More Bunny Rabbit Facts

By Diana Lingel

You need to feed your rabbit a healthy diet. It can mean the difference between a healthy, long-lived pet and a sickly, unhappy animal. Rabbits eat only plant material.

In nature, this characteristic causes the rabbit to be a grazer, or an animal that spends considerable amounts of time foraging for and eating plants. It is essential to give your rabbit a diet that simulates that which he would eat in the wild. Otherwise, your rabbit could develop a disease named GI stasis. People think that rabbit pellets were especially formulated for their pet rabbit, but this is not the case. They were especially formulated to promote a quick growth and weight gain in commercial rabbits raised for food.

Your rabbit needs a high fiber (18-20%) mid-range protein (14-16%) diet. Do not feed your rabbit any of the many commercial pellet mixes that contain seeds, dried fruit or colored cereals. It is junk food for a bunny rabbit.

These are too high in sugars and carbohydrates; which can lead to an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the digestion system.

Fresh timothy, oat and other grass hays (timothy) should also be available to bunnies all the time. Hay is the most important factor in your rabbit’s diet.

A rabbit’s teeth grow continuously throughout his life. And it is important that we provide them with safe chewing materials such as wooden chew toys to help keep them filed down. Twigs from an unsprayed fruit tree work well.

It is also important to feed your rabbit a daily variety of fresh greens. Fresh greens are an important dietary staple that should be provided daily. The best greens for rabbits include dark-leaf romaine lettuce, dandelions, carrot tops, broccoli, basil, spinach, celery and artichokes (organic please).

Many other vegetables that humans eat are good for rabbits too, provided that the leaves are dark green in color. Great snacks for your rabbits are fresh fruits like apples, pears, strawberries, peaches and tomatoes. Your rabbit will love a raisin. But remember it is a treat and you need to give it in moderation. You don’t need the commercially prepared treats, fresh is always better. And in the kitchen you can always find fresh leftover greens and treats for your bunny.

About the Author:

Diana may be contacted at http://bunny-rabbit-fact.blogspot.com/.

Article courtesy of www.ezinearticles.com.