Rabbit Nutrition 101

Many people go out and buy a rabbit without giving a second thought to their diet. They go to the pet shop and pick up the cheapest bag labelled "rabbit food" that they see, then they feed that to their rabbit. However, it is very important that rabbit owners be informed about proper rabbit nutrition. Without proper nutrition, rabbits are more susceptible to many health problems.

The Most Important Part of a Rabbit's Diet

Ask someone what the most important part of a rabbit's diet is and it's very likely that they'll tell you that pellets are more important than anything else. However, the correct answer would be hay (grass hay to be more specific). Rabbits should have grass hay available to them at all times. Examples of grass hays include: orchard grass, timothy, and bermuda grass. Many people feed their rabbits alfalfa hay, but this is a poor choice. Alfalfa hay is a legume hay, not a grass hay. Alfalfa hay is fine for young growing rabbits, but it should be given in addition to a grass hay. Grass hay is needed for digestion. The fiber in grass hay helps to keep things moving along in the rabbit's gastrointestinal tract (GI tract). Rabbits are grazers and eat all the time, so their digestive tract needs to keep moving. Having hay available at all times will help to prevent GI stasis, where the GI tract basically stops (this can be very difficult to correct so it's much better to prevent it from happening). Aside from helping the GI tract, hay also helps wear down the rabbit's teeth. Rabbits have teeth that grow continuously. While wood chews may help the incisors, hay helps to wear down the molars. Do not replace hay with hay cubes, no matter how much time you think that will save you with cleaning up messes. Hay cubes are already considerably broken down and do not help wear down your rabbit's teeth as much. As with all food, make sure that the hay you feed your rabbit is fresh.

Pellets: So Many Choices!