Friday, May 14, 2010

What can i feed a pet rabbit?

ive heard they can eat grass and wild onions and those yellow flowers is that true and what else can i feed it?What can i feed a pet rabbit?
The absolute best most comprehensive list I have found of what to feed rabbits is http://www.bunnyrescue.net/BunnyBasics07鈥?/a> I know the lady who put this together and I adopted my rabbit from her and fostered for her.


Most important things to remember:


1) endless supply of grass hay, preferably Timothy Hay


2) salads. Depending on how big your rabbit is, but I feed mine two small plates a day.


3) least important, pellet food. Get the basic purina rabbit chow. My rabbit, ~7 lbs, gets 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/4 cup in the evening.





Some rabbits like different foods, but most like romaine lettuce and green leaf lettuce. My other rabbit loved spinach, but my current rabbit doesn't. I buy lettuce (not iceberg!), cilantro (his favorite), and parsley. Every now and then he gets carrot tops when they look good in the grocery store. Raisins are his favorite treat, but my other rabbit could smell a banana from 20 feet away! If you run out of food and can't get to the grocery store for a day, you can always pick clovers, dandelion flowers and leaves, and violets that grow in your yard.





Enjoy your rabbit! THey have amazing personalities when you get to know them, but they can also sure be ornery!


What can i feed a pet rabbit?
You should feed you rabbit lots if grass hay (like timothy), some pellets (1/4 cup per 5lbs of body weight), and veggies.


Some good veggies are romaine lettuce (no iceberg), parsley, cilantro, carrot tops. Leafy green veggies are the best. http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html


The pellets should be timothy based. Avoid ones with extra bits or that have corn in them. Oxbow makes a good pellets, but there are some other good brands.



Hello,





When you are considering foods for your rabbit bare in mind that rabbits have a very unique digestive tract which is designed and built to digest roughage. Rich foods and those not high in fibre are not good for rabbits at all and so should be avoided. Likewise so should certain types of watery vegetables and fruit which can cause diarrhoea.


A rabbits diet should be made up mainly of hay with timothy hay being the most preferable. This helps to give the rabbit as much fibre as possible to keep the gut moving. Secondly a good quality pellet again high in fibre. You can check bags of food yourself - the fibre content should really be 18%+ to be a good one. Try to avoid mixed foods such as the museli mixes out there as these are often the cause of picky eating which can result in obesity, dental problems and other deficiencies. A complete pellet is much better as it doesn't give the rabbit the option to pick at it's food!


You can also buy something such as ReadiGrass/Just Grass/Graze On (these all available in the UK) which is dried grass usually sold at equine outlets and feed stores.


Some veg is fine to be given but if you're rabbit hasn't had it before or you're not sure if he's had it then make sure you give him a mouthful at a time and let him adjust slowly. Give him too much at once and there is a good chance he will gorge himself on it and get an upset stomach. Good greens to give include carrot, cauliflower leaves, spring greens, kale and similar. Dandelion is also great to give and is good for upset tummies although again in moderation! Fruits can be given but these should always be limited to a very occasional treat as are more likely to cause digestive problems.


You can buy dried herbs and what would be classed as weeds online and all bunny safe. If you would like some ideas go to www.thehayexperts.co.uk They are again UK based but they do have a list of safe herbs that rabbits can have and they are very good, from that information you should be able to find a supplier closer to home.





Hope this helps :)
DONT feed it lettuce leaves. People always think this is what you feed them. But you don't.





Feed him traditional carrots, and broccoli. Danilion flowers, they don't tend to like very much, but perfectly edible. But its the actual leaves they like the best.





I don't know your situation, but you can get dry food rather cheaply from any pet store.
Just buy pellets for your rabbit at any petstore.


-timothy hay


-alfalfa hay (if it's still young, adults may get problems from this)


-celery


-apples


-parsley


-sunflower seeds (not the kind that has been cooked or salted)





You can visit this page to see what a complete diet consists on:


http://www.cuhumane.org/topics/rabfeed.h鈥?/a>





or this to see what vegetables and fruits they can eat:


http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/diet/food鈥?/a>
unlimited timothy hay, if its a baby some alfalfa hay, 1/8 cup of high quality rabbit pellets (oxbow or hagen brand is great) and fresh veggies (you can give lettuce just not alot and no iceburg lettuce but boston,romaine and frizzy lettuce is ok) Parsely,dandelion,kale,brussel sprouts,a little carrot,brocoli, escarole,dill, mint,apple,pear, banana etc not a lot of fruits b/c too much sugar for a bunny!
if you plan on breeding do not feed it broccoli. it gives them horrible gas and will kill any kits. carrot tops, grass, timothy hay. a pelleted feed is good and gives them a very well rounded diet. i use purina and give them treats about twice a week.
Get it pellets so it gets all the nutrition it needs. If it's under 6 months old, get alfalfa based pellets and alfalfa hay. It's high in calcium which they need for growth. If over 6 months, give Timothy based pellets and Timothy hat.
i had 2 rabbits but now i have 1 and their fave food is dried banana,wet lettuce,dry carrots and apples. they usually eat dry food from pet stores as well but they weren't very keen of it.





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