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Food for your rabbit: how to choose

Diet is the number-one health lever for your rabbit — and the product family with the loudest marketing. Our guides compare product types, teach you to read a label and give realistic price ranges, so you feed right without paying for the packaging.

The key point : Unlimited hay (80% of the diet), fresh greens, and pellets as a measured top-up: a good pellet label starts with fibre.

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• Can rabbits eat spinach? Yes, but only occasionally

Our dedicated guides

• Feeding a kit at weaning: the gentle transition

  Why weaning is a high-risk window for a kit's digestion, and how to introduce hay, pellets, and vegetables without upsetting it.

• Can Rabbits Eat Aubergine (Eggplant)? Risks and Amount

  Can you give aubergine to a rabbit? Solanine, toxic leaves, how much ripe flesh and why hay stays the base of a rabbit's diet.

• Can Rabbits Eat Eggplant? The Nightshades to Avoid

  Is eggplant dangerous for rabbits? A clear look at nightshades (tomato, potato, pepper), solanine and the vegetables that are genuinely safe.

• Calcium and Urinary Stones in Rabbits: Getting the Diet Right

  Why rabbits are prone to calcium-related bladder sludge and stones, and which dietary adjustments genuinely reduce the risk.

• Safe vegetables and greens for rabbits: the complete shopping list

  Which vegetables and leafy greens are safe for a rabbit? A vetted shopping list, daily amounts, forbidden foods and a realistic weekly budget.

• Healthy treats for rabbits: which to choose, which to ban

  Which healthy treats can you give a rabbit? Dried flowers, herbs, tiny fruit portions: our criteria, the pet-shop traps to avoid and typical prices.

• Herbal and flower hay for rabbits: marketing gimmick or genuine upgrade?

  Is herb-and-flower hay (chamomile, marigold, carrot) worth its price for a rabbit? Real benefits, traps, dosing and how it compares with plain hay.

• Junior or adult pellets for rabbits: which to feed and when to switch

  Junior or adult pellets: which formula suits your rabbit's age? The real differences, transition age, quantities and price per kilo.

• Can rabbits eat banana?

  Rabbits tend to love banana, but its sugar content makes it a treat to dose carefully. Amount, frequency and higher-fibre alternatives.

• Can rabbits eat strawberries?

  Strawberries are a favourite with most rabbits, but their sugar content makes them a treat to dose carefully. Amount, leaves and warning signs.

• Can rabbits eat watermelon?

  Watermelon flesh is safe in small amounts, but its sugar and water content mean it needs careful dosing. Portion size, rind and warning signs.

• Can rabbits eat cucumber?

  Cucumber is safe for rabbits, but its high water content and low fibre call for sensible portions. Amounts and precautions.

• Can rabbits eat carrots? The myth under scrutiny

  Contrary to the cliché, the carrot is a sugary vegetable to ration for rabbits. Root, tops, amounts: what science says about real needs.

• Changing a rabbit's diet: why the transition needs to take 7 to 10 days

  Pellets, hay or vegetables: any abrupt dietary change disrupts a rabbit's caecal flora. A French study explains why a gradual transition isn't optional.

• Pellets or hay-only for your rabbit: which diet should you choose?

  Pellets or hay-only for a rabbit? The real role of pellets, when a hay-only diet works, portions and budget: the nutrition comparison.

• Seed mixes for rabbits: why you should avoid them

  Are seed mixes bad for rabbits? Selective feeding, obesity, badly worn teeth: why to ban colourful mueslis and what to replace them with.

• Budget or premium hay for your rabbit: which should you buy?

  Budget or premium hay for your rabbit? Real quality differences, the traps of cheap hay, price per kilo: the comparison for smart buying.

• Can rabbits eat iceberg lettuce?

  Low in nutrients and mostly water, iceberg lettuce is one of those greens owners hesitate over. Here's what it actually offers a rabbit, and how much stays safe.

• Rabbit not drinking enough: how to encourage better hydration?

  A water bottle that stays nearly full for days in a row isn't trivial in a rabbit. Here's why hydration matters as much as diet, and how to encourage a rabbit to drink more.

• Rabbit constantly digging through its litter: hunger, boredom, or normal behaviour?

  Scratching through litter looking for stray bits of hay can be a natural foraging behaviour, or a sign the ration isn't well suited. Here's how to tell the difference.

• Rabbit kit growth curve: what weight to expect based on adult size

  A kit gaining weight slowly or quickly isn’t always a red flag — it all depends on the adult size being aimed for. Here’s how to track a growth curve that actually makes sense.

• Rabbit refusing to eat hay: what solutions should you try?

  A rabbit that ignores hay in favour of pellets doesn’t necessarily have a health problem: it’s often a well-documented selective-feeding behaviour. Here’s how to turn it around.

• Very food-motivated Dutch rabbit: how to prevent obesity?

  The Dutch rabbit loves treats, a trait that makes training easy but raises the risk of obesity. What a recent study on pet rabbit obesity shows and how to avoid it.

• Fibre and hay: what the research really says about rabbit digestive health

  Not all fibre is equal for a rabbit’s gut transit. What a landmark scientific review shows about dietary fibre and how to build a suitable ration.

• Muesli or extruded pellets: what the radiographic study on rabbit teeth shows

  Does colourful muesli really damage a rabbit’s teeth? What a radiographic study comparing several diets over seventeen months shows.

• Bottle or bowl: which container for rabbit hydration, according to the study?

  Does a bottle really limit how much water a rabbit drinks? What a study comparing open dishes and nipple drinkers shows.

• Pellets on demand: what effect does that have on a rabbit’s weight and feeding behaviour?

  Does unlimited access to pellets really change how much a rabbit eats? What a study comparing several feeding regimes shows.

• How can you tell if your rabbit is at an ideal weight, without relying on the scale alone?

  The number on the scale doesn’t tell the whole story about a rabbit’s body condition. What a study comparing weight and body condition score across four feeding regimes shows.

• Why does your rabbit eat at almost exactly the same times every day?

  Feeding and caecotrophy follow a surprisingly precise internal clock in rabbits. What a chronobiology study changes about how you schedule meals.

• Alfalfa and adult rabbits: is calcium really the problem?

  "No more alfalfa after one year old" is repeated everywhere, because of its calcium content. A Swiss study nuances this rule and points to other factors in urinary stone formation.

• Rabbit greens: serving them together or one at a time changes what gets eaten

  A study measured what rabbits eat when five plants are offered at once, then when each one is served alone. The gaps overturn the idea that a snubbed green is a rejected green.

• Tap, filtered or bottled: which water should you give your rabbit?

  Tap, filtered or bottled: which water actually suits a rabbit, and when a filter or mineral water genuinely makes a difference.

• Does hay really wear a rabbit's teeth down? What millimetre-level measurement shows

  Premolars grow 0.93 mm a week on hay against 2.14 mm on an abrasive diet: in rabbits, tooth growth adjusts to wear rather than the other way round.

• A rabbit refusing a new vegetable: its tastes were settled before weaning

  In rabbits, food preference passes from doe to kit by three equally effective routes — including the droppings she leaves in the nest.

• Rabbit supplements: which ones are actually worth it?

  Vitamin C, probiotics, joint complexes: a look at which rabbit supplements are genuinely justified, and why none of them replace good-quality hay.

• Rabbit probiotics: a study finally puts numbers on disease and mortality effects

  Beyond the supplement aisle and its vague promises, a 2022 study measured the effect of a specific probiotic strain on disease incidence and mortality in rabbits.

• Rabbit food portions by age and weight: how to calculate them

  Unlimited hay first, a measured serving of vegetables, then a limited amount of pellets: the simple method for calculating a rabbit’s daily ration by weight and age.

• Should you ration a pregnant doe's food? What a Spanish study tested

  A Spanish study compared several moderate feed-restriction schedules during a doe's pregnancy. Here's what it changes for her metabolism, performance and welfare.

• Weaning a kit at 21 or 35 days: what a study on its digestive system reveals

  Compared with weaning at 35 days, a French study finds that early weaning at 21 days disrupts a kit's digestive function for weeks. What this means for adopting a young rabbit.

• Overweight rabbit: what diet plan and products actually help it lose weight?

  An overweight rabbit doesn’t slim down by simply cutting hay: here’s the diet plan to favour and the products that genuinely help with safe weight loss.

• Crau Hay, Meadow Hay or Second Cut: Which Hay Should You Choose for Your Rabbit?

  Hay makes up 80 % of a rabbit’s diet. Crau, meadow, second cut: the differences, quality markers and prices to choose well every day.

• Rabbit Pellets: How to Read the Label and Avoid the Traps

  Fibre, calcium, hidden cereals: learn to decode the label on rabbit pellets and spot a formula that genuinely suits your rabbit.

Food breed by breed: every rabbit profile covers this product family with that species’ own figures.