What food to give bunny?

Question

I have a bunny now and I'm wondering what foods I should and shouldn't give him. And please tell me what experiance you have with bunnies or rabbits.

Answer 1

Give him bunny pellets and veggie's such as carrots for a treat (Not too many, the bunny will get fat!).

Answer 2

I've had a few different vets tell me the best brand of hay and the best brand of pellets, and my rabbits agree.
Pellets: OxBow Bunny Basics (there are two formulas, one for rabbits under one year and one for rabbits over one year). Most pet stores don't carry them, you have to order them online, I recommend rabbitcentral.org, it's the cheapest. The bags also have directions for how to change your rabbits pellets, as it needs to be done slowly because their stomachs are very sensitive.
Hay: American Pet Diner Timothy Gold 2nd Cut (2nd cut because it's greener and more flavorful, and they eat a lot more of it!)

They should have UNLIMITED hay, and about 1/2 cup of pellets per day per 6 lbs of weight. The exact ratio is on the OxBow hay bag.

In terms of veggies, they should also be allowed about 1/2 cup of fresh vegetables a day. But you need to introduce them one at a time, like you do with a new baby's food, because rabbits are sensitive to different veggies. I'm including a link that answers tons of questions about bunny food, including what veggies are good for them. Rule of thumb: never give them Iceburg lettuce, it has too much water and can give them diarrhea. My rabbits love Romaine, Basil, Cilantro, Carrots, and Parsley. They can also have a little fruit on occasion as a treat. Mine will never turn down a piece of banana, and often will yank the banana out of each other's mouths. Hope this helps!



And I just want to say to those who say that veggies will kill the rabbit... what do you think they eat in the wild? Do you think they find people who have pellets for them? There would be no rabbits in existence today if they couldn't eat vegetables. Sure a domestic rabbit can survive on pellets, but why deprive them of something that will make them live happier, healthier lives?

Answer 3

How old is it? I don't think bunnies are supposed to have a lot of veggies or lettuce if they are younger than 6+ months. Is it the food she was first introduced to? What she was previously fed? If it's not, you may want to find the brand and introduce the new food with the old food overtime, until the mixture is mostly the new food and she is used to it. I would say you don't have a lot to worry about, because she is eating :) I am sure she is just nervous about a new home.

Answer 4

Rabbits need pellets, and an unlimited supply of hay. They need to eat fresh veggies also. Dark leafy greens are the best. they can also have Apples, bananas,beets (can turn urine red) cabbage (small amounts can give gas), celery (small amounts has a high sodium content), Dandelion greens, (mine like these in spring, you do need to know who sprays their yard and who doesn't because of pesticides), kale, turnips.
NEVER give a rabbit raw beans,raw corn, potato peels, or Rhubarb.
Mine also like cheerios, and fruity cheerios. Not to mention the occasional pretzel and cracker. Princess likes to try to steal glasses of orange juice, She also will try to lap up the remains of milk in the cereal bowl with the cats. For greens I give them an organic spring green mix. sweet potatoes make a great treat also.
I have three house bunnies right now
Thumper is 9yrs
Marshmallow is 1 1/2 yrs
Princess is 1yr
They are all healthy and go to the vet regularly. Princess just has a sneezing problem that were working on with the vet.

Answer 5

You can give the rabbit all kinds of veggie treats but the main course should always center around the standard rabbit pellets that can be purchased at pet centers or farm and ranch feed stores --- the rabbit pellets are balanced for the needs of a rabbit with just the right amount of minerals and vitamins for their health !!

I owned a HUGE pet rabbit that lived with me for almost nine years before a neighbor's dog killed her some seven years ago---I'll never really forgive the owner of the dog for allowing it to roam the neighborhood unchecked !! Her name was Ms Whiskers and she was pure magic !!!

Answer 6

Keep them on pellets. Nutrina, ManaPro...those are the best names out there in my opinion.

For treats, you can give your rabbit almost any fruit. No tomatoes or iceberg lettuce ever! Don't give them more than a couple of slices of anything. When I give treats, I stick to carrots. I've also given them sweet potatos, apples, bananas, and yogurt. If your rabbit ever goes off their feed, you can give them oak leaves and dandy lion leaves to help their digestive tract.

I haven't checked out the House Rabbit Association's website, but from many breeders I have herd that they believe rabbits should be fed large amounts of veggies. Don't do this. You rabbit will get diarrhea and it could kill it.

Hope that helps!

Answer 7

I had 5 rabbits. Now I have 2 one mutt and one Angora.

Go to an animal store and buy the rabbbit pellets. It has every thing you need, only feed veggies as treats. Dandylions make good treats too.

Stay away from corn and patatoes becaus that will give it collic.

Every other day give it a handful of hay this helps them digest their food and keeps angoras from getting wool block which can kill them.

Answer 8

theres alot you can give a bunny surprisingly especially adults (im assuming yours is an adult so i will tell you all guaranteed safe foods for adults)
-plain applesauce
-lettuce (NO Romanian though..that is poison)
-oats..usually used for moms but it wouldnt hurt to give some if you want to..just not too much or they will get fat. maybe like one scoop
-carrots...all bunnies love carrots especially my bunny's kits
-of course rabbit pellets
-tomatoes..some bunnies will eat it
-i have even given my bunny a little piece of carrot cake...if you ever bake a carrot cake sometimes you can give em tiny pieces (im sure it was no bigger than the center of my palm though
-i suppose..spinach although i havent given mine that
- plain bread is ok sometimes..the worst that they get from it is diarrhea..if you give them bread make sure they get small pieces only. thats the only food im a little iffy about..but they dont need it so im sure youd want to stay from it
-apples
-rabbit treats..you can usually get special ones at the grocery store or SuperPetz
-cucumbers
-pumpkin
-hay/straw


good plants for rabbits:
*dandelion
*yarrow
*shepherd's purse
*red henbit
*plaintain
*oxeye daisy
*sorrel
*caraway
*dock
*cleaver
*common sow thistle
*coltsfoot
*silverweed
*groundsel
*scented mayweed
*autumn hawkbit
*knotgrass
*redshank
*pale smartweed
*mugwort


also tree leaves are great...i used to give leaves to my rabbits all the time. if a certain leaf is not good for em the animal will know and will not eat it. but alot of leaves you find are healthy.
there are some foliage that can be good but there are some times when they can be unedible so im not even gonna go into that
-acorns..especially good for the moms after they have their litter..i would suggest only a few at a time to avoid risk of constipation
-wild chestnuts (to remove bitter taste it is said you should remove shells, grind kernels into small pieces and soak in water for three days changing water for every three hours) keep soaking if they havent aten it eagerly


i think there are more fruits/veggies an animal can have but you can check out ARBA's list incase im forgetting some.
also many of these plants seem to be foreign to alot of people so i would highly recommend looking them up on google..see what they look like and stuff so you do not risk picking the wrong weeds
always remember that any of these foods except for pellets are not the main diet...so you should not subsitute them for their dinner. carrots are the safest i believe..thats what they can have the most of besides pellets

Answer 9

rabbits should get a peelet feed with about 16-17 % protein, and it should be just pellet and have no little treats in it. they should also have a supply of grass or timonthy hay. greens can be given but only in small amounts until the rabbit is used to it. for more info visit my site www.freewebs.com/creekside_rabbitry

Answer 10

Go to the House Rabbit Society web page, there is a wealth of information about having rabbits!

http://www.rabbit.org/