A rabbit’s diet shapes their general health and wellbeing and can help prevent issues such as weight loss/gain, dental disease and gut problems. Feeding your rabbits a nutritious, balanced diet helps keep them healthy and lead long and happy lives!
Why is diet so important for rabbits?
Rabbits have a delicate digestive system and need a high fibre diet, consisting predominantly of hay and/or grass, to keep their guts moving. Their teeth also grow constantly throughout their lives and chewing hay/grass wears them down naturally, stopping them from overgrowing and developing painful ‘spurs’ that may restrict their ability to eat.
At The Bunnyjackpot Foundation, we’re huge champions of feeding a natural, beneficial diet that emulates how our rabbits’ wild cousins live! We’re constantly learning and improving our approaches to rabbit care and we have a much broader understanding of the benefits of feeding naturally than we did a few years ago. Where historically there was a push to feed a daily portion of vegetables and leafy greens (e.g. cabbage, broccoli, kale, carrot etc.), which are typically high in sugar and calories and can lead to digestive issues such as gas and bloating, nowadays we look to more natural forms of ‘fresh’ food such as forage (fresh or dried), grass and occasional herbs.
Recommended rabbit diet
Our companion rabbits are fundamentally the same as their wild cousins, so just as their homes should allow them to display their natural behaviours, their diet should mimic what wild rabbits eat as closely as possible too. The bulk of their diet should be hay and/or grass, supplemented with forage and herbs for interest, variety and enrichment, together with a limited amount of good quality pellets. And of course, constant access to clean water is a must!
A rabbit’s diet should broadly consist of:
- 85% unlimited hay (or grass)
- 10% forage and herbs
- 5% good quality pellets
Best hay for rabbits
Unlimited, good quality hay is the foundation of a healthy diet for our rabbits. Although hay makes up around 85% of what they eat, it’s important that it’s given in unlimited amounts. Rabbits’ guts work continually, so they need to have access to plenty of hay/grass 24/7 so that they can graze whenever they want!
There are lots of different hays available and we recommend grass hays such as Timothy, Meadow, Oaten, Orchard and Rye. As a starting point, Timothy hay is a solid choice! Alfalfa hay isn’t a grass hay and isn’t recommended as the main source of hay – it doesn’t wear down teeth in the same way as grass hays do and it’s high in calories, so should only be fed as a treat.
Here in the UK we’re spoiled for choice for buying fresh, good-quality hay! There are lots of ethical online shops such as The Hay Shed and The Little Hay Co who will deliver to your door, or you may be able to find local farms offering bales at a very competitive price.
Some rabbits can be a little picky when it comes to eating hay, but there are so many different types and different textures that there’s sure to be one out there for your fussy bun! Many companies even offer samples of their different varieties, so you can try a few and work out what suits your bun (and your budget) best! The benefits of eating hay are worth it for your rabbits’ long-term health.
Forage and herbs for rabbits
Making up around 10% of a rabbit’s diet (approximately a handful per rabbit twice a day), there’s a large choice of forage and herbs that can be fed, in both fresh and dried form! Rabbits love forage and herbs and they offer a great opportunity for enrichment and encouraging natural foraging behaviours.
Forages replicate a much more natural diet for rabbits compared with the traditional ‘leafy greens’ and there are a multitude of ethical companies such as The Nibble Nook, Meat Hop Fell Forage and Wild About Bunnies offering no end of exciting choices for your rabbits, such as dandelion and plantain mixes, flower blends and herby salads! Of course many of these ingredients can also be sourced by foraging ourselves and there’s more detail on this further down the page.
Herbs are also a fun way to test your bun’s taste buds and find out what they like and don’t like. Some firm favourites to try are:
- Basil
- Coriander
- Dill
- Lemon balm
- Mint
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Thyme
It’s good to vary what you feed for both nutrition and interest. As with any foods, it’s best to introduce them gradually and one at a time, so that you can easily identify any that don’t agree with your bun’s tum!
Rabbit pellets
Pellets make up a small portion of a rabbit’s diet. We recommend a good quality ‘complete’ pellet such as Science Selective or Burgess Excel – and they should be fed in moderation to ensure your bun doesn’t pass over the hay in favour of waiting for the pellets to appear! Again, pellets offer a great opportunity for enrichment and it’s a good idea to scatter-feed the pellets to encourage your rabbits to forage.
Muesli-style dried food mixes aren’t recommended as they can lead to selective feeding, with rabbits picking out the less healthy, sugary pieces, potentially leading to health issues.
How to feed your rabbits
There are so many ways to feed your buns other than the traditional bowls and food can be used in lots of ways to encourage natural behaviours. Scatter-feeding pellets, forage and herbs, hiding them amongst their hay and toys, or stuffing them into cardboard tubes and boxes with hay, creates boredom-breaking activities and provides important enrichment.
Rabbit treats
We all want to treat our buns from time to time and that’s ok, as long as treats are given in moderation and not as part of their daily diet. Again, a natural approach is recommended, feeding treats made from natural bunny-friendly ingredients (e.g. pea flakes, barley rings, a small slice of apple) and avoiding those high in sugars. Remember that they have delicate digestive systems!
Many treats that are marketed for rabbits should be avoided – for example milk-based yoghurt drops, sticks of sweetened cereals, dried corn etc. – these can lead to digestive upsets and more serious health issues.
Foraging for rabbits
Wild rabbits would naturally eat a wide variety of different plants as part of their diet and we can mirror this for our buns by foraging for them! Not only is foraging a great, cost-effective way of feeding fresh greens but it has a range of other benefits too, such as providing enrichment through the variety of tastes, textures and smells, and promoting digestive health.
There are a number of fantastic resources available for foraging (for example ‘Foraging for Rabbits’ written by Twigs Way and social media groups), but as a simple starting point the following plants are easy to identify and are popular with most buns:
- Grass! Buns love a handful of freshly picked grass (never feed mown grass)
- Dandelion leaves and flowers
- Bramble leaves
- Hazel – rabbits will eat the leaves and the branches, but avoid giving any nuts
- Strawberry leaves
- Raspberry leaves
- Plantain
- Apple / pear leaves and twigs
What do the rabbits in our care eat?
All of the rabbits under TBF’s care, both sanctuary buns and those in foster, are fed the diet described above (notwithstanding any specific medical-related dietary needs). Our experience is that this natural diet has improved the overall health of our bunnies – while in our care and also when guardians who’ve adopted from us continue with this approach.
