Rabbit
Oryctolagus cuniculus
Natural diet Rabbit
Rabbits are herbivorous foragers, consuming a diverse diet including grasses, leaves, roots and more. It is common for rabbits to consume their own feces (coprophagy).
Feeding advice Rabbit
Feed quantity per day
5%
Sample percentage calculation
If an animal weighs 3 kg and eats 5% of its body weight, it will get
3 x 0.05 = 0.15 kg feed in total per day
Feed composition
5% Concentrates
2.5% Leafy greens and cabbages
2.5% Other vegetables
90% Grass, alfalfa, roughage
Proportions (fresh product)
0.05 x 0.15 kg = 8 g concentrates
0.03 x 0.15 kg = 4 g leafy greens and cabbages
0.03 x 0.15 kg = 4 g other vegetables
0.9 x 0.15 kg = 135 g grass, alfalfa, roughage
Feeding advice Rabbit
Feed quantity per day
5%
Sample percentage calculation
If an animal weighs 3 kg and eats 5% of its body weight, it will get
3 x 0.05 = 0.15 kg feed in total per day
Feed composition
5% Concentrates
2.5% Leafy greens and cabbages
2.5% Other vegetables
90% Grass, alfalfa, roughage
Proportions (fresh product)
0.05 x 0.15 kg = 8 g concentrates
0.03 x 0.15 kg = 4 g leafy greens and cabbages
0.03 x 0.15 kg = 4 g other vegetables
0.9 x 0.15 kg = 135 g grass, alfalfa, roughage
Diet Suggestions
Recommended
Variety of hay (timothy, grass, oat, prairie and meadow)
High fiber pellets
Variety of leafy and cabbage vegetables
In moderation
Other vegetables
Not recommended
Fruits
Common diseases
An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:
- Dental disease
- Malocclusion
- Cecal Impaction
- Obesity
- Heart problems
- Fatty liver disease
Additional advice
- Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
- Supplement the diet with ad libitum roughages (read more about browsers and grazers).
- Grass hay is preferred over lucerne hay as it is lower in protein and calcium.
- Stimulate foraging behaviour by hiding, stacking or hanging their feed. Besides this, scatter feeding is also a good option (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).
Diet Suggestions
Recommended
Variety of hay (timothy, grass, oat, prairie and meadow)
High fiber pellets
Variety of leafy and cabbage vegetables
In moderation
Other vegetables
Not recommended
Fruits
Common diseases
An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:
- Dental disease
- Malocclusion
- Cecal Impaction
- Obesity
- Heart problems
- Fatty liver disease