Rabbit Diet - by my vets

Just posted on facebook, so thought i'd share here;

Admittedly, it's not 100% perfect and won't suite everybun, but its a good start.

An Optimum Rabbit Diet

The bulk of your rabbits diet should consists of grass (fresh or freeze dried) and/or good quality meadow/Timothy hay and this should be available at all times.

A variety of green foods should be fed daily to your rabbit e.g.
• broccoli,
• cabbage,
• chicory,
• chard,
• parsley,
• watercress,
• celery leaves,
• dock,
• basil,
• kale,
• carrot tops (rabbits do not dig up and eat carrot roots in the wild!)
• beet tops

Commercial concentrates are not essential if ad lib hay, grass and greens are available. Some owners opt to feed for convenience and if you do you should always feed the pelleted complete variety rather than the museli-type mix. A general rule is to feed a maximum of 25g of high fibre pellets per kg bodyweight per day. Concentrates should not be fed exclusively or ad lib.

Fruit should be regarded as a treat item and fed in limited quantities.

Avoid the following as they are high in fat and carbohydrates and predispose to obesity:
• Beans
• Peas
• Corn
• Bread
• Breakfast Cereal
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Chocolate.

Sudden changes in diet must be avoided and any new diet should be introduced gradually over a 3-4 week period starting with a small amount of the new item and gradually reducing the unwanted item if necessary.

Frosted or mouldy food and lawnmower clippings should not be fed as they lead to severe tummy upset.

Obviously ensure fresh drinking water is available at all times – preferably given from bottles rather than bowls.

not bad :thumb:

Not bad but I don't get why he's specified to give water from a bottle rather than a bowl :? Personally I much prefer bowls as my lot drink way more from bowls and I can clean them easier.

Nit picking but I'd also have liked him to say to feed broccoli and cabbage only in moderation as they cause gas in a lot of buns.

Good advice, but the bottle thing irks me a little :lol: Buckley and Prudence are definitely bowl bunnies. Buckley drinks way more when he has a bowl. When he had a bottle he had a bit of a sludgy bladder. JB recommended switching to a bowl, we did and it cleared up

Everybun is different but it is a good starting point.

Gemmapookie said:

Not bad but I don't get why he's specified to give water from a bottle rather than a bowl :? Personally I much prefer bowls as my lot drink way more from bowls and I can clean them easier.

Nit picking but I'd also have liked him to say to feed broccoli and cabbage only in moderation as they cause gas in a lot of buns.

Click to expand...

probably as having a bowl does allow for accidental flicks of wee to get into the bowl, which could then pass on E.C
But I do agree I only give mine a bowl, they don't know how to work a bottle!!!

Mine don't use their bottle at all since they have bowls, I suppose its hard work getting water out of them in comparison when you could just have a good slurp from a bowl

I hate bottles:roll: If you have the space a bowl is much more natural as rabbits do not drink from bottles in their natural habitat

Looks good
The bowl/bottle thing got my attention too, however I've realised Pooka prefers a bottle :roll: she drinks a *lot* of water, as in I refill the bowl during the day, and I went to Alton Towers so made sure I gave her bottles too, and she seems to favour them. Maybe because when she drinks from a bowl her loppy ears end up in it!

Pretty good list.

Though I always heard that bowls were better then a bottle, the reasoning being that bowls were more natural and bottles could possibly cause teeth problems. I'm not sure if that's true, but mine don't like bottles anyhow.

Thanks for sharing. :thumb: