Your Rabbits Diet
Now that you’ve learned about your rabbits environment,
now let’s take a look at its diet. It’s unfortunate, but
many owners feed their rabbit the wrong type of food. It’s
not all their fault, they see a rabbit eating a carrot on
TV in cartoons and assume that’s what they are supposed to
eat for the rest of their lives. Firstly, rabbits are
herbivores and do not eat meat. So, don’t lob a steak at
them or try feeding them dog or cat food because
eventually it can weaken your rabbit’s kidneys, and may
cause death. So, that’s another thing to think of when you
are trying to rabbit proof your home. Keep your rabbit
away from those types of foods. However, they aren’t meant
to eat carrots all of their lives either. Too many carrots
can cause diarrhea and other problems too. Many people buy
pellets, which is what most owners use as the basis for
their rabbit’s diet.
Pellets
are fine to use, but should not be the only thing that you
use. Also, you need to use the right kind of pellets.
Contrary to popular belief, alfalfa is not good food for
rabbits. Occasional alfalfa is fine, but if given on a
regular basis is known to cause obesity in rabbits. For
younger rabbits, and for rabbits that look too thin,
alfalfa can be used to help put the weight back on, but
don’t use it for an extended amount of time.
A great
type of pellet to use is a Timothy Hay based pellet. It
is much better than alfalfa, and is much healthier too.
Timothy Hay in its natural form is even better for your
rabbit, and should be a regular part of your buns diet.
Not only is it great for their diet, but the chewing also
helps file down your rabbits teeth. This is important to
note because your rabbits teeth grow constantly throughout
its life and not having things to chew on can result in
big problems for your furry friend later on in life.
There are other pellet food mixes on the market, but I
wouldn’t recommend using them as a major part of your
rabbits diet. They kind of look like cereal, and I find
that they make better occasional treats than they do as a
source of nutrition.
Besides
timothy hay, another important part of a rabbits diet is
green vegetables. Greens are essential to a healthy happy
rabbit. Personally, my rabbits love collard greens, red
leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce (no iceberg), occasional
escarole, dandelions (store bought, not wild to avoid
pesticides), parsley, and sometimes basil. Other good
veggies to include in your rabbits diet are carrots (whole
and tops), beet tops, green peppers, broccoli, and
cilantro. Try to avoid corn at all costs. Corn is not
good for rabbits, and I’ve seem many of them get sick from
even those little bits in some of the pellet foods. Fruits
can be included sparingly as well. I’ll give them some
strawberries, blueberries, and some peaches here and
there. You can include these in your rabbits diet from
time to time, or try some other fruits. Just remember,
less is more, and what may seem a little sugary to you,
can be like a sugary explosion to them.
You can
also give your rabbits some treats from the store too here
and there, but again less is more. Many of the treats are
great for training purposes which I’ll get into in more
detail in a little bit. Like I said above, I try my
hardest to stay away from corn but it appears to be in
nearly all the treats in pet stores. I also try to avoid
apples too because the seeds and stems are known to be
extremely dangerous to a wide variety of small animals
including rabbits. The best thing to do is to read the
labels on the boxes to see what’s in the stuff before you
buy it. There is also a wide variety of bagged treats
that kind of look like cereal that you can use
occasionally too to treat your rabbit, again just watch
out for apple, corn, and alfalfa.
Time of Feeding
What
many people don’t know is that rabbits don’t have a
specific time to be fed. So many owners I’ve talked to
only feed their rabbit once or twice a day, but this is
not the correct way to feed your rabbit. Your rabbit
should have a constant food source throughout the day and
night because they constantly feed throughout the day
nibbling a little here and there.
Water
Lastly,
a good part of your rabbit’s diet is plenty of fresh clean
water daily. This needs to be available to your bunny at
all times. Even if you use a big bottle that doesn’t need
to be changed often, you should still change the water at
least once a day. There are a bunch of water bottles on
the market today, and it usually comes to trial and error
to find one that’s good for your rabbit. Some rabbits find
certain bottles easier than others to drink out of. If
your bottle leaks often or you hear your rabbit tugging on
the bottle hard with little sign of water being drank,
it’s in your best interest to find another bottle.
Currently I have no preference because each of my rabbits
find different bottles easier to drink out of. Also, some
bottles can be very loud when your rabbit is drinking out
of them, and some are very quiet. You can play with
different ones in the store to see one that suits your
ears well. Just make sure it’s a sturdy bottle that seals
tightly.
Playtime and Exercise
Apart
from a good diet, plenty of playtime and exercise is an
essential part of raising a happy healthy bun. As I
mentioned earlier, the more time the better, and if your
rabbit is a little night time noise maker then the closer
to bedtime is best too. This exercise and playtime is
great for both you and your rabbit. It is a time for you
two to bond together and get to know each other. Rabbits
love to dig, chew and jump so make sure you have an area
set up that is suitable for this. They’ll run around like
little lightning bolts, jump back and forth in ways that
seem to defy physics, and jump up in the air and twist
(this is called a binky). Most rabbits love to dig, so you
can use a towel for them to chew and dig on. This is great
to help reduce your rabbits night time jitters. You can
use an old towel or blanket for them to do this. I say use
an old one because some rabbits are very good at making
Swiss cheese out of your blankets.
Many
rabbits just have a field day digging on these towels and
blankets. I have coined the term “Making Pizza” as that is
what it appears to be what they are doing. What they do is
go on the blanket and start spreading out the blankets
with their front paws, and it looks like they are
spreading the dough as though when people make pizza.
Except when they are done spreading the dough, they jump
up in the air and binky as opposed to flipping the pizza
up in the air. It’s really a cute thing to watch them do.
Besides
this, you’ll be surprised what your bun can have fun with.
My rabbits love paper towel rolls. They’ll dig on them,
scratch them, chew them, throw them up in the air, etc.
There are plenty of cool toys out in pet stores you can
choose from as well, I just wanted to share with you some
of the simpler ways your rabbit can have a great time.
Some
rabbits even like to be chased for fun. Many rabbits know
they are faster than you and enjoy making you run in
circles after them. If they’ve bonded with you and trust
you this can be good for them too, but don’t do this with
a bunny you just got the other day because you’ll surely
scare it senseless. To do this, you must know how to
understand your rabbit’s behavior. If your rabbit is
running around in circles and then tires it’s little self
out and then finds a space to chill out and relax in, then
that means your rabbit enjoys this. One of our rabbits
Gremlin, loved to do this. She would hop back and forth
from each side of the coffee table, and seem to get a real
kick out of it. Remember this is supposed to be a fun time
for your rabbit, and not you trying to scare it half to
death. Sometimes just walking around is enough to get them
to want to play. So, you don’t want to be stomping on the
ground like you’re trying to scare it. Some rabbits don’t
like this at all, and they get very scared. All rabbits
are different and you should respect their different
personalities. I mean, if you decide to engage in a
playful exercise like this and your rabbit runs behind the
couch and doesn’t want to come out, then I would pass on
engaging in this activity.
Bonding With Your Rabbit
One of
the most important parts of this playtime is the bonding
experience that you and your rabbit take part in. Almost
always when rabbits are introduced to their owner there
takes a certain amount of time for the both of you to
learn each others personalities and mannerisms, as well as
build trust. The closed up shy little rabbit you bought in
the store can become your most active, lovely, and cuddly
bunny companion if given enough time and patience.
When I
first got Nibbler I was shy to touch and pet him too. He
bit and nibbled, and both of us really didn’t know how to
react to each other but in time things changed. My fiancés
rabbit Oreo got to know her so well that she would thump
when Kayla would get upset. Rabbits and their owners get
to know each other very well, and it all starts with
adapting to each other and taking notice of each others
behaviors, and learning from each other. One of the best
ways to bond with your rabbit is to sit on the floor in an
enclosed area where your rabbit has little room to avoid
interacting with you.
