Friday, May 14, 2010

How much are you meant to feed your rabbit?

I use to just fill his bowl when it needed filling.





but the petshop told me they will just eat for the sake of it.





I give them a carrot each, a leaf of cabbage and a scoop of rabbit food a day, the scoop is about 4 - 5 inches long and about 2 inches deep but then goes thinner





is that too less or too much?How much are you meant to feed your rabbit?
How much to feed depends on the breed of rabbit that you have. Small breeds,like Netherland dwarfs need about 1/4 cup of pellets a day, while medium breed rabbits such as Mini Lops, Mini Rex etc need about 1/3-1/2 cup. Of course the large breeds need the most such as Flemish giants need about 1- 1 1/2 cups per day.





Rabbits can eat hay but it is a myth that they need it 24/7. Many breeders never feed hay to their rabbits at all and still have healthy rabbits that win many awards. It all depends on the type of pellet you are feeding your rabbit. If you buy from a petstore or a store like Walmart then you are feeding an inferior feed to your rabbits. The best place is to get your feed at a feed mill or store. It should contain at least 15% protein and 18% is even better.


Get a measuring cup that is a 1 cup with marks for 1/4 through 1 cup. Use this to measure out the food.





Hay helps some rabbits digest better when they are in a molt so that any hair that they ingest goes through their system without problems.





Vegetables and fruits should be kept as an occasional treat, maybe once a week. Lettuce and cabbages should not be fed at all. lettuce contains too much water and can lead to diarrhea, cabbage can cause gas and rabbits can pass gas.


it is better to gather fresh grass and leaves for your rabbits just make sure they are not treat with any chemicals.





If overfed rabbits will gain weight that you may not see. rabbits put on fat from the insdie out.Fat forms around the internal organs first, which makes the organs overwork, this can lead to them functioning incorrectly or to even stop woking. It is better to keep the rabbit on the lean side of their ideal weight.You can find their ideal weight if you know the breed in the ARBA's SOP(Standard of Perfection).





Also make sure your rabbits have fresh, unchlorianted water at all times, they will not eat properly if they do not have water to drink.





If you email me with your rabbits breed I can help you figure out exactly how much they should be getting.How much are you meant to feed your rabbit?
Your rabbit needs to get unlimited grassy hay all day, every day. This should be hay like timothy, orchard grass, or bluegrass. Pellets should be limited, I usually feed mine a 1/4 cup each day.





Carrots and cabbage are not the best choices of veggies for rabbits. Carrots are high in sugar and cabbage can cause gas which is extremely uncomfortable for rabbits. Better choices would be leafy greens like lettuces (not iceberg), parsley, cilantro and kale.





Great diet info is here:


http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.鈥?/a>
the general rule for pellets is 1/4 cup a day per 5 lbs of body weight... they also need UNLIMITED hay (alfalfa for growing young rabbits and timothy for grown maturing rabbits). it is also good to give them about a cup of fresh veggies as well like parsley, cilantro, kale, mustard greens, and romaine (stay away from iceburg lettuce)... carrots and some fruits like apples, pears, strawberries, and pinneapple can also be given, but only as treats due to their high sugar content.
rabbits need fresh grass in order to keep a healthy gut and keep teeth trimmed, hay is a good substitute if you don't have a garden, I would give hay or grass in addition to what you give as much of this as they will eat ( hay should smell sweet and remove from packaging and place in a box to keep fresh)My rabbit is 7 and still fit and healthy
i have a 5 year old rabbit, and used to feed what you do now, she got very overweight so we cut down, she has about a small hand full of pellets before we put her away at night and she will be eating the grass all day long, we also give her leaves and carrots occasionally but not everyday.


good luck :)
How many rabbits? If it's only 1 then that's too much. If it's 2 thats plenty to share.
Oh i cant Remember :(





My rabbit died years back..
Aaaahhhh i thought u meant ur Ann Summer's rabbit! lol xx
Basically a rabbits diet should mimic a wild rabbits diet as closely as possible..





They need a high fibre diet so have a look on the food bag to see what the percentage of fibre is..20% is good.


Science Selective, Burgess Excel and Oxbow are the best makes because they are a complete pellet so the rabbit cant pick and choose the best bits.


I find the best way to measure the food is to buy a small can of heinz beans, wash it out, and depending on the size of rabbit give one can or two cans of food a day..


I keep giant rabbits so they have two a day(one in the morning and one in the evening)..





Cabbage and lettuce are not good for rabbits


Make sure all greens are given in small quantities and if you are giving something new, introduce it slowly cause rabbits have very sensitive guts...


They enjoy spinach, celery leaves, grapes, apple, sweed, carrots, broccoli, coliflower leaves, pear, watercress, clover, dandilion leaves, apple twigs and most herbs...Do NOT feed avocado!!!! Its very poisonous to rabbits!





Hay is VERY important to rabbits and they must have a constant supply...they love chewing things so try and give them toys, willow balls and chew sticks are fun, as i mentioned earlier they also ADORE apple twigs! Mine get through bundles of them..!





Here are some useful sites


http://www.oxbowhay.com/index.sp





http://www.burgesspetcare.co.uk/small/in鈥?/a>





http://www.supremepetfoods.com/science_s鈥?/a>





http://www.westwaleswillows.co.uk/bunnyt鈥?/a>





Hope that helps

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