Rabbits
are herbivores so they needs lots of fresh green vegetables and leaves in their
diet high in cellulose and fiber which keep their digestive system balanced and
provide all the essential nutrients and minerals a rabbit needs to stay fit. Here
are some basic guidelines to help you plan your pet rabbit’s daily diet.
Nutritious hay
Good
quality hay should be provided clean and fresh daily in a weight close to the
rabbit’s own body mass. It has great fiber content and is necessary to allow healthy
peristalsis in the digestive system.
Green leaves and stems
Green
leafy vegetables like broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, celery, parsley,
water cress, rocket, spinach, etc are excellent choices for your pet rabbit. They
contain very useful antioxidant compounds and essential minerals which help
improve the overall health and immunity of a rabbit’s body. Deficiency of
minerals can cause serious illnesses so such green vegetables must be included
in the daily diet.
Fruits
Fruits
are rich in vitamins, minerals, water content and antioxidants but many of them
also possess higher levels of sugar which may be detrimental to your rabbit’s
health. It is a great idea to feed your rabbit fruits but be very cautious in
your selection to ensure that the sugar content is low enough to be acceptable.
Good options include apples, grapes, pears, plums and strawberries.
Treats
There
are a number of great treats available at pet supermarkets made from natural ingredients
are and full of nutrition for your pet rabbit. However, these should also be
given occasionally and not on a daily basis to avoid obesity and malnutrition. High
quality natural rabbit treats are readily available among rabbit supplies at online US pet stores like www.lovemypets.com where you also have the
convenience of comparison shopping.
Sugary foods
Rabbit
and human diet differ significantly so you must make sure no one accidentally
or intentionally offers your rabbit any kind of human food. The relative size
and difference between our digestive systems should give you a hint. Not only
is human food too high in protein, fat and sugar, it is mostly processed and
may contain chemicals such as preservatives that can seriously make your rabbit
ill. So human food like cookies, chocolate, cheese, chips, etc should never be
fed to your pet rabbit.
Rabbit muesli
There
is sadly ignorance on the part of rabbit owners regarding rabbit muesli and
many rabbit owners design a diet that consists largely of rabbit muesli. This
is a terrible idea because rabbit muesli consists of harmful substances that
are detrimental to your rabbit’s oral health.
