes a good treat, say a small section of apple or banana. Fruit is too sugary for regular food, though

You can also take your rabbit outside in the grass to nibble, if it hasn't been sprayed (at all). They love dandelions. Other garden things include parsley and carrot tops.

You also want to give them something hard to chew on. Rabbits are like rodents (but they are not really rodents) in that their front teeth grow constantly, and they need to grind them down by chewing on things. If they don't, they can get occlusions, and their teeth can start to grow up into their head. Untreated wood is good. I've seen my own rabbit *eat* wood. Try to give them interesting shapes, they like to play. Speaking of play, make sure you spend time with them playing. They need interaction, just like any pet.

Beyond food...if Biscuit hasn't been spayed (fixed), you should look into that. She'll be much more pleasant, and ovarian cancer is a leading cause of death in girl bunnies. And she see the vetrenarian once a year, preferably one who knows bunnies. Most vets consider them "exotic"

Answer 3

I just thought I would correct justacowgirl's comment. Corn won't give a rabbit colic. She should look on her Purina feedbag and see what the ingredients are. One of the ingredients is bound to be corn. Corn (not sweet corn) is OK for your rabbits, although it's not the best thing to feed them in the summer because it tends to cause heat to build up inside their body, which is not a good thing in the summer.

Timothy hay makes a good snack for rabbits and so does bread. You want to watch giving your rabbit vegetables, greens, fruits, and wide leaf hays. If they are given too much of any of the four I listed above it can cause diahrrea to occur.

I've been raising rabbits for 24 years and studied animal nutrition science in college.

Answer 4

Before six months, bunnies' main diet should be hay, water, and lucerne pellets. Some say you can begin introducing vegetables at four months, some say not until six months of age. Most importantly, when you begin to introduce vegies, you must do it VERY slowly and gradually - begin with just one slice or one very small piece of your chosen vegie or fruit, and make sure it doesn't give her diarrhoea over the next 24 hours before giving any more. Please see my website, where I've written articles on this, at
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyfood

Also, NEVER give lettuce and NEVER give cabbage to rabbits - lettuce and cabbage are both very bad for rabbits, can cause diarrhoea and bloat which can kill them -
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyfood#lettuce

And please check out my site at
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyfood#safe&poisonous
for lists of safe and dangerous foods for bunnies older than six months of age, reproduced from the excellent "Rabbitlopaedia" by Meg Brown and Virginia Richardson.

Have a read of these great detailed rabbit sites too -
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/rabbits/a/?once=true&
http://www.tagyerit.com/hopline/cold.htm
http://www.rabbit.org/
http://www.muridae.com/rabbits/rabbittalk.html
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyhouserabbits.html - http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyfood.html - my own site - please have a browse and enjoy!

Answer 5

All Dwarf, or Mini rabbits systems, can't tolerate vegetables, they just don't digest them correctly, and I believe it could cause a blockage. What I would feed goes as the following. *Unlimited Hay *1/4 Cup Pellets per day *Small pieces of strawberry, or apple *Little bits of banana is okay *A few tablespoons of fruit juice added to water occasionally is alright too. *Orange Slices *Cheerios {Dry} *Bunny Treats *Fresh grass, if pesticides aren't used.

Answer 6

Punina rabbit chow carrots lettuce store bought rabbit treats fresh grass hay Do not feed your rabbit corn it can give them colic and kill them

Answer 7

Smart question! Good thing i know a lot about bunnies! Give your bunny 1/2 cup of fruit a day at ROOM TEMPURATURE if i give fruit straight out of the fridge it would make your bunny. NEVER EVER give a bunny lettuce or cabbage this can kill your bunny. so stay away from that.

Answer 8

rabbit food

Answer 9

Our bunnies love banana slices ... given only as treats though!

Answer 10

offer her whatever food you think she might like. if she refuses to eat it, then it's not good for her. animals can smell if something is going to be good or bad for them.

MAJOR EXCEPTION: chocolate. chocolate is poisonous to some animals, even though they love it.