Rabbit Diet & Feeding Calculator

Rabbit Nutrition Guide

What do I need to know about The Rabbit Diet Pyramid?

Rabbits are strict herbivores with a digestive system designed for continuous fibre intake. Correct diet proportions: hay: 80-85% of diet (unlimited access at all times). Fresh greens and herbs: 10-15% (daily). Pellets: 5% maximum (small measured amount). Treats and fruit: less than 5% (occasional only). The most common rabbit health problem is dental disease — caused by insufficient hay. Rabbit teeth grow continuously and must be worn down by chewing fibrous hay. Without adequate hay: teeth overgrow, causing painful spurs that can cut into the cheeks and tongue, making eating increasingly difficult and creating a vicious cycle of reduced hay intake.

What do I need to know about Hay — The Most Important Element?

Hay should make up the vast majority of a rabbit's diet. Types: Timothy hay (ideal for adult rabbits — lower calcium than meadow hay). Meadow/orchard hay (good for variety). Oat hay (palatable, slightly higher carbohydrate). Alfalfa hay (high protein and calcium — only for juniors under 7 months and underweight rabbits). Daily amount: body length worth of hay per day as a minimum (approximately 1 rabbit-body-length of hay, loosely compressed). Pellets should never replace hay — they do not provide the same fibre length or dental wear benefit, no matter how nutritionally complete the label claims them to be.

What do I need to know about Safe and Unsafe Vegetables?

Safe greens (feed regularly): romaine lettuce, rocket, watercress, parsley (limited — high calcium), dill, basil, coriander, mint, fennel tops. Safe in small amounts: kale, spinach, chard (high oxalate — rotate rather than feed daily). Fruits (treat only — high sugar): apple (no seeds), pear, strawberry, blueberry. Introduce new foods gradually — one at a time, small amounts — to prevent digestive upset (GI stasis risk). AVOID completely: iceberg lettuce (near zero nutrition, causes diarrhoea).

What should I know about GI Stasis — The Silent Killer?

Gastrointestinal stasis (gut slowdown or complete stop) is the most common life-threatening emergency in pet rabbits. Causes: inadequate hay and fibre. Sudden dietary changes. Stress. Dehydration. Pain from another condition. Signs: not eating, reduced or absent droppings, hunched posture, teeth grinding. Time-critical: a rabbit not eating for 12+ hours needs veterinary attention urgently. Prevention: unlimited hay, fresh water always available (bottle or bowl), daily exercise. Bloat, a gas accumulation in the gut, often accompanies GI stasis and can become life-threatening within hours if not treated promptly by a vet.

Why Do Rabbits' Teeth Specifically Require a High-Fibre Diet?

Rabbit teeth are unusual among common pets in that they grow continuously throughout the animal's life rather than stopping at a fixed adult size, which means they must be worn down at a matching rate through diet or they will overgrow, leading to painful dental malocclusion, a leading cause of veterinary visits in pet rabbits. The sustained, grinding chewing motion required to break down high-fibre hay is specifically what wears teeth down evenly and at the correct rate — pellets and soft foods require far less chewing per calorie and don't provide this wear, which is a central reason unlimited hay, rather than pellets, is recommended as the dietary foundation rather than merely a supplementary fibre source. A rabbit fed primarily pellets or treats with limited hay access is at significantly elevated risk of dental overgrowth even if its overall calorie intake and weight appear normal, since the problem is specifically about chewing mechanics rather than total nutrition.

What Makes Certain Common Vegetables Dangerous for Rabbits Specifically?

Rabbits' digestive systems are particularly sensitive to sudden dietary change and to specific plant compounds that other common pets tolerate better — iceberg lettuce, while not toxic, provides very little nutritional value and can cause digestive upset in some rabbits due to its high water and low fibre content relative to a rabbit's fibre needs, while foods high in starch or sugar (including most fruit, and starchy vegetables like potato) can disrupt the delicate bacterial balance in the rabbit's cecum, a specialised digestive chamber that ferments fibre — disruption here is a known trigger for potentially fatal GI stasis. New vegetables should always be introduced one at a time in small quantities over several days, specifically to monitor for digestive tolerance, rather than offering a varied mix all at once, since a rabbit's gut flora needs time to adjust to any new food type and a sudden large quantity of an unfamiliar vegetable is a recognised trigger for acute digestive upset even when the vegetable itself is considered rabbit-safe.

What should I know about Pellets and Treats — How Much Is Too Much?

Commercial rabbit pellets are a useful way to ensure certain vitamins and minerals are reliably included in a rabbit's diet, but they should be a small supplementary portion rather than the diet's foundation, since hay needs to make up the large majority of intake for proper gut and dental health. General veterinary guidance suggests limiting pellets to roughly 1/8 to 1/4 cup per day for an average adult rabbit (scaled to size), not free-fed in unlimited amounts, since excess pellets can displace hay intake and contribute to obesity and dental problems from insufficient fibrous chewing. Sugary treats, including many commercial rabbit treats and most fruit beyond a small occasional piece, should be limited strictly, since a rabbit's digestive system is poorly suited to processing much sugar and overindulgence is a recognized contributor to digestive upset.

Worked Example: Daily Diet Plan for a 2kg Adult Rabbit

Veterinary guidance on rabbit nutrition generally recommends unlimited access to good-quality hay or grass (which should make up the majority of the diet by volume), a portion of fresh leafy greens roughly matched to body size, and a measured, limited amount of pellets, since rabbits' digestive systems are built around constant, high-fibre grazing rather than concentrated feeding.

Worked example: a 2kg pet rabbit should have hay available at all times, roughly equal to its own body size in volume each day — rabbits that stop eating hay even briefly can develop serious gut problems. On top of that, around 2 cups of fresh, varied leafy greens (such as romaine lettuce, herbs, and rocket, introduced gradually and rotated to avoid overreliance on one type) and a measured 25g of pellets (roughly one tablespoon per kilogram of body weight) completes the daily plan, with sugary treats like fruit limited to a teaspoon-sized amount a few times a week at most.

How Should Diet Change for a Senior Rabbit?

As rabbits age, typically from around 6-8 years onward depending on breed size, their calorie needs generally decrease somewhat due to reduced activity, while their need for easily digestible fibre and consistent dental wear from hay remains just as critical as in younger adulthood. Senior rabbits are also more prone to dental disease and reduced gut motility, making the daily hay-based routine described above even more important, not less, as rabbits get older. Owners of senior rabbits are generally advised to watch more closely for subtle signs of reduced appetite or smaller/fewer droppings, since GI stasis (covered above as a serious emergency) becomes a higher relative risk in older rabbits, and any sudden drop in hay intake in a senior rabbit specifically warrants a same-day vet check rather than a wait-and-see approach.

Why Shouldn't Rabbit Diets Be Changed Suddenly?

A rabbit's digestive system relies on a stable population of beneficial gut bacteria to ferment fibre properly, and a sudden, large change in diet — particularly introducing a new vegetable, a new brand of pellets, or a big increase in treats all at once — can disrupt this bacterial balance faster than it can adjust, increasing the risk of digestive upset or, in more serious cases, contributing to the GI stasis risk described above. This is why any dietary change for a rabbit, including introducing a new safe vegetable for the first time, is generally recommended to be done gradually, in small amounts over several days, while watching closely for any change in appetite or droppings. The same caution applies to pellet brand changes, which are best mixed gradually with the old food over a week or more rather than swapped outright in a single day.