How to Choose Rabbit Food
Give your rabbit a variety of foods., Keep clean grass hay available to your rabbit at all times., Allow your rabbit access to fresh grass., Feed your rabbit fresh pellets daily., Feed your rabbit leafy green vegetables., Avoid giving your rabbit...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Give your rabbit a variety of foods.
Due to the way the rabbit’s digestive system works, the diet needs to consist of foods with the right amount of fiber along with moisture to keep the digestive tract functioning properly.
A proper diet for a rabbit consists of:
Quality grass hay.
Leafy green vegetables Pellets Water Small amounts of starchy vegetables (such as carrots and small pieces of fruit) -
Step 2: Keep clean grass hay available to your rabbit at all times.
In addition to giving the rabbit something to chew on, grass hay is vital to maintain a rabbit’s intestinal health.
Never let your rabbit go without hay.
Alfalfa and clover hay is too high in protein and calcium to feed to a rabbit.
This type of hay should only be used as a treat. , Fresh grass is good for a rabbit.You can set up a pen outside on your lawn for your rabbit to graze or you can clip grass with a scissors (don’t use lawn mower trimmings) and give it to your rabbit to eat.
Make sure there has been no chemicals used on the lawn.
Fertilizers or herbicides could make your rabbit very ill. , These are produced to be completely nutritionally balanced.
Adult rabbits should have from 1/8 to ½ cup daily, depending on their size.
If you don’t limit the amount of pellets a rabbit eats, it may become obese.
It could also have other health conditions, as it may choose pellets over grass or hay and it needs grass or hay for proper digestion.
Throw out any uneaten or spoiled pellets every day before putting fresh pellets in the rabbit’s dish. , Leafy green vegetables, like salad greens, bok choy, arugula, broccoli stems and leaves, and carrot tops are great fiber and water sources for a rabbit.
Feed from 1-3 cups a day, depending on the rabbit’s size.
Make sure to slowly introduce new greens to a rabbit.
Introducing new foods to a rabbit too quickly can give it diarrhea, which can be life threatening to a rabbit. , Now that you know the proper foods to feed a rabbit, you should learn what to never feed a rabbit.
Foods that should never be fed to a rabbit, as they may cause severe intestinal upset and may kill a rabbit, include:
Human foods other than previously mentioned vegetables and fruits.
Corn, seeds, and other grains. , One of the most dangerous nutritionally-induced conditions in a rabbit is gastrointestinal (GI) stasis.
This is caused primarily by a too low fiber diet although stress, not enough water, pain, and a foreign object in the gut can also cause GI stasis.If you ever see these signs or suspect GI stasis get your rabbit to the veterinarian.
This is an emergency and needs to be treated immediately.
Signs of GI stasis include: decreased fecal pellet production, slow or no appetite, and lethargy or no energy.Hesitating or taking a “wait-and-see” approach may kill your rabbit.
To prevent this problem always keep fresh, clean hay out for your rabbit.
This cannot be stressed enough.
They must always have hay to chew on and to digest to keep the intestinal tract moving properly and functioning normally. , The rabbit’s digestive system is designed to deal with a diet consisting of very fibrous plants, plants which humans could never digest.This type of food is typically very coarse and rough so the rabbit’s teeth continuously grow as the food wears the teeth down.If the food doesn’t perform this function the teeth will grow long and ragged, potentially injuring the rabbit. , Rabbits are crepuscular, meaning they eat primarily at dusk and dawn, so the food needs to be stored for hours.
The stomach mixes the food up with enzymes and acids before it is passed along to the first the small, then the large, intestine.In the small intestine, most of the digestion and absorption of nutrients occurs as the food travels along this part of the gut.After the small intestine, the large intestine goes to work on the food along with the cecum.
The cecum is an outpouching of the large intestine, very much like the human appendix.
Unlike our appendix, the rabbit’s cecum serves a purpose, to further digest the fibrous portion of the plants the rabbit consumed. , In the rabbit, the cecum is huge, 10 times the size of the rabbit’s stomach.
It is loaded with bacteria and microorganisms that break down plant fibers to make nutrients available to the rabbit’s body.
When the fibers are broken down, the cecum releases all the nutrients and material into the large intestine in a blob called a cecotrope.This is passed out of the body via the large intestine and anus.
When it does, the rabbit eats it to recover the nutrients produced by the bacteria and microorganism in the cecum. -
Step 3: Allow your rabbit access to fresh grass.
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Step 4: Feed your rabbit fresh pellets daily.
-
Step 5: Feed your rabbit leafy green vegetables.
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Step 6: Avoid giving your rabbit foods that are bad for it.
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Step 7: Remember that your rabbit needs a balanced diet to stay healthy.
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Step 8: Understand what rabbits are supposed to eat.
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Step 9: Understand the function of the first digestive cycle.
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Step 10: Allow your rabbit to re-ingest its cecotropes
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Step 11: or night feces.
Detailed Guide
Due to the way the rabbit’s digestive system works, the diet needs to consist of foods with the right amount of fiber along with moisture to keep the digestive tract functioning properly.
A proper diet for a rabbit consists of:
Quality grass hay.
Leafy green vegetables Pellets Water Small amounts of starchy vegetables (such as carrots and small pieces of fruit)
In addition to giving the rabbit something to chew on, grass hay is vital to maintain a rabbit’s intestinal health.
Never let your rabbit go without hay.
Alfalfa and clover hay is too high in protein and calcium to feed to a rabbit.
This type of hay should only be used as a treat. , Fresh grass is good for a rabbit.You can set up a pen outside on your lawn for your rabbit to graze or you can clip grass with a scissors (don’t use lawn mower trimmings) and give it to your rabbit to eat.
Make sure there has been no chemicals used on the lawn.
Fertilizers or herbicides could make your rabbit very ill. , These are produced to be completely nutritionally balanced.
Adult rabbits should have from 1/8 to ½ cup daily, depending on their size.
If you don’t limit the amount of pellets a rabbit eats, it may become obese.
It could also have other health conditions, as it may choose pellets over grass or hay and it needs grass or hay for proper digestion.
Throw out any uneaten or spoiled pellets every day before putting fresh pellets in the rabbit’s dish. , Leafy green vegetables, like salad greens, bok choy, arugula, broccoli stems and leaves, and carrot tops are great fiber and water sources for a rabbit.
Feed from 1-3 cups a day, depending on the rabbit’s size.
Make sure to slowly introduce new greens to a rabbit.
Introducing new foods to a rabbit too quickly can give it diarrhea, which can be life threatening to a rabbit. , Now that you know the proper foods to feed a rabbit, you should learn what to never feed a rabbit.
Foods that should never be fed to a rabbit, as they may cause severe intestinal upset and may kill a rabbit, include:
Human foods other than previously mentioned vegetables and fruits.
Corn, seeds, and other grains. , One of the most dangerous nutritionally-induced conditions in a rabbit is gastrointestinal (GI) stasis.
This is caused primarily by a too low fiber diet although stress, not enough water, pain, and a foreign object in the gut can also cause GI stasis.If you ever see these signs or suspect GI stasis get your rabbit to the veterinarian.
This is an emergency and needs to be treated immediately.
Signs of GI stasis include: decreased fecal pellet production, slow or no appetite, and lethargy or no energy.Hesitating or taking a “wait-and-see” approach may kill your rabbit.
To prevent this problem always keep fresh, clean hay out for your rabbit.
This cannot be stressed enough.
They must always have hay to chew on and to digest to keep the intestinal tract moving properly and functioning normally. , The rabbit’s digestive system is designed to deal with a diet consisting of very fibrous plants, plants which humans could never digest.This type of food is typically very coarse and rough so the rabbit’s teeth continuously grow as the food wears the teeth down.If the food doesn’t perform this function the teeth will grow long and ragged, potentially injuring the rabbit. , Rabbits are crepuscular, meaning they eat primarily at dusk and dawn, so the food needs to be stored for hours.
The stomach mixes the food up with enzymes and acids before it is passed along to the first the small, then the large, intestine.In the small intestine, most of the digestion and absorption of nutrients occurs as the food travels along this part of the gut.After the small intestine, the large intestine goes to work on the food along with the cecum.
The cecum is an outpouching of the large intestine, very much like the human appendix.
Unlike our appendix, the rabbit’s cecum serves a purpose, to further digest the fibrous portion of the plants the rabbit consumed. , In the rabbit, the cecum is huge, 10 times the size of the rabbit’s stomach.
It is loaded with bacteria and microorganisms that break down plant fibers to make nutrients available to the rabbit’s body.
When the fibers are broken down, the cecum releases all the nutrients and material into the large intestine in a blob called a cecotrope.This is passed out of the body via the large intestine and anus.
When it does, the rabbit eats it to recover the nutrients produced by the bacteria and microorganism in the cecum.
About the Author
Thomas Cox
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in crafts and beyond.
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