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Small pets

Rabbit feeding

15 replies

Cupcakes1234 · 09/01/2019 17:58

Hi all

We got a rabbit today from pets at home from their adoption centre part of store. They said he's about 18 months old and is quite a large rabbit.

We want to change bus food but know we have to do it gradually. We still have some selective food left over from when our old rabbit died last year (new bag unopened). So today I went back out and brought pets at home own brand of nuggets so he's getting fed what he's used to. But they only had the infant one which the man said would be fine it's just smaller and had a slightly higher fat content. But I just don't know how much to feed him

The largest size on the feeding guideline is 1-1.5kg and feed 25-35g but obviously that's a baby rabbit. And as I've said he's pretty big! So how much should I be feeding him? Or do I save the guess work and try and get a proper adult one tomorrow?

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Hoppybunny · 09/01/2019 20:49

The main thing is to make sure he has plenty of hay and fresh water. Buns don’t actually need pellets (but ours love them), just hay water and fresh green vegetables. Our pair weight 2kg and about 2.5kgs and they have two egg cups of pellets to share each day.

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bunnygeek · 10/01/2019 11:18

Juvenile rabbit food is designed to offer some weight gain so best a small handful to avoid him becoming a porker. Ideally he should be on the same nuggets he was on in the store though, the juvenile ones won't be identical.

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BlackInk · 10/01/2019 11:36

My bunnies (medium-sized) have a small handful of pellets each a day plus lots of hay daily, veg scraps most days and a nibble of grass/weeds when they're out in the garden.

When changing pellet types I always mix in some of the new pellets with the ones they're used to and feed them the mix for a week or so before changing over completely.

Are you planning on getting your new bun a companion OP?

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Cupcakes1234 · 10/01/2019 16:51

Thank you to everyone for your comments. I gave him a little of those pellets last night but went back to the store first thing and got the ones he was on along with the same hay. He seems to be doing well so far though!

And no, we have had rabbits in the past. And a single rabbit before. He was on his own in the store so he's been on his own before. I am home pretty much all day everyday and he's a house rabbit, he will be coming out every evening as soon as my son has gone to be so I'm thinking he will be fine.

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Passthecake30 · 11/01/2019 21:58

I have 2 rabbits, they have 40g between them, morning and evening. One rabbit is a smaller Dutch (2kg), so probably eats 15g at both sittings , the other is a larger English/lop mix (3kg) and probably has 25g. They also have the equivalent of 4 large leaves a day of spring greens, a handful of kale, and random bits like celery leaves... plus a fair chunk of hay.

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Cupcakes1234 · 12/01/2019 01:38

Thanks everyone. We have decided to go for 20g in the morning and then 20g in the evening of the adult pets at home food. He has had a cabbage leaf this evening and some forage, going to try him with some basil tomorrow. What greens do people actually give to their buns... although we've had rabbits before I feel like I've forgotten everything (probably because the last was so heartbreaking). There so much conflicting advice on what greens are good and what are to avoid on the Internet. The man in pets at home said broccoli, but online says it can make them "gassy"

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Passthecake30 · 12/01/2019 07:36

Mine have spring greens, kale, celery, parsley, cauliflower leaves, broccoli stalks, spinach, rocket, brussels, carrot tops.

They have a tiny piece of carrot (the cm or so you cut off the top) every now and then and about 1/4 of an apple once a week.

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BlackInk · 14/01/2019 09:37

Ours mainly have the veg off-cuts from our cooking - outer cabbage/greens/cauliflower leaves, herb stalks, carrot peel, broccoli stems, celery leaves, apple cores, little off-cuts from peppers, cucumber etc. We don't buy anything specially for them. If we don't have any scraps for them we pick them a handful of grass and dandelion leaves from the garden. They always have access to fresh hay, posh dried grass occasionally (they love it) and free-grazing in the garden whenever we can fit it in.

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lynnepot · 14/01/2019 09:39

What happened to just giving rabbits grass (dandelions and dock leaves of you can find them) and vegetables peelings like we did with our rabbits when I was younger? They lived happily with that. We didn't do any of this pellets stuff.

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bunnygeek · 14/01/2019 10:42

Dogs used to live on table scraps too. We know a lot more about their nutritional needs now. A lot of pet shop rabbits particularly are poorly bred so need a careful diet.

FYI Dock leaves should only be fed when the plants are young and before the plants flower. Stem seeds should always be avoided as dock seeds are very poisonous to rabbits.

Some rabbits can happily live on a pellet free diet BUT they do need supplementing with a variety of other foods to ensure they're getting all the vitamins and minerals they need. That should be from carefully selected veggies, herbs and wild plants.

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reluctantbrit · 14/01/2019 13:24

We feed our spoiled ones:

Spring greens, kale, celeriac and celery sticks, broccoli, carrots (once in a while), peppers, sweet gems

In Summer we add dandelion leaves, raspberry and strawberry leaves plus if they are outside all the grass they like (they then do not get much at bedtime).

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Passthecake30 · 14/01/2019 21:26

Oh yes I forgot a dandelions, strawberry leaves, vine tree leaves, conifer tree leaves, hawthorn leaves and random bits of hedge (I think it might be winter flowering jasmine?). In the summer I am the mad rabbit lady that strips the garden bare for them .

I buy kale and spring greens weekly, everything else is Kitchen scraps.

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Crazybunnylady123 · 15/01/2019 11:17

Rabbit diet is mostly hay, feed a good selection of different types to keep bunny interested.
I feed my lot hay and veg in the morning and pellets and more hay in the evening.
Introduce vegetables slowly to a pets at home bunny. Eventually you want to be looking at half a cup of veg a day.
I recommend excel nuggets with mint for pellets when you change her over.
Don’t forget the vaccines and she needs to be spayed. X

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LeporidaeDomesticus · 26/01/2019 11:27

Our 3 year old 2kg dutch gets 5 grams of crack cocaine nuggets a day (also Excel w/mint), to help guard against any nutritional deficiencies and because he loves the damn things so much we can’t deny him. This is down from a high of about 30g when he were a lad.

In addition to as much meadow hay as he could possibly desire, he also chows down on morning and evening bowls of greens. The waiter offers him a carefully vetted selection of spring greens, kale, basil, coriander, mint, water cress, parsley, carrot tops when we can find good ones, and more cocaine a sprinkling of bell peppers. He turns his little nose up at dill.

Rabbit feeding

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LeporidaeDomesticus · 26/01/2019 11:53

This is where we took a lot of our advice

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