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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum DIET & CARE Diet/weight

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    • Dailymadness
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        I have a New Zealand White rabbit and being that it’s a larger breed I have no idea how much of what to feed, other than she needs unlimited hay. I mix Timothy hay with a hand full of alfalfa hay since she is 3 months of age and weighs about 3 pounds. She gets fed a bowl full of alfalfa based pellets which is around 1 cup that lasts all day. I don’t give unlimited because she ends up ignoring her hay. Where I’m lost is when do I switch pellets and how much pellets compared to hay should she be getting ? Also when can I feed veggies ?? Idk much about her breed other than she is raised for meat which leads to a larger bunny breed than most. Also no I’m not raising her for meat I could never. Any tips and info is appreciated.


      • Shadow13
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          You will need to switch from alfalfa to Timothy pellets at around 7 months of age. And I good guide to follow for an adult rabbit is 1/4 cup of pellets per 6 pounds of body weight. Of corse you can increase the amount of veggies and decrease the amount of pellets for a healthier diet. You can start introducing veggies at 12 weeks of age. Start with a tiny piece of green( maybe lettuce) and the everyday increase the amount until your at about 1 cup of that veggie then add a tiny bit of another veggie with the 1 cup of other veggie. And keep doing that. A good guide for veggies is 1 cup per 2 pounds of rabbit.


        • Dailymadness
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            Ty for the info. How much veggies a week ? Like everyday or once in awhile as a treat ?


          • sarahthegemini
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              Posted By Dailymadness on 7/25/2017 12:21 AM

              Ty for the info. How much veggies a week ? Like everyday or once in awhile as a treat ?

              Once bun is old enough, veggies are a crucial part of a rabbit’s diet. They need leafy greens every day.


            • Shadow13
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                Yes they need veggies every day like Sarah said. Make sure your rabbit only gets a tiny bit of fruit as a treat. Try not to feed it everyday maybe twice a week if you really want to. A good guide to follow is 1 tbs per 2 pounds body weight.


              • Dailymadness
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                  Once more thank you very much I have better understanding now. Today I fed her one cup worths of Romanian hearts and she seems to enjoy them


                • jerseygirl
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                    The info here under BUNNY INFO is a good guide. The diet recommendations are based on what the House Rabbit Society recommends. 

                    Where I’m lost is when do I switch pellets and how much pellets compared to hay should she be getting ?

                    Hay can be unlimited amounts at what ever age. Does she eat the timothy much?  If she is on a junior rabbit pellet, you could probably just give timothy or other grass hay only. Eventually, as an adult, hay should make up 80% of the diet. Pellets are more like a supplement later on after they are done growing. 


                  • Dailymadness
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                      Yes she eats it here and there mostly in the mornings before I get up to give her pellets after that the hay eating slows down until she is out of pellets for the day. I know they need pellets till they’re full grown it’s just bugging me because idk if she is eating an adequate amount of it throughout the day. I read somewhere where they need at least a bodies worth of their size of hay a day idk if that’s true or not. I’ll check out the link thank you.


                    • Dailymadness
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                        Also when she was a bit younger she ate the hay like crazy now not so much, as for the pellets I don’t think they’re junior pellets doesn’t really specifi just has the pet stores name on it and what type of grass it’s made from and the percentages of fiber and what not.


                      • Wick & Fable
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                          Young pellets have alfalfa as the main ingredient, while adult pellets have timothy as the main ingredient. That’s how you can differentiate between the two.

                          For hay appetite, it’s natural to start turning away from hay once veggies are introduced. It’s like asking a child to continue to eat their healthy salads (hay) when they know they have ice cream (fresh veggies) they could eat instead. BUT! Like young children and salads, the less-preferred option must be eaten! For rabbits, it’s 80-90% of the food consumed per day. To “spice it up” you can try different hays. Timothy is always a good safe bet, but mixing in some orchard hay (leafy and not crunchy; liked by rabbits who don’t like to eat stalks) or oat hay (crunchy and has seeds some rabbits go nutzo for) may make hay more enticing! There is also botanical hay, which is reportedly sweeter that the other hays, but I haven’t purchased it to try yet, so no thoughts on it.

                          At first I mixed them all together (Timothy, orchard, and oat) in equal ratio to get Wick to eat hay– and he did! But then a bag of oat hay I purchased was loaded with seeds, and he got very spoiled and selective with hay eating, so the current hay regimen is left-over hay/new timothy hay all day, then at night, I’ll mix in some orchard and oat so he’s enticed to eat a bit more before I go to bed.

                          The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.


                        • Dailymadness
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                            Right now I have Timothy hay and alfalfa I tried mixing it with Timothy but it’s so finally cut its literally ter just as dust like and whatever had Long cuts which was not many are already gone. I’ll give your combinations a try though. Problem is she just digs out most of the hay for some reason and eats what’s in the box. Yes box I tried hay racks but she doesn’t seem interested in em, I have now tried so many hay racks all but one have failed but it ended up obsolete from breaking in half. She’s in a major digging habit now I wake up with hay all over the place instead of where it should be, her billy. I just feel like I’m doing everything Wrong for her. Doesn’t help that it’s my first rabbit. If it helps I can take a pic of her set up, just don’t know how to compress the picture file to fit.


                          • Dailymadness
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                              Lastly sorry a lot from me I just want to get things right for a long and healthy life for my rabbit. Right now I have only been giving lettuce I read the bunny info and it says minimum of 3 greens or veggies, what if I only have one of the listed greens or veggies that rabbits can eat ? When I introduce a new veggie should I give a piece only but continue to give the same amount of lettuce ?? Man rabbit care is tough.


                            • Wick & Fable
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                                You can re-size the picture in Paint, then upload it! So open the picture, right click and copy it, then paste it in paint (if you’re on a PC).

                                Rabbit care is tough indeed. The fact that you’re asking questions and browsing these forums means you’re much more likely to do a great job for your lovely rabbit friend though If you only have one veggie for now, that’s fine! Just try and get another one or two the next time you’re out, whether it’s a bundle of celery, or maybe an herb of some sort. Admittedly, Wick usually only gets romaine lettuce and celery, but I like to add in basil when my basil plant has a healthy serving in her. Yes, introduce in small amounts, but it shouldn’t really add too much to the amount of lettuce you’re giving, so it’s fine! I eye-ball veggie amount every time, so no need to get too paranoid about giving too much, unless you ‘accidentally’ give double the amount you usually do, haha. Small amounts is good. If your rabbit’s poos, pees, and behavior are normal following the meal (a couple hours/by the next day), it probably agreed well with your rabbit, so you can increase the amount to take up as much or as little of the total veggie intake as you’d like for each day!

                                Some people give their rabbits digging boxes to satisfy the digging need. There are some posts about it. Unfortunately I have no experience on that front.

                                The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.


                              • Dailymadness
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                                  No worries on the digging part, your knowledge and info has helped me plenty so much that I saved this post, as well as everyone elses replies have helped. About celery do you shave the stringy fibers or feed as is ? I feel it might be too stringy otherwise. Thank you for taking time out of your day to help me out, I appreciate it.


                                • Wick & Fable
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                                    Some people do cut their celery a certain way. I’ve done both chopping it like celery sticks, then making them slightly skinnier (celery strips), and also just cutting it perpendicular so I get a bunch of C-shaped pieces. Wick hasn’t had issues with either.

                                    The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.


                                  • Deleted User
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                                      Interesting New Zealand white rabbit! How much it cost? BTW, thanks for your information.


                                    • Dailymadness
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                                        Idk how much it cost my brother bought it for me.

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                                    Forum DIET & CARE Diet/weight