How much should they eat?

We’ve recently got two new bunnies. They seem to eat a LOT, more than our previous rabbits.

They’re three months old, and eat a bowl of pellets for breakfast - gobble it up straightaway and lick the bowl for every last crumb :lol:

Non-stop hay eating all day. Bowl of fresh veg at lunchtime - again, they scoff this within a few minutes. And beg for bits of grass and leaves all day. At the moment they’re just in hutch, outdoor run, and coming inside for cuddles, but once we let them out into the garden they’ll be eating grass all day. Their foster carer said they’re very greedy. Are some rabbits just greedier than others?

Hello and welcome. I can safely say all Rabbits are greedy or act as if they are starving. At 3 months they need a lot more food than when they get a bit older. As they get around 6 months old their diet should consist of 80% Hay, 10% Pellets and then Veg, grass, herbs. When they start eating lots of grass their hay intake might reduce but this is ok. Have you looked on the Rabbit Welfare Association's website as there is excellent advice all things Rabbit related.

Rabbits do graze continually. They need constant input to keep their guts healthy. Hay or grass should be unlimited and always available. They need these long fibres to wear their constantly growing teeth down, and provide bulk in the gut. Poo shoud be large, round and golden, although colour depends on diet (grass will give darker poo than hay).

Pellets shoud be rationed and eaten within a few minutes.

Water - a bowl is better than a bottle so they can drink as much as they want more easily.

It sounds like they are doing well. At 3 months, they still have a lot of growing to do so will need to eat more than an adult.

Have they been vaccinated yet? They need protecting annually from RHD1. RHD2 and Myxomatosis.
And have you discussed getting them neutered? They may fall out when they reach maturity (whatever genders they are) and the bond could irretrievably break down if they start fighting. Female rabbits are also at high risk of dying from specific cancers if not neutered, plus the risk of pregnancy.

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, they’ve been vaccinated, and the male has been neutered. We’ll take the female to be neutered when she’s old enough (five/six months?).

And yes, these two certainly act as though they’re permanently starving and haven’t been fed for days :roll: It’s thrown me a bit because our previous rabbits didn’t do this. I know they’re meant to graze all day but this is the first time I’ve had rabbits who really do seem to want to eat all day long. But we haven’t had any this young before, so maybe that’s partly what it is. It’s lovely to see them happily munching on their hay, but it makes me feel guilty that whenever I go near them they come rushing over in the hope of food :lol:

It sounds like you have some healthy, well socialised bunnies. Keep up with the hay / grass eating - it's the best habit they can have. For 'treats', you coud just hand feed part of their pellet ration, dandelion leaves, or maybe have some dried forage to hand. It will encourage them to approach you, but you don't need to use the equivalent of bunny sweets (ie commercial 'treats').