On this page we'll discuss aspects of rabbit nutritional needs and feeding advice including bunny safe fruit and vegetables.
First we shall go through the basic dietary needs of your bunny. Their diet should consist of 80% hay, 12% vegetables/herbs/fruits, 6% pellets and 2% other treats.
Hay should be good quality and as dust free as possible. Meadow hay is ideal for all bunnies. Different types of hay include, meadow, orchard grass, Timothy, readi grass and oat hay. We here feed meadow hay and readi grass to our bunnies.
Providing a variety of different hay is ideal if you have a fussy rabbit but is not needed for all rabbits. So long as 80% of their diet is hay it doesn't matter which they prefer. Bunnies should eat a pile of hay the size of their body per day. It keeps them in optimum health and helps maintain their teeth too.
Vegetables, fruits, herbs and plants are a good way of getting extra nutrients into your rabbit. A list of safe ones are:
Broccoli, sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, curly kale, Green beans, parsnip, peas and pods, pumpkin, rocket, romaine lettuce, swede, watercress, apple, apricot, banana, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, kiwi, mango, melon, orange, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums, raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes (no leaves), dandelion leaves, plantain, clover, thistle, chickweed, nettle, willow, blackberry/bramble leaves, shepherds purse, parsley, basil, mint, rosemary, sage, thyme, dill.
If its not on this list, I do not feed just in case even though there is likely a lot more safe plants than listed.
You should only pick plants that come from areas free from pollution and pesticides. Introduce new food items slowly and I very small quantities over a long period of time as many can cause issues such as bloat if fed in large amounts.
You should avoid feeding musili feed to rabbits as it contains high quantities of unhealthy ingredients including seeds which rabbits cannot digest sufficiently. They should have access to roughly an egg cup size amount of pellets once a day. Don't be tempted to just fill the bowl and top it up as and when empty, this will cause serious digestive issues and can cause weight problems.
2% of the diet can be used for other treats such as homemade cookies, there are lots of recipes online for things you can make. Treats are great for rewarding behaviour and helping get their confidence up around you.
We feed a selection of herbs to our bunnies mixed with meadow grass and readigrass. Herbs we feed include liquorice root, fennel, mint, chamomile and aniseed topped with cold pressed rapeseed oils.
Apple cider vinegar is a very useful addition to your bunnies diet as it helps keep their gut free from harmful bacteria and helps neutralise high levels of acid. One teaspoon per 600ml water is what we provide. We give this once a week to give the bunnies a little health boost. They really do enjoy it despite the strong smell. Ensure you only use apple cider vinegar with the mother as this is the part that contains all the goodness.
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