Feeding Your Rabbit

A proper diet is important to the health of your bunny. Fresh water should always be available for your bunny.

Pellets
The main diet of a rabbit should be rabbit pellets. Rabbits can also be fed certain vegetables, and hay. The most common recommended amount of pellet to be fed daily is 1 ounce per 1 pound of rabbit. If your rabbit weighs 4 pounds, then it should receive 4 ounces of rabbit pellets. Bunnies up to 4 months old should be fed as much as they will eat. Good quality pellet should be 16% to 18% protein, and at least 16% fiber. Rabbit pellet can spoil or get mold on it, both can cause illness in your rabbit. Only buy enough pellets to feed your rabbits for about a month. Ours typically lasts three weeks.

Hay
Hay should also be a regular part of your rabbits diet. Hay helps reduce hairballs and blockages in the intestines which can kill your rabbit. The most preferable type of hay is timothy hay. It provides the best fiber and lowest levels of calcium. alfalfa hay is higher in calcium and protein and lower in fiber. Alfalfa is usually an ingredient in rabbit pellets. Straw can be used, but contains little nutritional value.

Vegetables & Treats
Rabbits have a sweet tooth. They can be fed several types of treats, but should be limited to small portions two or three times a week. Never feed treats that have been treated with chemical fertilizer or pesticides. Rabbits under 6 months should not be fed any of these items. After 6 months or when trying a new treat watch the rabbits droppings to ensure they stay solid. Below is a list of items you can and cannot feed your rabbit.

Good
Apples (no seeds)
Grapes
Pears (no seeds)
Oranges
Strawberries
Cherries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Papayas
Pineapples
Melons
Mangoes
Peaches (no pit)
Tomatoes
Peas
Beans
Kale
Carrots
Carrot Tops
Mustard Greens
Dandelion Greens
Sugar Beets
Parsnips
Parsley
Potato Peels

Bad
Acorns
Almonds
Apple Seeds
Apricot Pits
Asparagus Fern
Azalea
Bleeding Heart
Carnations
Cherry Pits
Clematis
Creeping Charlie
Daffodil Bulbs
Daisy
Eucalyptus
Gladiola
Hyacinth Bulbs
Iceberg Lettuce
Iris
Ivy
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Jonquil
Lily of the Valley
Milkweed
mistletoe
Mustards
Nutmeg
Oak
Peach Pits
Pear Seeds
Peony
Philodendron
Plum Pits
Poinsettia
Rhododendron
Rhubarb Leaves
Skunk Cabbage
Tomato Leaves
Tulip Bulbs