A couple
Lagomorph Library threads that might help (from the
Bunny 101 section):
Feeding Your Rabbit
Pellets
Hay: All About It
As for what I feed mine:
Rule #1 with bunnies...UNLIMITED GRASSY HAY. The most popular and recommended is Timothy hay. Alfalfa hay isn't a good idea to feed most buns, as they tend to have health problems with the calcium content in it. BUT...you can also feed your buns other grassy hays, like Tiffany, orchard grass, brome...but make sure it's UNLIMITED, as it's VITAL to a bun's digestive system.
As far as pellets: It really depends on the breed, and how quickly they physically mature, but most buns (except for giant breeds), by the age of nine months, should be on a timothy-based pellet (I feed mine Oxbow Bunny Basics T), but under nine months, if they're still growing (which you can normally tell by breed), they would need to be fed an alfalfa-based pellet (though there are many buns that were perfectly healthy and fine with Timothy-based pellets while growing). For my still-growing buns on alfalfa pellets (which is only one right now), I feed Oxbow 15/23.
Kaytee is also a good product...and is cheaper. BUT...I ONLY recommend either Kaytee Supreme Rabbit Daily Blend for a good alfalfa-based pellet or Kaytee Timothy Complete for a good timothy-based pellet food. Other than those two, I just cannot vouch for them (as they have percentages outside the recommended ranges, not to mention some of them have things in the food, like seeds, which are potentially fatal if ingested).
(I know there are a few people on the board that don't like Kaytee brand food, and that's fine, but there's not been scientifically, definitively proven anything wrong with it. Yes, it contains a certain chemical, but just about every pellet food contains it, including Oxbow, and it's not been proven to cause any problems. I fed my buns that for about two years...with no problem at all. And believe me, I wouldn't recommend it if I thought it dangerous to buns!)
Now, as far as amount...opinions vary...as it does per bun. For younger (still growing) buns (in other words, usually under nine months, or depending on breed), you'll want to feed them unlimited pellet food. If they're done growing, or over the age of about nine months, though, you're going to want to start slowly cutting back on the amount of food they get. The general rule of thumb (and again, per bun and per owner, this varies) for adult buns is 1/4c of pellet food per 5lbs of bun weight.
If you've been feeding them an alfalfa-based pellet food, you're going to want to gradually switch them to a timothy-based food. Be sure to do this gradually. Here's a good, easy to remember way to do this:
FIRST WEEK: 1/4 new food, 3/4 old food
SECOND WEEK: 1/2 new, 1/2 old
THIRD WEEK: 3/4 new, 1/4 old
FOURTH WEEK AND ON: all new food
If you can let us know what breed and age your bun is, I can let you know in more detail what you should do for your bun...but those are the general guidelines.
Hope all that helps! You can also read more about this stuff in the threads I gave you from the Library here on the forum.
Hugs!
Rosie*
