What Can Rabbits Eat?

What Does A Rabbit Eat?

When it comes to knowing what rabbits can safely eat there may seem like an endless array of options.

Fortunately, here at Hobby Farm Heaven we have gathered the best and most relevant information regarding this topic. So, read on to learn just what bunnies can eat as well as our answers to ‘What are the best food for rabbits?‘ and, “What Do Rabbits Like to Eat?”

Bunnies at Hobby Farm Heaven
Olivia with the Rabbits in 2006

Rabbit Feeding Guide – What Does Rabbit Eat
The Best Foods For Rabbits

We started keeping rabbits in 2006, right after moving to our hobby farm property in Pennsylvania. My daughter Olivia, then nine years old, decided to be primary caretaker of our bunnies; she and I learned so much about rabbits over the years!

One of the most important factors about caring for rabbits is what you feed them.  Rabbits have a unique and sensitive digestive system.  Their health is very dependent on the type and quality of food that they eat. 

That is why we decided to put this post together and share the best practices for feeding your rabbits (including what NOT to feed them!). This information comes directly from our experiences and insights and links to the best information we have used from outside sources.

Please give this guide a thorough read.  You’ll be surprised at some of the things you find out about good foods and bad foods for rabbits.

Most people find the part about cecotropes very interesting!

Facts About What Do Rabbits Like To Eat
(Remembering the Big Picture)

First and most importantly: rabbits are 100% herbivorous, not carnivorous and not omnivorous. And like us, rabbits are mammals which means they :

  • have live births
  • are warm-blooded
  • have fur
  • babies nurse on their mother’s milk

However, rabbits do differ from other mammals when it comes to their digestive system. The rabbit’s digestive system is very sensitive and unique in that it includes fermentation and literally “makes food”, (also known as cecopods or cecotropes) for the adult rabbit. That’s right, at night adult rabbits excrete cecopods or cecotropes and then eat them. This is a naturally and healthy rabbit practice.

As such, rabbits can NOT eat the broad range of foods that humans can eat. In addition, rabbits are small animals and any little change in their diet can have large, whole-body system impacts.

When it comes to baby rabbits, or bunnies, remember that they are designed to nurse on their mother’s milk.  They do not need other food! For the first several weeks of life, rabbit kits should only consume mother rabbit’s milk. 

What is Animal Husbandry?

In short, animal husbandry is providing the proper care for domestic animals. More specifically, it includes the proper feeding, breeding, shelter, and protection from disease.

American Humane provides the follow “Five Freedoms” as “the gold standard of animal welfare”:

These Five Freedoms are globally recognized as the gold standard in animal welfare, encompassing both the mental and physical well-being of animals; they include: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, and disease; freedom to express normal and natural behavior (e.g., accommodating for a chicken’s instinct to roost); and freedom from fear and distress.

Five Freedoms: the gold standard of animal welfare – American Humane – American Humane

Food is universally considered one of the key elements of animal husbandry as it is part of the gold standard of animal welfare. This includes:

what food, when and how it is fed, in what amounts is it fed, and why it is fed

Our Guide to The Best Foods For Rabbits
What Do Rabbits Like To Eat?

Here we break out several informative sections and include our experience and some links to the best information we’ve found. Stay tuned for additional research and a more complete guide in PDF format!

Can Rabbits Eat a Diet of Just Pellets?

No, it is not recommended to feed only manufactured pellets to your rabbits.

There is some controversy on this issue as rabbits in the wild do not eat manufactured pellets. Many owners realize that the rabbit did not evolve over the past thousands of years eating manufactured pellets; as such, they argue pellets are a processed food.

Believe it or not, for the first few years we fed our rabbits only pellets (such is learning)! Without doubt, pellets do NOT contain the amount of fiber that rabbits require. Needless to say, our first rabbits would have been healthier if we had this guide.

Now it is true that a good national brand of manufactured rabbit pellets is scientifically designed to provide the correct mix of nutrients, including vitamins and minerals for most rabbits. For example, as we harvested some of our first meat rabbits at age 2 we noted that their organs looked very healthy. However, without doubt, we would have seen health problems if we had allowed those bunnies to age.

We hold that pellets are a very suitable augmentation to your rabbit’s diet as they help ensure that rabbits are getting all the minerals and vitamins they need. But depending on how you feel about manufactured foods, you may opt to pass on pellets and instead feed only natural raw foods to your rabbit.

If this is the case you will need to be more deliberate in managing your rabbit’s diet, putting intention into the quantity, quality and diversity of grasses, hay, and leafy green vegetables that you feed your rabbit.

To be honest, the more I read and learn about rabbit health the more I believe that quality grasses and hay are truly the best basis for the rabbit’s diet. 

For more guidance on Rabbit Hay and How Much Hay to Feed A Rabbit you can check out:

Can Rabbits Eat Meadow Hay 

Orchard Hay vs Timothy Hay For Rabbits   

Oat Hay For Rabbits  

How To Store Hay For Rabbits  

How Much Hay To Feed A Rabbit

Which Cut Of Hay Is Best For Rabbits  

What is in Rabbit Pellets? What are Rabbit Pellets Made Of?

There are many national brands of rabbit pellet and a handful of regional brands.  We also know of some local brands milled and sold by local grain elevators.  For this reason, the specific content of rabbit pellets varies, by region, and by producer.

This informative “What are Rabbit Pellets Made Of” article from Petsial provides a great deal of information about what should and should not be in a quality rabbit pellet.

In short, pellets are usually grass based and include beneficial plant compounds, vitamins, and minerals in a blend designed for rabbit health.  Most (if not all) manufactured pellets also contain mold inhibitor chemicals to extend the shelf life of the pellets.

Overall, as discussed in this informative post from the Indiana House Rabbit Society, you want to look for pellets that are plain and uniform in color with no seeds or nuts.

As a rule, look at the ingredients to ensure:

  • higher fiber (>18%)
  • lower protein (<14%)
  • calcium <0.9%
  • fat <2%.

Finally, never hesitate to ask your veterinarian for a recommendation, and perhaps they can share a purchase discount code with you as well. And to know more about pellets for rabbits, check out How Much Rabbit Pellets Per Day?

Can Rabbits Eat Grains?

Yes, rabbits may eat some grains. However, it is not recommended to ONLY feed your rabbit a mix of grains.

Again, there is some controversy on this issue.  Rabbits in the wild do not eat a diet based on a mix of grains, rather they have evolved eating primarily a diversity of grasses and hay, with twigs, bark and shrubs added in winter.

Because grains are not a part of the natural diet of rabbits, over the long term, feeding only a grain mix to your rabbits will result in health problems for your rabbits.

The Best Rabbit Food – Feeding a Blend of Grasses, Hay, Pellets, and Leafy Green Vegetables

Our preferred rabbit diet, that has helped us to raise healthy and happy rabbits for years, is a blend of grasses, hay, pellets and leafy green vegetables… along with some fruit treats.

Some owners do feed more of a grain mix and less hay. These owners generally have healthy rabbits but they often develop disease or digestive issues prematurely. Alternatively, other owners feed mostly hay and augment with a diverse mix of natural grains in lieu of manufactured pellets. The rabbits of these folks are generally healthy.

Still, some other owners like us, check all the boxes by feeding a diversity of quality grasses and hay, augmented by some natural grains, some manufactured pellets, and some leafy green vegetables. There is definitely some “trade-space”, or room for owner preference, when discussing what blend or mix of feeds is healthy for rabbits.

Across the board, the key ingredient here is quality, daily grass and hay. Quality grass and hay provides the exact high fibers that rabbits require. Diversity within the grass and hay also typically helps the rabbit obtain the various trace minerals and plant compounds needed.

What Foods Are Good For Rabbits – What Do Rabbits Like To Eat?

Through experience and research, my personal preference and recommendation is to go heavy on quality grass and hay, augment with a bit of your favorite brand of pellets, and add in a small helping of a leafy green vegetable every other day.

Using a diversity of quality grass and hay is beneficial as is diversifying the leafy green vegetable each week.

You see that I do NOT recommend a focus on grains.  The rabbit will find enough seed grains in the quality grass and hay. In my humble opinion, grains generally provide too much protein for the rabbit’s digestive system to properly handle.

How Much Do I Feed My Rabbits?

Your rabbits should always have access to quality grass or hay and fresh water.

Rabbits naturally graze throughout the day and most often return to the safety of their burrows for the evening. As a reference, the House Rabbit Society provides these recommended percentages for the preferred rabbit diet:

  •  75 – 80%  Grass or Hay such as Orchard or Timothy – a mound of grass or hay about the size of the rabbit each day. You can adjust as necessary to make sure your rabbit always has grass or hay provided in a hay feeder.
  • 20%  Pellets –  a quarter cup each day for a 5 to 7 pound rabbit, provided in a feeding bowl or pellet feeder.  Rabbits that need to gain weight may benefit from a half cup per day.
  • 5 – 15%  Leafy Green Vegetable – a large handful every other day, provided in a feeding bowl.
  • 0 – 5% Treats – such as fruits and berries.  Minimize sugary foods and over-feeding of treats.

What Is The Best Diet For A Rabbit?

Our recommended authoritative resource for guidance on the best diet for a rabbit is the well-known and often shared Rabbit Diet FAQ from the House Rabbit Society. And here is a great video by the Indiana House Rabbit Society that addresses the best diet for rabbits.


Do Rabbits Eat Their Poop?

No, rabbits do not eat their poop.  However, often confused with poop, adult rabbits DO excrete cecopods, cecotropes, or cecal pellets at night and then eat them. 

At a glance, the cecopods may look like poop pellets but they are not!

What are Cecopods?

Cecopods are soft brown pellets produced and excreted by the rabbit during the night.  These cecopods or cecal pellets are nutritious for the rabbit.

This YouTube video about Cecopods is a bit long but does a really nice job of explaining the rabbit’s digestive system and why rabbit’s need so much fiber.

We will soon be posting our own in-depth article about cecopods, cecal pellets, cecotropes, and the rabbit’s colon or cecum.  

How Sensitive is the Rabbit Digestive System?

A rabbit’s digestive system is very sensitive, much more sensitive than the typical human digestive system. This means that the kinds of foods that a rabbit can process,and digest are fairly limited compared to the kinds of foods that humans can process and digest.

A rabbit’s digestive system is NOT designed to process:

  • Meat
  • An abundance of sugars
  • Heavy salts
  • Milk
  • Grains
  • Nuts
  • Spices
  • Oils. 

In particular, the rabbit’s digestive system in not designed to digest processed foods. 

Rather, it has evolved over thousands of years to digest raw foods that the rabbit may typically find on or close to the ground in its local, indigenous environment. 

Therefore, the rabbit’s digestive system is designed for high fiber, low-fat and low-calorie foods. This is why hay is an ideal rabbit food. 

Trying to digest foods that are high in fats and carbohydrates stresses the rabbit’s unique gut flora or microbiota (just as our human digestive system has specific gut flora). Disrupting this rabbit’s gut flora by feeding inappropriate foods may lead to Cecal Dysbiosis and other deathly issues.

We want to stress that eating too many treats or introducing new primary feeds too fast may cause an imbalance in the rabbit’s digestive system.

An immbalance may then cause loose or mushy poop (the equivalent of diarrhea in humans). Mushy poop means the rabbit’s digestive system is not operating properly nor absorbing nutrients.

Finally, a disrupted digestive process can also cause a blockage in the rabbit’s digestive system which may lead to GI Stasis and a painful death.

Quick Tips: Feeding Rabbits

  1. Always thoroughly wash the raw fruits and vegetables that you feed your rabbits – residual amounts of very harmful pesticides and herbicides are found in our food system and may harm the sensitive digestive system of rabbits.
  2. When introducing new foods, always do so very slowly – rabbit’s are so sensitive that you must provide a very small portion of new foods and then observe the rabbit over 24hrs to see if there are any adverse reactions before continuing.

If ever in doubt, or if something doesn’t seem right with your rabbit, we always recommend that you contact your local veterinarian for professional advice and evaluation!

Acceptable Treats for Rabbits

We’ve covered the best foods to feed your rabbit every day and we’ve discussed the rabbit’s sensitive digestive system.  Here we talk about some treats for your rabbits.

As discussed above, treats may be fed only in moderation. Please remember that cumulatively, treats should amount to no more than 5% of the rabbit’s diet. Here is a list of some of our preferred rabbit treats:

What Foods Are Not Good For Rabbits?

Often people ask:  What foods can kill a rabbit?  Or What should rabbits not eat?  Or What foods are harmful to rabbits?

To address this, we offer a list of foods that can be very harmful to your rabbits:

What Is The Biggest Food Risk to My Rabbit?

One of the biggest killers of pets and hobby farm animals is not a rattlesnake, not a coyote and not a hawk. The biggest risk to small children, pets and hobby farm animals like rabbits is the use of mouse or rat poisoning.

That’s right, rat poison will kill your rabbits! I urge you never to use mouse or rat poison on your homestead or hobby farm property.

Hobby Farm Heaven Baby Bunny

Final Thoughts on What Does A Rabbit Eat
Rabbit Feeding Guide and What Can Rabbits Eat?

To wrap up this post, we highlight the most important takeaways:

  • Our Guide to the Best Foods for Rabbits includes daily, quality grass and hay augmented by quality pellets and green leafy vegetable.
  • Rabbits have very delicate digestive systems that include fermentation processes and the unique creation of cecopods.
  • Cumulatively, treats should be less than 5% of your rabbit’s diet.
  • All new foods should be introduced to your rabbit slowly and a little at a time.
  • Observe your rabbits as you introduce new foods and contact your veterinarian if something does not seem right.
  • What Do Rabbits Like to Eat? Domestic rabbits will not always eat what is best for them, so don’t leave it up to them. You need to direct their nutrition.

Finally, if you want to explore more foods that your rabbits can enjoy or that you should avoid, check out Rabbit-Safe Herbs, Rabbit-Safe Fruits and Vegetables for Rabbits     

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