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Feeding your rabbit is probably the most important aspect of care it determines its health and wellbeing. Most people over feed their pets and wonder why the animal gets ill or dies.
Feeding your rabbit once a day is enough providing that the rations are in accordance with the size and activity level of your bunny. A regular time table for feeding bunny is also recommended as bunnies are creatures of habit.
Firstly never change bunnies diet suddenly as this can be fatal, their gut does not tolerate change of diet. The rabbits stomach has enzymes that need time to develop in the gut and many changes can upset the balance and cause illness or death. We will provide you will a supply of feed that bunny has been eating and we recommend that you add a little of your pellet that is available to you, gradually to this provided mix over a week or so. Ask us for any further info.

HOW MUCH TO FEED
Baby bunny should be free fed this means while bunny is growing it can eat as much as it wants, then as bunny grows it is dependant on the full size and the type of rabbit you have e.g. mini and dwarf bunnies to the giants such as the Californians and British.

WHAT TO FEED
PELLETS are the most common of all feeds but should be used as only part of the diet they are high in protein and fat and an adult rabbit should be limited to:
Small rabbits Minis and Dwarfs ¼ to ½ a cup of pellets a day.
Medium rabbits Cashmere, Satins ½ to 1 cup of pellets per day.
Large rabbits Giant breeds. 1 cup to 1 ½ cups per day.
Pellets can not be given alone the rabbit must be fed a varied diet. Just think if all you ever got fed was dry toast 3 times a day for the rest of your life. They do have taste buds and a rabbit can enjoy different taste sensations.

HAY is a must have they need it to break down fur in the gut unlike cats they can not cough up a fur ball/block it needs to be eliminated with the use of fibre in the diet. Fresh hay is very important as old hay may contain mould spores which will make bunny sick and die. Types of hay I recommend and use are wheaten hay, barley hay, good quality meadow hay very hard to find in South Australia and oaten hay used carefully as the seeds some times make their way into the skin, ears and even up the nose and cause many problems. If you can get the other types stick to them as less problems occur in my opinion. Lucern hay should only be given as a treat it is high in sugar and carbs and causes bunny to become over weight. Each day I give a single bunny at least 300 to 500 grams of hay this is a large grab or fist full just to describe it to you.

FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES are great vitamin and mineral supplements that can be fed each day to bunny and bunny will look for these, I actually give bunnies their pellets in the morning and their fresh at night. So I give hay and fresh vegies and fruit at about 5 pm so they have a bed time treat. Please refer to the A-Z of Rabbit Safe Plants.

Amount to give is about ½ to a full cup depending again on bunnies size my average pm meal is about ½ a carrot, ¼ of apple, a snow pea whole, ¼ tomato, some parsley, and other herbs
which varies depending what is in season. Ask us if you are unsure.

UNSUITABLE AND POISONOUS FOODS as mentioned before bunny has a very sensitive digestive system and must be fed carefully. Yes bunny might like that chocolate biscuit but it is a no no. No house hold left overs e.g. salads may have mayo or dressing that could kill bunny and cakes and other cooked food are really not good for bunnies. Yes they will eat them as they are yummy but buns tummy just can NOT DIGEST some of these foods. Please refer to the A-Z of Toxic Plants.

WATER MUST ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE
Rabbits must always have unlimited water available to them, in hot weather they will only drink cool water. Don’t think you can leave 2 water bottles on a hot day while you are at work and bunny will be fine, they only drink cool water. In a bottle or bowl on a hot day 30+ degrees, water will warm by mid day to 28+ degrees and bunny will not drink this water no mater how much they need it, bunny knows the temp of the water will increase its body temp and it will die. In the summer freeze the water over night in bottle or bowl and test it for how long it stays cool/frozen please make sure that if you cant keep water cool all day for bunny out in the hutch, that bunny comes inside to stay cool and not dehydrate.

The lists below are plants and vegetables, which have various uses ranging from treating scours (diarrhoea) to helping prevent or treat fur block. The items in the small amounts list are a delicacy for your bunny and must not be fed in excess.

Small Amounts (Treats):