Giving your rabbit a varied diet keeps them healthy. I always give Buttons and Nova as many different things as possible. Not only to give them enrichment, but to make sure that if something goes wrong and I can’t get a particular food any more their digestion can cope with change.
I feed them about five different pellet brands and flavours, different salad mixes (with the spinach taken out), different treats and edible toys.
The pellet brands I feed them are:
- Selective Science Adult
- Selective Naturals
- Tiny Friends Farm Russel Rabbit Nuggets
- Burgess Mint – Junior and Dwarf
- Burgess Hedgegrow Herbs
I feed my bunnies pellets when they come in for the afternoon. They have learned to expect it. I make a plate of about 20 Selective Science pellets, broken in half because Nova can’t eat a full one – they are too long for her. Then depending on what I feel like, I give them about 20 Burgess Herb pellets, or if Butty’s tummy is yuck, some Mint ones. I put two Peckish blueberry dental treats on the plate, which they love foraging for.
After they have had a good go at the pellets, I give them a plate of salad. I have found that if I give them the salad first, Buttons has tummy issues – he needs dry in his tummy first.
I have chosen to call it “salad” because it sounds different to any other word they know.
Then at bed time, I give them a scoop of Tiny Friends Farm Nuggets, which they absolutely love.
The Scoop
Now because rabbits can only have a very limited amount of pellets through the day, I found a tiny sauce bowl – about 7cm in diameter – works the best. Of course that brand doesn’t have my particular bowl available any more, but they do have a selection of sauce bowls or saki cups that will do the trick.
I measure the amount of pellets by a full cup or a half cup.
This is the one I have:
Only a small amount
Rabbits should not live on pellets. Pellets are a supplement to support their intake of vitamins and minerals. Always give less pellets than you think they need.
Ever since I started giving pellets with the cup, Buttons’ tummy has cleared up. he still gets issues if he eats a sugary treat, carrots or banana, but it is healing.
Enrichment
Because it’s summer and the grass is all but dead, the rabbits have flattened the lawn. Nova gets bored and digs holes. Buttons lays around dreaming of better grassy days. That’s when I give them a pellet block. Now, I have mentioned it a long time ago, and don’t get me wrong, I actually hate the blocks, but they are good for enrichment purposes.
The rabbits can rip, pull, chew and destroy the block and fill in most of the day.
These pellet blocks are held together with edible PVA glue, the pellets they are made of are cheap and unhealthy, the addition of fruit makes it sweet, and the grains and seeds are a big no-no.
But when you have two bored bunnies, wanting to chew on something crunchy, why not give it to them?
Now, I get it – don’t feed your rabbit Rabbit/Guinea Pig mixes – which is exactly what this block is. But consider this… I give my bunnies a varied diet. I have introduced them to all types of foods. This type of food is fine in small quantities, and not every day.
And… even as humans we shouldn’t eat oats, grains and seeds but we do… so what’s the difference?
It all depends on the amount you feed them – and the quality of feed. There is no harm in feeding your rabbits tiny amounts of everything. After all, that’s what they would do if they were in the wild. Think about what the dumped rabbits eat… those ones who are roaming around looking for food. What do you think they eat?
So, I gave my bunnies a pellet block.
