Rabbit Diet and Nutrition 101

Eating a Healthy Diet for Pet Rabbits

Eating a healthy diet is very important for the health of our pet rabbits to help them maintain health and stave off disease.

What Should Your Rabbit’s Diet Consist Of?

A rabbit’s diet should consist of:

• 85% hay
• 10% leafy greens and vegetables (Roughly a handful)
• 5% pellets (25g of pellets per kg of your rabbit's body weight)

Hay and Grass

Rabbits are herbivores, so unlimited, good-quality hay is the foundation of a healthy diet for them, providing most of the nutrients they need. Good quality hay (such as Timothy hay or meadow hay) should be dry and free from contaminants such as foreign objects, grit, dust, and mould.

Leafy Greens and Vegetables

Below are examples of safe leafy green and veg options for your rabbit, a small portion of a variety (ideally 5-6 different types) of these can be included in the diet. 

• Basil
• Broccoli
• Dark green Cabbage
• Carrot tops
• Cauliflower including leaves
• Celery
• Curly kale
• Spinach
• Spring greens
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Dill
• Cilantro
• Lavender
• Peppermint
• Clover
• Fruit tree leaves e.g., Apple, pear, and blackberries
• Chamomile
• Dandelions
• Echinacea
• Hawthorn
• Hazel
• Lemon balm
• Marigold
• Sunflowers
• Willow leaves
• Caraway
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Tarragon

Pellets

Pellets are an important part of a rabbit’s diet to provide a balance of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Pellets are preferred to muesli style diets as they prevent selective feeding, ensuring your rabbit gets all the benefit they need from their food. Overfeeding pellets can lead to obesity and consequently a myriad of health complications. Ensuring that your rabbit’s diet is balanced, and pellets make up only 5% of their daily dietary intake is crucial. 

Treats

Fruits are reserved for treats as they are high in sugar. Your rabbit can enjoy a slice of fruit, or the orange part of one carrot, but it should be an occasional treat of no more than once or twice a week.

What Foods to Avoid

Human foods or foods high in sugars and carbohydrates such as corn, legumes and grains should never be fed, along with high-fat treats such as barley rings which are extremely calorie-dense and promote obesity as well as other health problems. Lawn clippings ferment very quickly and can be extremely harmful to rabbits so also should never be fed.

Common Illnesses Caused by an Improper Diet

• Dental problems
  Rabbits’ teeth grow continuously throughout their lives. Their teeth wear naturally when eating fibre-dense hay and grasses, without which, they can develop painful sharp spurs where teeth have not worn down properly. Spurs cut into the gums and tongue making it uncomfortable to eat and leading to a high risk of developing gut stasis, a life-threatening emergency condition involving dysfunction of the intestines.
   
• Digestive disease
  Rabbits are known as hindgut fermenters, meaning most of the digestion happens in the intestines, specifically the caecum, unlike in humans where digestion mostly happens in the stomach. In the hindgut, fibre is fermented by their natural gut bacteria, extracting the nutrients needed. After the food has passed through their gut once, they form the first type of faeces called caecotrophs. Caecootrophs are soft sticky droppings produced daily after eating. In order to get the full availability of nutrients from their food, rabbits re-eat these caecotrophs which are further digested into faecal pellets, round firm droppings which are the final waste output. With an improper diet, rabbits can develop an imbalance of bacteria in their gut, and loss of function of the intestines, leading to serious illness.
   
• Diarrhoea
  Diarrhoea is an indication of infection or illness. The wrong diet can lead to diarrhoea such as not enough hay or too much sugary or starchy foods.
   
• Constipation, Blockages, and Bloat
  The proper diet and correct hydration are vital to normal digestion. If stomach or intestinal contents are too dry or contains contaminants it can block the gut leading to gut stasis. Blockages or a sudden change in diet, leading to an increase in the population of gas-producing bacteria, can lead to bloat. Bloat is a build-up of gas in the stomach or intestines which can lead to serious illness such as gut stasis, or even intestinal rupture, spilling intestinal contents into the abdomen causing death, if not treated. As rabbits can’t burp or vomit, they rely heavily on their gut functioning properly to ensure gas doesn’t build up.
   
• Gut Stasis
  It is essential that rabbits graze continuously. If they’re not eating, their guts stop functioning, termed “stasis”. This is a life-threatening emergency. During this time your rabbit will produce no droppings or only very few, small, hard ones. You should present your rabbit to a vet immediately for treatment if they’re not eating.
   
• Bones, Teeth, and Bladders - Calcium Imbalance
  Rabbits absorb calcium from their food. Excess calcium is flushed through the kidneys and bladder and passed via urine. Not enough calcium can cause dental disease and weak bones, whilst too much calcium causes urinary stones and bladder problems.
   
• Obesity
  In a healthy rabbit, you should be able to feel ribs under a layer of muscle when firmly petting them. If your rabbit looks wider than they are long, they are significantly overweight. 
  
  Whilst exercise should be actively encouraged in rabbits, the correct diet is vital to the prevention of obesity. An incorrect diet such as an excess of pellets in the diet is a common cause of obesity. Overweight rabbits are unable to groom themselves properly leaving them at risk of flystrike (maggot infestation in soiled fur). They also can’t reach to re-ingest caecotrophs and so don’t absorb all the nutrients available from their food. Obesity also puts a strain on the heart, lungs, liver and joints.

Conclusion

Hay should be the staple of a rabbit's diet to keep them healthy. Rabbits have different needs depending on their age, overall health, and whether they are pregnant or nursing young. Ask your vet for advice on suitable diets for your rabbit.