What do i feed my bunny, and how often do i play with him?

Question

I am getting my bunny soon and he is going to be in a cage in my house, and i am thinking of putting a little field in my backyard for him to jump around and play around in, im just concerned on what to feed him, can i get a grocery list or something lol, but how much do i feed him, how often, what to feed him, and how often to take him out of the cage and play outside

Answer 1

Play with your rabbit any time you or he wants too. Socialization is great for him and neccessary for his development mentally. You can also let him run in your house when your there, just keep clean up tools ready for acccidents.

I found this information for you on the site below. There's more information on they're site other then the quoted portions I pasted.

"Baby rabbits – age 0 – 6 months
- require a diet high in protein and natural fats – the kind that would be found in green and dried grasses. That’s why it is just fine to feed baby rabbits who are in the process of being weaned (approximately 5-6 weeks old) alfalfa hay and timothy hay along with a green pelleted food. The more hay, by the way, the better! Please don’t add fresh greens until they are at least 8 weeks or older. Their little GI tracts may not be able to handle fresh greens just yet. I will explain this a little later.

Juvenile rabbits – 6 months to 1 year old
– require a diet still high in protein and natural fats, but now they have also been introduced to pesticide-free green grasses and assorted field and garden greens. Keep that hay coming, and remember to spay or neuter!!

Adult rabbits - less than 5 years old
- as a rabbit ages, it’s need for high protein and high fat diminishes somewhat. Alfalfa hay is high in calcium and is considered a rich hay. If your rabbit is less than 3 years old, continuing to feed a good quality alfalfa hay along with timothy (or coastal Bermuda/oat grass et al) is a good rule of thumb. Of course, by now, your rabbit is either spayed or neutered and should be settled into its life routine. Grazing on the grass in the backyard is very healthy for our rabbits – they not only get the rich and fresh green grass – full of chlorophyll and nutrients, but they also get trace minerals from the earth itself. You can always go out and pull a few clumps up by the roots and bring it indoors for your rabbit (if you house it totally indoors), or you can grow grass in containers (great for apartment house people or city folk!). I will have a list of great grocery greens a little later on. Remember to also feed a good quality pelleted food along with fresh greens!

Adult/Senior rabbits - over 5 years old
– require a little more specialized diet. Feed timothy hay, but start cutting out the alfalfa hay, especially if you are feeding a pelleted alfalfa-based food along with the hay. As our rabbits grow and glow, their need for both protein and fats diminish – much like us! They will nap more, be more loving and gentle, be wise in watching for the refrigerator door to open, and you will be in tune with its needs and wants. Timothy pellets have been available for some time now through Oxbow Hay Company and American Pet Diner. It would be wise for you to slowly switch your 5+ year old rabbit over to a timothy-based pellet. This will help in weight gain and also be kinder to its metabolism. Continue, of course, with the fresh grass and greens."

"- Garden Greens – a little list to go by:
-- Kale (rich in vitamin A, C and calcium) – a great food for our rabbits
-- Red leafed lettuces – any lettuce except for ICEBERG! JUST SAY NO TO ICEBERG LETTUCE!
-- Parsley
-- Mustard greens
-- Turnip greens
-- Any other deep leafy greens EXCEPT spinach (too high in iron)"

Answer 2

You should feed bunnies rabbit food which you can buy at local stores like Wal-mart or a co-op. A cup of food a day is about how much you should feed him. If you feed him to much he might get a little over weight. If you get him as a baby you don't want to feed him greens until he is over 3 months. You should also try to play with he every day so he is friendly. I hope this helps you.

Answer 3

i have a bunny that i totally nursed back to health. he eats 1 cup of bunny pellets ( the ones from walmart) and a big handful alfafa or timothy hay twice daily. i give him apples or carrots as a treat and also store bought bunny treats. he gets to hop around my house daily, but only after he got use to me handling him. be careful with letting him in the backyard because they will dig and escape. my bunny was near death and only had use of 3 legs due to another bunny attacking him and now he is a very healthy bunny that uses all four legs. hopes this helps.

Answer 4

They sell rabbit food at the pet store.
You can also feed him vegetables and fruits and rolled oats (dry oatmeal) and about any other food he likes, in small amounts. But mainly feed him rabbit food.
If you make him a play area in the yard, make sure he can't escape. I used to let my rabbits run free in the back yard, but the fencing was very secure. Rabbits can dig under a fence or squeeze through, so be careful.

Answer 5

My bunny is 2 years old now and when she was five months old she was on a diet of unlimited pellets, unliminited alfalfa hay and 1/2 cup of fresh veggies a day. when a bunny is gwoing, it is important that you give them lots of food and start introducing veggies a little bit at a time. I know there are some people who hold of on intiroducing vegetables until they are approximately 8 months of age, but at 5 months, your bunny is able to digest them. Start of with parsely, curly parsely, carrots with tops and kale. Introduce them slowly so you can see if any cause your bunny diarrhea or anything and you can pinpoint which veggie it was.

At that age, I like a mixture of alfalfa and timothy hay. As your bunny gets older, you will have to start weeding out the alfalfa to get your bunny just eating timothy hay. I like to compare alfalfa to frosted flakes and timothy hay to cornflakes. Alfalfa is just a bit more sweeter that timothyl, so bunnies like that more!

I would start introducing some fruits and additional vegetable around one year of age, which is when your bunny she be on a diet primarily of timothy hay with pellets, I am not sure how much, since I don't know the breed of your bunny or how big she is. It depends on size, but they should always have unlimted hay!

As for playing, bunnies are very intelligent. Mine has a cardboard fetish! Loves old phone books and carboard boxes. Fruit tree sticks are great for them to chew on too. I have a puppy play yard that I bought off ebay for my bunny to run around in. I can set it up in the living room or the back yard. It's great and costs about $25 off ebay plus shipping.
Bunnies also like to rearrange and dig. I got an old towel and put it in her cage, she shoves it around, bunches it up and moves it around all the time.

I also like to reccomend the book Rabbits for Dummies.... It's my bible and has really great information for bunny parents!!!!

Answer 6

Your bunny needs to get out of the cage at least once a day. You want to make sure that your bunny stays happy and healthy and has the chance to hop around freely as often as possible.
Here is my post about nutrition

http://bunny-rabbit-fact.blogspot.com/

and here are my bunnies:

http://mini-dwarf-rabbit.blogspot.com/

http://mini-dwarf-rabbit.blogspot.com/

Answer 7

Rabbit pellets, alfafa, grass, carrots, and other veggies and fruit. Make sure you wash all of it. You can play with it when you want. But if you have cold stay away as much as possible. also wash your hands before and after.

Answer 8

SPCA Rabbit Care Sheet:
http://www.spca.bc.ca/AnimalCare/rabbitcare.asp

This should answer most of your questions.

Answer 9

my rabbits eat pellets and they love carrots and apples. sometimes bananas. but be sparing on how much lettuce they eat- its not too good for them