# What is best food for rabbits?



## BeagleOesx (Oct 9, 2009)

Just looking for a bit of advice for my daughter please. She has a dwarf lion head rabbit who she currently feeds that muesli type food along with vegs, but my daughter is having problems with having to clean her bottom as her fur gets dirty & tangled as the rabbits doesn't clean herself properly.

I am sure I have read on here somewhere that cutting down on vegs and that pellet type food may be better for her but I can't seem to find the one I remembered reading. Does anyone have any recommendations as the rabbit gets stressed when they are having to clean her bottom for her:cryin:


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2011)

If she is getting a messy bottom I would cut down on her veg (depend how bad I would probably cut it out until her tummy is sorted) and switch her to a pellet like Allen & Page Natural.

How much mix does she get at the moment?

If her tummy is really bad I would be tempted to put her on a hay only diet until she clears up and then start very gradually introducing pellets and veg, I had to do this with my Bluey as he had such a poor diet before coming to me that even a small bit of grass upset him


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## Lizzie47 (Oct 3, 2010)

A diet with plenty of unlimited good quality hay is best. With grass if it's been slowly introduced so the rabbit won't get an upset stomach and only feed little amounts of dry food, a muesli type food isn't best because the rabbit will pick out the bits it likes and get an inbalanced diet, try slowly gradually introducing a pellet food and changing from muesli to pellets, such as rabbit Excel, Science Selective or Wagg optimum pellets I think are all supposed to be good. Only feed little amounts of the pellets though, I feed a little handful every morning and night but I know people who feed a lot less than that. What type of veg does she give? Carrots aren't the best food for rabbits, I find it upsets some rabbits stomahcs if feed too much, too much greens also can do this. I mostly feed spring greens and herbs, herbs are good for rabbits.


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## BeagleOesx (Oct 9, 2009)

I think she gets about a handful of mix daily although she does seem quite picky about the bits she likes & then what she leaves, which is why I thought those pellet type foods might be better for her if she can gradually swap her on to it.
I think she does get quite a lot of veg which I did say to my daughter might need to be cut down.

She does always seem to have soft poos which is why I think she gets messy around the back end.

Thanks for your advice though, I will pass it on


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2011)

Lizzie47 said:


> A diet with plenty of unlimited good quality hay is best. With grass if it's been slowly introduced so the rabbit won't get an upset stomach and only feed little amounts of dry food, a muesli type food isn't best because the rabbit will pick out the bits it likes and get an inbalanced diet, try slowly gradually introducing a pellet food and changing from muesli to pellets, such as rabbit Excel, Science Selective or Wagg optimum pellets I think are all supposed to be good. Only feed little amounts of the pellets though, I feed a little handful every morning and night but I know people who feed a lot less than that. What type of veg does she give? Carrots aren't the best food for rabbits, I find it upsets some rabbits stomahcs if feed too much, too much greens also can do this. I mostly feed spring greens and herbs, herbs are good for rabbits.


Personally I wouldn't recommend Excel for a rabbit that already has a mucky bum.


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## alster (Apr 21, 2011)

Lizzie47 said:


> rabbit Excel, Science Selective or Wagg optimum pellets


I agree with Lizzie that you should start to move her onto all-in-one pellets. I switch between wagg optimum and the Burgess Excel with my two. This prevents selective feeding (picking out the tastiest bits!). My rabbits love the burgess brand, so you might be able to swap straight to it.

You want to be careful with fruits and veg such as carrots as they are high in sugar and can cause stomach upsets. Again, as Lizzie says, the rabbit should have unlimited access to hay, as this should be their main diet - if you know anyone who has horses, try to get some of the fresh hay from them as this is often better quality than the package stuff from the shops.


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2011)

alster said:


> I agree with Lizzie that you should start to move her onto all-in-one pellets. I switch between wagg optimum and the Burgess Excel with my two. This prevents selective feeding (picking out the tastiest bits!). My rabbits love the burgess brand, so you might be able to swap straight to it.
> 
> You want to be careful with fruits and veg such as carrots as they are high in sugar and can cause stomach upsets. Again, as Lizzie says, the rabbit should have unlimited access to hay, as this should be their main diet - if you know anyone who has horses, try to get some of the fresh hay from them as this is often better quality than the package stuff from the shops.


I'm sorry but you switch between foods?
And I would NEVER say to switch straight over, it has to be a very gradual process especially with a rabbit that has already got a problem.


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## Pinkchi (Feb 5, 2011)

Yes a pellet food will be better to stop her picking out the yummy bits and leaving the rest.

I would just opt for a hay only diet for a few days to a week or more if needed. Once she is back pooing normally again then id start to give her a small amount of pellets. Hand feed her one or 2 a day then increase slightly and see how she goes. 

I would avoid Excel as that brand is nutorious for giving rabbits mucky bums so that is not what she needs right now.

Science Selective would be your best choice but if you can't get that then Wagg should be okay.

I would also cut out all veg completely and then you can gradually re-introduce it as it may be some veg setting her off.

Bernie has given some good advice so i'd go with that x


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

Lizzie47 said:


> pellets, such as rabbit Excel, Science Selective or Wagg optimum pellets I think are all supposed to be good.


Excel is REALLY bad for rabbits prone to mucky bum, allan + page is better quality then SS and wagg optimum, i would ALWAYS recommend A+P, if you can not get a=P SS or WO are other good alternatives

as for bunny, you mentioned he gets muesli and veg, does he get any hay at all? a bunnies diet should be atleast 80% hay

if it were my bun i would remove all food other then hay until the mucky bum cleared up, i would then slowly start adding some pellets, only a few a day to start with, until he is on an egg cup full of pellets a day, if the mucky bum comes back, cut back on the pellets, once you have him eating food and pellets fine, you can then start to slowly introduce veg back, if the mucky bum comes back, again cut back.


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## Lizzie47 (Oct 3, 2010)

I'm sorry I should have said some rabbits can find Excel too rich and it may give them an upset stomach, I've never had a problem with it though. Sorry I didn't answer the question related to the rabbit having a mucky bum I answered the title 'What is best food for rabbits'.


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## BeagleOesx (Oct 9, 2009)

Lil Miss said:


> Excel is REALLY bad for rabbits prone to mucky bum, allan + page is better quality then SS and wagg optimum, i would ALWAYS recommend A+P, if you can not get a=P SS or WO are other good alternatives
> 
> as for bunny, you mentioned he gets muesli and veg, does he get any hay at all? a bunnies diet should be atleast 80% hay
> 
> if it were my bun i would remove all food other then hay until the mucky bum cleared up, i would then slowly start adding some pellets, only a few a day to start with, until he is on an egg cup full of pellets a day, if the mucky bum comes back, cut back on the pellets, once you have him eating food and pellets fine, you can then start to slowly introduce veg back, if the mucky bum comes back, again cut back.


I have passed on all your tips thank you all.

With regards to hay, yes she gets loads everyday but I think the problem may be the vegs, as she gets lots so I have advised my daughter to cut her down on these anyway and try her on brocolli and some herbs rather than the carrots. Will she be okay to just have hay on its own for a few days, will it cause her to lose weight?


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## Lizzie47 (Oct 3, 2010)

BeagleOesx said:


> I have passed on all your tips thank you all.
> 
> With regards to hay, yes she gets loads everyday but I think the problem may be the vegs, as she gets lots so I have advised my daughter to cut her down on these anyway and try her on brocolli and some herbs rather than the carrots. Will she be okay to just have hay on its own for a few days, will it cause her to lose weight?


I think hay should be ok until her mucky bum clears up but not sure on that. It should be as a rabbits diet should mainly consist of hay. Not too much broccoli though as it's high in calcium for rabbits.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

BeagleOesx said:


> I have passed on all your tips thank you all.
> 
> With regards to hay, yes she gets loads everyday but I think the problem may be the vegs, as she gets lots so I have advised my daughter to cut her down on these anyway and try her on brocolli and some herbs rather than the carrots. Will she be okay to just have hay on its own for a few days, will it cause her to lose weight?


hay on its own for a few days is fine, its a good way to trim them down and to clear up mucky bums, you want to be careful with high calcium veg though


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2011)

BeagleOesx said:


> I have passed on all your tips thank you all.
> 
> With regards to hay, yes she gets loads everyday but I think the problem may be the vegs, as she gets lots so I have advised my daughter to cut her down on these anyway and try her on brocolli and some herbs rather than the carrots. Will she be okay to just have hay on its own for a few days, will it cause her to lose weight?


Yes a hay only diet should be fine for a few days, just keep an eye on her weight 

As Lil Miss said be careful of feeding too much brocolli as this is high in calcium.
When you start to intro veg again I would probably stick with things like spring greens and herbs, and then build to other things over time.


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

I don't feed any veg to my rabbits at all, so cutting out veg is not a problem.

My rabbits' diet consists of:

1 handful of pellets (half Science Selective and half Oxbow Bunny Basics) twice daily
Meadow hay available all day every day as bedding
2-3 handfuls of Timothy hay available every day (if they want more, they are given more)

During the summer, they get 2 full bowls of grass daily, and in winter, they get a handful of Readigrass weekly.


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

I had to keep a bunny of mine on a hay and water diet for a long time she was so far overweight, it will be fine until the tummy clears up. Every so often, mine wont get anything but hay to eat overnight, if they have started eating less of it. 
I use Burgess and Wagg Optimum, supply is a problem here at the moment but it has never hurt mine to change between the two, I always have some if the previous food left as I switch, I just mix it in at the top of the new bag, they are very similar foods. 
Mine also have a small ammount of museli mix as a treat about twice a week. 
They have greens every other day usually, plus another veg depending on what I have. I can safely say I've never had bunnies suffer with bad tummys so I must be doing something right 

*Heidi*


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## rabbit-lover (May 1, 2011)

I find that any food that has 20% crude fibre or more is good. I give my rabbit Pumpkin the excel food.


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## Lil Miss (Dec 11, 2010)

rabbit-lover said:


> I find that any food that has 20% crude fibre or more is good. I give my rabbit Pumpkin the excel food.


excel is only 16%- 18% depending on the "type"
A+P is 23%


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