Feeding Pet Rabbits, Advice?

[raliallison]

I am incredibly incredibly new to this whole having a pet rabbit thing and I'm looking into different ways to feed her and what is most cost effective as well as healthiest for her. I've come across a lot of ideas on this site but nothing I've found pertains to pet rabbits specifically, what I've found tends to be about meat rabbits? Or atleast that's what it appears to be about to me.
So my rabbit is apparently a Mini Rex who is about 4 years old or that's the information her previous owners gave me.
At the moment she's getting Nutena Nature Wise Premium Rabbit Feed (free choice because that's how her previous owners fed it) as well as free choice Timothy Hay, water, and a small amount of some form of fresh veggie every day.
I've been seeing things about feeding oats and alfalfa to rabbits and in like to incorporate those into my rabbit's diet becaue I have very easy access to them as I already feed those to my horses.

My oats however are whole and I've only seen mention of rolled oats, and I don't know if that would affect my rabbit at all or if they work the same as rolled oats. Does anyone on here have any input on rolled vs. whole oats? As well as does anyone have any opinions as to whether or not I need to feed things other than oats and alfalfa. Also how much I should feed. Thanks! :bunnyhop:

 

[alforddm]

Rabbits are rabbits and what is good for a meat rabbit is good for a pet rabbit. It sounds like you are doing great feeding her. If you are giving her free choice pellets, you will want to be sure to watch her weight. It can be easy for a rabbit to get overweight on free choice pellets.

Many people feed their rabbits whole oats. Rolled oats are often suggested as a first food for kits because they are easier for them to ingest. For an adult rabbit with no digestive problems whole oats are great. They will sometimes crack them and eat the grain and leave the chaff in the bowl so be sure you check. The bowl may look full at first glance but be all chaff (ask me how I know lol and no he didn't go hungry he had pellets also). Alfalfa is also fine for rabbits. In fact, as you're not breeding, your rabbit will probably do fine on a diet of mostly alfalfa and oats. You may need to continue to offer timothy hay to make sure she gets enough fiber. If you decide to forgo the pellets you will want to offer a mineral supplement to make sure she gets everything she needs.

There is alot of information in the natural feeding section of this site. Even if you decide to continue to feed pellets it can give you ideas for cutting cost and adding variety to their diet.

 

[Marinea]

You got great info above. I just wanted to add, welcome to RT!

 

[akane]

Pet rabbits do need slightly different feeding for better long term health. They are not expending the energy on litters so they get fat quite easy. It would be best not to feed alfalfa or oats except maybe a little as treats. Both these things have higher nutrients that can make fat rabbits. The excess calcium and protein from alfalfa can stress the system because they don't have a use for it and must get rid of it. This may take more water and more peeing with stronger smelling urine. Also not desirable for pet rabbits even if it didn't have potential to cause harm.

A 16% pellet (I think nutrena is) and grass hay is the best basis for the diet of a pet rabbit. You can also feed a variety of fresh foods if you adjust them to it carefully. Most of these have less fat and protein than pellets which is a good thing. When feeding meat or show rabbits you often get less performance from rabbits fed a lot of fresh foods because you aren't giving them the concentration of fat, protein, and kcals to produce litters and grow those litters fast. Some prefer this for a variety of reasons but aside from a few that is a major difference between typical meat rabbit feeding and typical pet rabbit feeding. You can find stickies and many threads on fresh foods in this section. You need to be extra careful feeding human fruits and vegetables to rabbits. Our foods have been developed for appealing high sugar content and contain little fiber. Fruits and vegetables instead of forages and herbs have an increased chance of causing digestive problems and are often less healthier when fed frequently compared to foods rabbits are more likely to find and eat in the wild.

 

[ladysown]

what akane said... is what I would have said...she just said it better. :yeahthat:

 

[raliallison]

I would prefer to stay off of pellets just for the sole reason that all of our other animals (goats, chickens, horses, and steers) are all fed as naturally as we can feed them so it's highly probable that we already have/already buy something that I could substitute for the pellets instead of having to add the pellets to the shopping list.
Thank you guys so much for your views!

 

[Dood]

Rabbits are rabbits but a pet rabbit that is not growing, pregnant or lactating won't need as much calories or calcium in its diet

If you want to feed alfalfa you should also offer Timothy or grass hay to help cut the mineral and protein content. Your rabbit may not gorge itself on alfalfa but in my experience they will fill up on it so don't give unlimited amounts of this food to be sure they are eating their more fibourous grass hay

A salt lick is a must and a range of species of tree branches, "weeds" and veg to add variety to the diet. I'd only offer a teaspoon of grains each day to small breed rabbit in the 3 to 5 pound range which I assume your Mini Rex cross is in

The plants in the rabbit safe plant list can be dried and turned into hay so you can offer them in the winter as well, or you can feed more store bought leafy veggies and a bit more root veg this time of year