What should I feed my new Rabbit?

[nick95]

Hey all, I've never had a pet bunny before, but the other day I decided to get one because I saw him in the store he looked incredibly playful and not shy like the other bunnies that were in the same room, hiding in their cages, he was jumping around and try to lick my finger, so I had to buy him! He/She is only 8 weeks old, I bought a large inside pen type thing and got all the other necessary stuff and it seems very happy and comfortable already, it jumps and runs around my room and allows me to pet it. Anyways, I'm just wondering what I should feed him. The lady in the pet store told me to buy rabbit/guinea mix, so I did, plus she gave me a large bag of hay (not sure what type). Anyways after reading a bit, It seems not many people recommend mixes for pet rabbits, instead they recommend pellets such as alfalfa pellets for baby buns. Problem is in Australia I can't get alfalfa hay or alfalfa pellets. So what do you recommend I feed my bun? I don't want him to be lacking anything in his diet, I hope that the mix I'm giving a long with the hay is alright... Cheers

 

[Cookiesandcream]

I am from Australia too and I feed my rabbits 'Oxbow young rabbit food' they are alfalfa based and are the best pellets out there, I buy mine from the large pet store 'bestfriends' but I am sure you could contact oxbow and find a supplier in your area

 

[nick95]

Thanks so much! I found them online in Aus, but I'll contact them to see if there's any local suppliers!

 

[foxhound]

There's oxbow and supreme science .those are the most recommended and I was actually told from someone in aus.I'm in the US so its easy to find it but I assume you can too since they do distribute in that country.you can also eliminate pellets eventually if uh feed enough Timothy hay and dark leafy greens.a small percentage of the rabbits diet should be pellets and some even go as far as not feeding pellets at all.avoid anything with something other than pellets in it like seeds or kibble looking treats.since its still several weeks I don't recommend doing a no pellet diet yet.and alfalfa is healthier for young buns for its high dose of calcium.check out this entire forum its pretty helpful and the people are nice.its a community not a forum here's what I feed

 

[Azerane]

Hi there, alfalfa is the same as lucerne, we just use a different term for it here. Pretty much ALL rabbit pellets that you can get in stores here are lucerne based, which is great for young bunns, but not so much for the adults. You can get the oxbow young adult food, or you could buy maybe a brand like jack rabbit (often you have to ask in store what brand they sell because they only come in mega giant bags and the stores break them down into the smaller see-through plastic bags, but often don't have a brand name on them).

But having said that, you'll need to transition to an adult pellet at around 6 months anyway, and I can't find any brand but oxbow that sells pellets that aren't lucerne/alfalfa based, or if they're not, the fiber content etc is very poor. Many vet clinics stock oxbow products, and if they don't stock them, they will often order them in for you. Ring around, because prices do vary.

As for hay, wheaten, oaten or meadow (seasonal) are all good. You can get oxbow timothy hay but it's super expensive. Make sure it's nice and fresh, no mold etc. I get my hay by the bale from a fodder store and break it down into bags so that it's easier to manage

 

[nick95]

Thanks for all the helpful replies! I really appreciate it!