Better Health: Understanding a Bunny’s Diet

Introduction

I guess people get confused about how to feed their bunnies properly because the information online is screwed up and it’s hard to find easy to understand, reliable and knowledgeable information as each site you look at has conflicting information.

Some people just give their bunnies scraps from their meal, others go overboard and control everything that goes in and out of their bunny. I believe the best is to know as much as you can but use that knowledge to support feeding your bunny.

The truth of the matter

I’m not going to waste time ripping online information apart, all I will say is make sure that you do your own research and don’t trust anything you read on popular websites. It seems that one person finds information and changes it to suit themselves, then that information gets copied across the internet as gospel. Then like a game of Chinese Whispers, the information gets changed so much each time that it is blatantly incorrect.

Many of the popular/to-go-to websites I have come across have direct copies of information from other unreliable websites. This perpetuates unreliable information. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which website wrote it first. After a bit of research I find where they got their information and it is vaguely like what they write on their site. I never trust anything that is written on the internet, no matter how knowledgeable those people seem to be.

I am sick of incorrect information that is made to look knowledgeable and people reading that information and believing it. Don’t fall into that trap. Always do your own research.

I read a lot of scientific data, veterinary information, research journal articles and studies performed by Universities and Veterinarians worldwide. That data and information can be quite hard to understand, so I have tried to make it more palatable and easy as possible for you to understand. Although it might be a ridiculous amount of information to go through, it is accurate and will help you find the best nutrition to give your precious fur-ball.

I’m not wasting my time writing this to give you misleading and incorrect information.

So, What Should Bunnies Eat?

As a rule of thumb, your bunny can eat as much hay and grass as it wants to per day. Some sites say it should be the same size as it’s body, but this is inaccurate. Grass and hay are the main part of any rabbit’s diet and therefore should be given in unlimited amounts.

Vegetables and leafy greens are not a main staple, they should be given once a day but in limited supply. Some sites say that salad should be about 1 cup per bunny a day. When it comes to vegetables, treat them like lollies and give the tiniest amounts. We will cover the amounts in the Vegetables and Greens article.

If you give your bunnies pellets make sure they are a high quality brand where the company care about your rabbit’s diet. Bad quality pellets make bunnies obese if they don’t have the right nutrients in them. Some pellets are full of sugar and calcium, which you will learn later, is a very bad thing. It can make bunnies very sick and even die.

If you can, get expensive pellets, like Science Selective, Selective Naturals, Burgess Hedgegrow Herbs, or the cheaper good quality ones Tiny Friends Farm Tasty Nuggets.

Bunnies Are Crepuscular Eaters

Bunnies eat mostly at dawn and dusk, which is called crepuscular.

Don’t expect them to devour their dinner as soon as you put it in their cage. They will nibble at it over time and most of it should be gone by morning. Take note of what is left over and ease off giving them those foods, they may think it tastes yucky.

If your bunny is inside at night, you may notice that they pick up behaviours similar to your own habits. For example, they may eat their dinner while you are eating yours. They do this when they feel comfortable in the family.

Rabbits are social animals and are most happy when there are two or more family members. They class you as a family member, so they will copy your behaviours when it comes to eating and sleeping.

Introducing new foods

If you have bunny kits that are over 12 weeks old, they may have not eaten many of the foods you’d like to give them. It’s good to introduce a single new food each week, take it slowly, because you can keep an eye on whether it gives them a tummy upset or not.

You don’t have to give the new foods to them every day. It’s about figuring out whether your bunnies like it or not. They may not eat it the first time you give it to them because they have never seen it before – give them a chance. Take it slowly.

They say that bunnies under 6 months old should not be given anything other than hay, grass and pellets, that is because their gut is stuffed up due to the selective breeding process and they can get digestive issues. It’s fine if you want to feed salad sooner (at about 3 months old) but give them tiny amounts and introduce it slowly. It won’t kill them, but a large amount will make them sick or give them GI stasis.

Giving your bunny grains and seeds

When you give a bunny a Rabbit & Guinea Pig mix, bunnies will seek out the grains, seeds and dried fruit and leave the rest of the feed, which will lead to an unbalanced diet. You have to make sure that the feed is nutritionally balanced and you read the Nutrient Analysis Panel on the food.

Nutrient Analysis Panels

This is one of the most important things you can understand about bunny food. Even if you forget everything else on this page, you have to remember this.

On the back of all packaged bunny foods is a table that should specify the amounts of nutrients in the food (it a legal requirement). You have to be very aware of what they are eating, because not all companies care about the health of your bunny and hide bad things in there.

Some companies do not provide a nutrient analysis panel on their foods, this means it may not be trustworthy. Unless it’s a situation like my Specialty Mix, where during the pandemic they couldn’t get their bags printed properly so they had to make do with a white hessian bag with a stamp on the front. They couldn’t provide the nutrient analysis on the bag for that reason.

Bunnies need a certain amount of protein, carbohydrates, fibre and fat in their diets, especially when it comes to dry food. If the food you are giving them does not fall within these ranges, then it may be an unhealthy meal. We look at the ranges in a second…

These are example nutrient analysis panels from various bunny foods I have.

As you can see, some panels have a more thorough analysis than others (like the white and red panels). I usually lean towards giving my bunnies foods with a thorough analysis, only because it shows that the company has spent more money on finding out the true nutrients in their foods.

Important Nutrients

Their tummy should never be empty. Twenty-four hours after eating a meal, their tummy is usually half full. If a bunny has an empty tummy there could be a medical problem.

In this section we will just discuss protein, carbohydrates, fat, and fibre. We will discuss other vitamins and minerals later.

Overview

Nutrient	Recommended Level (adult)	Recommended Level (growing, pregnant, nursing)	Description
Protein	12% – 16%	16% – 20%	Vary at different life stages. Younger rabbits need the same amount of protein as nursing does. Higher amounts are detrimental to long-term health.
Carbohydrate	43% – 47%	44% – 50%	Major source of energy. Usually in the form of fibre.
Fibre	20% – 27%	15% – 25%	Three types: non-digestible, digestible and indigestible.
Fat	2% – 3.5%	3% – 5.5%	Used for energy and to absorb fat-soluble vitamins. Excessive intake can cause obesity, hepatic lipidosis and atherosclerosis in the aorta.
Ash or mineral	4% – 6.5%	4.5% – 6.5%	Vitamins and minerals are important, should include limestone, vitamin C, or mineral premix. Salt should be max. 0.2%.

Nutrient list

This nutrient list is in grams (g).

All values have been calculated to be what should be in 100g of food per day.

Nutrient	Recommended daily allowance per 100g of feed for > 6 months (adult)		Recommended daily allowance per 100 g of feed for < 6 months (growing)
	Minimum	Maximum	Minimum	Maximum
Crude fibre	140	250	140	160
Fat	25	50	30	50
Starch		200		135
Protein	120	170	150	180
Macro-minerals
Calcium		5		5
Phosphorus		4		4
Ca / P ratio	1:5 – 2:1		1:5 – 2:1
Sodium	1	2	1	2
Magnesium	0.3	3	0.4	0.7
Potassium		6	2	6
Chloride		1.7	1	5
Micro-minerals
Copper	0.005	0.02	0.003	0.006
Zinc	0.05	0.15		0.04
Manganese	0.008	0.015	0.20	0.40
Iron	0.03	0.4	0.1
Iodine	0.0004	0.0005
Selenium	0.00005	0.00032	0.0001
Cobalt		0.00025	0.0001	0.001
Vitamins – fat soluble
Vitamin A	0.010	0.012	0.006	0.01
Vitamin D	0.0008	0.001	0.0005
Vitamin E	0.05	0.16	0.05
Vitamin K	0.001	0.002
Vitamins – Water soluble
Vitamin B complex	Not required as body makes it
Vitamin C	Not required as body makes it
Vitamin E	Vitamin E and C must be the same levels

Why so much fibre?

Here’s an infographic to make this information more exciting.

When compared to other herbivores, rabbits ability to digest fibre is quite low:

Fibre Consumption: Alfalfa/Lucerne hay

Rabbits	Cattle	Horses
14%	44%	41%

Then why is it so important for your bunny’s health?

It maintains gut motility. Indigestible fibre stimulates gut motility, prevents GI stasis and reduces fur and carpet chewing. Fibre also helps prevent enteritis.

Rabbits need at least 20-25% of their diet to be fibre to maintain gut health. 20% crude fibre with 12.5% of indigestible fibre is recommended for rabbits. Because crude fibre is a measurement of indigestible fibre, it is not helpful in determining the fermentable or digestible fibre.

Bunnies with diets of less than 20% end up with gut hypomotility, reduced caecotroph formation, a longer retention time in the hind gut and often enteritis.

Fibre also controls calories.

If a bunny has a lot of pellets in its diet it will result in excess calorie intake and end up obese.

A high-fibre and low-calorie diet stops obesity.

Fibre also gives bunnies dental exercise and makes sure that their teeth are wearing down. It is important to maintain normal dental occlusion.

In general, a serving of mixed greens should be about the size of your rabbit’s head as a daily portion. Too much will make your bunny sick and stop them eating hay, get diarrhoea, bloating and cramps. Not eating enough hay will lead to constipation or food fermenting in the guts.

Dietary Fibre

Rabbits need fibre in their diet, and it should account for 35%-55% of their total daily diet. Fibre helps the digestion system work properly and keep the bunny healthy. The characteristics of dietary fibre has been argued about by scientists and they can’t agree on its complex physical structure and chemical composition because it is very diverse and even the plant’s cells can be different. This means that any valuable analysis of dietary fibre can only be achieved with a variety of methods.