Each rabbit deserves to eat healthy, but also they enjoy their yummy food as well. Usually rabbits eat vegetables, pellets, and hay to keep up a healthy diet, but in the long run, it may make your rabbit really fat or it will be hard for your rabbit to digest the food it has eaten.
To keep your rabbit on a balanced diet, be sure not to give your rabbits a lot pellets because it will ruin the balance of the diet and is high in calories, but if you do decide to give your rabbit less pellets, remember to feed it more vegetables and hay to make up for the imbalance. Hay, vegetables, and pellets are the three main food sources a rabbit should eat.
Hay is a good source of fiber for the rabbits, but some rabbits may not like the hay at first. Each day, I suggest adding fresh hay, such as or oat or timothy hay to the rabbit's food, this will help your rabbit include hay as part of their diet. Alfalfa should be fed to baby rabbits because it helps them get use to eating grass for 6 to 7 months. After 6 to 7 months, alfalfa should be taken a way from their diet little by little each week and replaced with hay. You may find your rabbit tends to like alfalfa more, but try to add different mixes to your rabbit's food.
Vegetables for humans are healthy, and it is the same for rabbits! In their diets, vegetables should make up most of it, you should give your rabbit about 2 to 4 cups filled with vegetables depending on how big your rabbit is. If you have a big rabbit, feed it 4 cups of vegetables a day and if you have a small rabbit, it should be fed 2 cups a day. Diarrhea is not good for your rabbit to have, try not to feed your rabbit a lot of pellets. Also, don't give different kinds of vegetables everyday all at once. When you want your rabbit to change up their food, add one new vegetable a day, this helps your rabbit change your rabbit's digestive system easier.
What kind of the vegetables is good for your rabbit? - Broccoli - Carrots - Carrot tops - Spinach* - Kale* - Endive - Turnip greens - Romaine lettuce - Mustard greens* - Collard greens - Dandelion leaves
* High in oxalates, three meals per week
If you have a bunny, you should starting feeding the bunny small portions of vegetables when they are about 12 weeks old. Whenever you are about to add a different type of vegetable to their diet, be on the alert that your bunny or rabbit may get diarrhea. Pellets are necessary for rabbits to eat in order to maintain their balanced diet; however, they are high in calories. That is why you should not over feed your rabbit because they will eventually lead to obesity.
If your rabbit weighs around - 5 to 7 pounds: ¼ of a cup of pellets - 8 to 10 pounds: ½ cup - 11 to 15 pounds: ¾ cup - Bunny: up to you, but decrease ½ cup after 6 pounds
If you really want to treat your rabbit to some goodies, you can try your local pet stores for rabbit treats, but another healthy treat for rabbits is fresh fruit. The House Rabbit Society suggest only giving 1 to 2 tablespoons of fresh fruit a day, but don't give your rabbits too much treats in general because it can cause diarrhea and digestive problems. Your rabbit deserves the best of care, especially in food because this determines their survival. If you want your rabbit to have a long and healthy life, be sure to put it on a balanced and healthy diet.
Sun May 20, 2012 12:02 pm
