lapin were domesticated as ahead of time as the 5thcentury . However , not much has changed since then in term of their diet or digestion . Pet rabbits like to eat the same food for thought their wild counterpart consume , which is a safe matter , considering the destination when evoke any naturalize favorite is to simulate their natural diet . Wild rabbits and pet rabbit today eat much the same food . Any differences are due to their lifestyle , the availability of certain food , and even more so , the accessibility of piss .
How Do Wild and Domestic Rabbit Diets Differ?
Rabbits kept as petsare usually fed a combination of hay , fresh vegetables , and pellets , along with fresh piddle . While a waste coney could feed any of these food if pass on the choice , they typically do n’t have these options in the wild . They tend to rust what is readily available , which can vary depending on the season .
What Do Pet Rabbits Eat?
Unlike coney in the state of nature , who forage for food , pet rabbits rely on their owners to allow them witha balanced diet . Their diet should be made up of hay , vegetables , and rabbit pellets .
Hay
About80 to 90 percentof a lapin ’s diet should lie of hay . Their digestive system of rules needs the fiber determine in this food germ . Also , theircontinuously spring up teethrequire the masticate action from munching on hay .
Timothy hay is the most commontype of hayprovided for rabbit . However , you’re able to also give them oat hay , orchard pasture , brome , coastal Bermuda , or fescue . check that your rabbit has unlimited access to hay . Alfalfa hay can be given as an periodic treat , but not as a even hay , as it ’s too gamey in calcium and protein for a normal grownup rabbit . It ’s OK to feed alfalfa hay regularly tobaby and young rabbitsunder 7 months old .
Fresh Vegetables
favored rabbits should also eat a variety of fresh vegetables every sidereal day . Most adult rabbits can eat up to 2 cup of veggies daily , whereassmaller breedsor young rabbits under 5 pounds in weight should have about 1 cupful . It ’s good to provide them with a mix of vegetable rather than the same one or two every day in ordering to offer them a multifariousness of nutrients .
Safe vegetablesinclude zucchini , cherry-red leaf boodle , romaine , mustard greens , Anethum graveolens , arugula , bell peppers , cilantro , cucumber , sprouts , among others . Vegetables that arehigher in sugar , dinero , or atomic number 20 , or that may make gas , such as cultivated carrot , chard , collard super acid , turnips , parsley , Spinacia oleracea , blowball Green , broccoli , and dinero , should be set to only once or twice a hebdomad .
Rabbit Pellets
Commercially available pellet are important for pet rabbits . Pellets provide bunnies with the vitamin and mineral they might be missing from the repose of their diet . expect for pellets formulate specifically for rabbits that contain between14 and 16 per centum proteinand around 22 percent fiber . you could feed a rabbit1/8 cup of pelletsfor every 5 pounds of body weight each Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . sister rabbits can have unlimited alfalfa pellet until they reach the age of 7 month .
Treats
Rabbits do not need a lot of fruit . Too much fruit can cause problems for their digestive system . you’re able to feast a small amount of fruit ( 1 to 2 tablespoons a few time each week ) as an occasional delicacy . Picksafe fruit , such as berries , apple ( without the pips or semen , which are toxic ) , banana , Mangifera indica , or Carica papaya .
Water and a Rabbit’s Diet
Rabbits , both preferred and gaga , need fresh waterin order to keep their digestive system and all other organs function optimally . If a cony does n’t get enough pee , they can develop a dangerous precondition calledgastrointestinal stasis . Always cater your rabbit with costless access to fresh water .
When you compare a wild rabbit to a preferred hare , a major departure is that a well - cared for best-loved rabbit will have water available to them at all times . As a result , they can eat a more varied diet , because finding food for thought with a high water content is not as critical for them . However , wild rabbit get most of their water from the plants they exhaust .
What Do Wild Rabbits Eat?
uncivilized rabbits are herbivoreswho eat green plants discover in their even environment . These K can include fresh grass , dried sess ( hay ) , shrub and tree diagram leaves , weeds , veggie , herb , clovers , and flowers , depending on the season . They actually choose gullible botany over other kind of fiber or grasses , and it ’s known that wild rabbit can even climb Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree to get to fresh fleeceable leaves . In the winter , wild coney often must resort to eating tree bark , particularly from spruce , fir , orchard apple tree , peach , and cerise tree , as well as twigs and pine needle .
Rabbits Evolved as “Picky” Eaters
Bunnies have been described as being " finicky " eater , and rabbit in the state of nature are no different . expert speculate that this could bedue to their function as prey beast ; rabbit can run away from predators more chop-chop if they do not have a full stomach , so they choose each meal wisely . mostly , they ’ll find fault the most alimental - slow foods they can find .
Do Wild Rabbits Eat Meat?
lapin , whether in the wilderness or captivity , do not eat meat . Their digestive parcel are designed to break down plant life stuff , and do not have to ability to stick out inwardness . However , late determination suggest that wild hares , a cousin to the cony , might eat meat . Photographs captured by researchersshow risky snowshoe hares feasting on mammal and bird carcasses . Even though rabbits and hare look similar , they are separate species . So , it ’s not sassy to feed your rabbit meat , because it could make them very sick .
Rabbit Digestive System
Due to their high - fibre diet of flora material , rabbits have a unique digestive system of rules . rabbit arehindgut fermenters , meaning they use zymolysis within their with child intestine as a way to digest their unchewable diet . Their cecum , an organ within the enteral tract , is highly developed and arrest bacterium to alleviate fermentation . Both wild andpet rabbitsdigest food this way . Interestingly , a lapin ’s digestive system is actually more similar to ahorse’sthan that of other pet like a cat or dog .
Wild and Pet Rabbits Eat Their Own Poop
Even with this special digestive system , rabbits still do n’t occupy all the nutrient they demand before their food for thought turns into BM . Therefore , wild and pet bunnies must eat their own poop . No , they do n’t eat all of their muck ; theyonly eat cecotropes , which are also known as Nox feces . These particular fecal matter contain vitamin , fatty acids , proteins , and digestive bacteria that a cony needs to stay put healthy .
you’re able to differentiate cecotropes aside from regular BM because they ’re usually shining , oily , smelly , and look like a fuddled bundle of grapes . However , it ’s unlikely that you ’ll ever see these caecal night dung . Rabbits produce them at night and eat them right by . Both pet and wild rabbits need the nutrients from these muck , but wild rabbits tend to trust more on cecotropes , particularly during the winter when food for thought is thin .
Keep in creative thinker that if you house pet rabbit in a shanty with a wire mesh storey , their Nox droppings may come through the break . In this case , your rabbits may not be able-bodied to hand these droppings . Over meter , this might impact their health . Either supply a hutch with a satisfying storey to prevent this , or otherwise make certain they have access to their night dung to push nutritionary health .
Feeding a Wild Rabbit
It ’s generally not recommended to feed wild rabbits , but you may get it necessary in some cases , such as if you are caring for an offend bunny rabbit .
Feeding Wild and Pet Rabbits
While wild and domestic rabbit can eat the same types of foods , their daily diets disagree because of their lifestyles . If you put solid food out for a wild rabbit , make indisputable it ’s not anything that will give them gas or diarrhea , and give them wad of fresh water supply . For domestic rabbits , a varied dieting of pellets , hay , and fresh vegetables can keep your pet healthy and felicitous .
