Rabbits are continuous-eating herbivores that need a particular diet. Any changes you make in their diet can affect their digestive system. Introducing new foods too quickly can even put their health at risk. That’s why it’s good to know the suitable types of rabbit food and when to introduce them. Learn all about Timothy Hay and other foods that these beautiful animals prefer.

Include a Variety of Rabbit Food for a Healthy Diet

Rabbit Food needs to be as diverse as possible to meet nutritional needs. You can include quality hays, such as hay, pellets, small amounts of vegetables, such as carrots or small pieces of fruit, water, and green vegetable leaves. Grass hay is essential for rabbits because it helps maintain their digestive health. If alfalfa and clover are too high in protein, Timothy hay is a grass they can eat without any problems. Make sure your rabbit has access to fresh grass. The grass you offer is also essential to be free of harmful pesticides and other harmful chemicals.

Another way to feed your rabbit is through pellets. They are an excellent rabbit food because they contain the necessary nutrients to ensure a balanced diet. Be careful about the number of pellets they eat. If they eat more than is recommended for their age, they are at risk of being obese. You can balance their diet by adding fresh vegetable leaves, such as broccoli leaves or lettuce. Be sure to introduce new foods carefully, so it does not affect their digestion.

The Amount of Food You Can Give your Rabbit according to Age.

Like a baby, food is gradually introduced into the diet of rabbits. Here is how much food they can eat depending on their age:

• From birth to 3 weeks - they feed on breast milk. In the case of orphaned rabbits, there are solutions for feeding them.
• From 3 to 4 weeks – they still feed on breast milk, but they may also receive small amounts of pellets and alfalfa during this period
• From 4 to 7 weeks – breast milk remains an essential source of food. but during this period, you can give them more alfalfa and pellets
• From 7 weeks to 7 months - because their digestive system is much more prepared for the absorption of food, rabbits can eat an unlimited amount of Timothy hay and pellets
• from 12 weeks - you can introduce the vegetables, one in a small amount.
• From 7 months - you can introduce timothy hay, oat hay, and grass hay. During this period, it is advisable to reduce the amount of alfalfa and pellets to 1/2 cups per lbs. body weight. It is also good to feed your rabbit with more vegetables, which you can introduce gradually. Make sure you give them vegetables they can tolerate.
• From a one year - you can give an unlimited amount of Timothy hay, oat hay and fat hay. 2 cups of vegetables per 6 lbs. body weight is enough. Fruits should not exceed two tablespoons per 6 lbs body weight.

Why is Timothy Hay Suitable for your Rabbit?

Timothy Hay is suitable for rabbits because it is friendly to their delicate digestive system. It contains an adequate amount of protein and fiber that ensures optimal functioning of the digestive system of rabbits. Due to its calcium content, it is more suitable for adult rabbits. As they grow, rabbits consume less alfalfa to be added to their diet and an unlimited amount of this hay.

Vegetables and Fruits Recommended for Rabbits

The daily Rabbit Food can include bok choy, bell pepper, Brussels sprouts, carrot tips, fennel, cucumber, endive, basil, dill, mint, parsley, oregano, green leaves, arugula, alfalfa, and radish germs, wheat grass, zucchini or wheat grass. Be careful not to give them more than two cups of vegetables daily; this amount is recommended for adult rabbits. Among the vegetables offered several times a week are carrots, broccoli, spinach, kale, dandelion leaves, chamomile, and marigolds.

Once or twice a week, they can feed on fruits such as nectarines, oranges, bananas, apples, berries, grapes, watermelon, para, papaya, pineapple, plum, and peach. If you want to give them treats, the best are freeze-dried fruit from the list of allowed foods.

To make sure you give rabbits healthy food, read their ingredient list carefully. They are recommended to be excluded if they contain ingredients that are not allowed. Also, make sure that the fruits, grass, and vegetables you give are free of pesticides and other harmful chemicals. You can use products from organic farming. Don forget to add plenty of water because they need to maintain hydrated. Clean regularly the water container and fill it frequently with water. By respecting all this, you can ensure your rabbit has a balanced diet to help him grow healthy. You will also be able to prevent digestive difficulties and other health problems that poor nutrition can trigger.

What Foods to Avoid?

Certain foods can be dangerous for rabbits. Among them are processed cereals which are high in sugar but low in minerals. Other foods to avoid are beans, cauliflower, hazelnuts, peas, cabbage, corn beans, mustard beans, rhubarb, sugar, yogurt, or potatoes. At the same time, it is recommended to avoid the snacks that humans eat, whether biscuits or other snacks that can make them sick. Rabbits are susceptible to the food they eat, so it is essential to follow veterinarians’ recommendations strictly. It’s easy to do that if you consider the diverse range of products they can consume.

Respecting all these rules for a healthy rabbit diet can be challenging. However, it’s more complicated at first because as the rabbit grows, it becomes easier for him to make the right food choices. In addition, there is a lot of information available on the internet and at your veterinarian about rabbit food, so it is possible to make the right choices. Just have patience and see how your rabbit is growing day by day.

Oznake: rabbit food, timothy hay

Rabbits make amazing and lovely pets to raise. They are playful and social animals that learn to love their owner as much as a cat does. Let's not forget about the adorable fluffiness its fur has. Rabbits are also known to shed and leave behind a serious amount of fur similar to cats. But with the proper care and nutrition, this aspect can be improved. While they are so cute and cuddly like all pets rabbits do take a lot of work to be taken care of. Along with needing a clean and healthy environment they also request the right rabbit food. A well-recognized brand called Timothy Hay has shown to have along with great customer reviews various health benefits for the animals consuming its food products.

What Does Timothy Hay Mean?

Timothy hay is a type of hay used in making food for various animals. It has been named after an American farmer from the eighteenth century and it is a special type of hay that provides the animal with a balanced and nutritious diet. It is a high fiber and high energy hay product with a low protein level and low calcium type of hay grass that brings benefits to your rabbit's digestion. It is perfect for feeding horses and rabbits.

Rabbit food hay comes in three cuts which are different from each other. The first cut is the roughest but also the highest in fiber. This cut is slightly lower in the overall nutritional value so if you want your pet to lose some weight this is perfect for him. The second cut contains a balanced amount of fiber and proteins. And the third one while it is known to be softer and greener it also has less fiber but an increased amount of protein. The Timothy Hay products found in the supermarkets do not usually say what cut they contain so it is considered to be a mixture of all of the above.

Types of Hay

Some may believe that hay is growing only in one type but they are wrong. There is a range of many different types of hay that get to fall into two big categories: legume and grass. A rare type of grass hay called meadow hay contains edible plants such as dandelion. This type can be more variable in contents
than the simpler one due to the presence of these nutritious edible plants. Legumes consist of alfalfa hay and clovers. The alfalfa hay also called lucerne is greener and has the highest protein level and calcium among the other hay types. This one is suitable for baby rabbits that need more calcium and it is to be avoided when it comes to older rabbits that need to avoid calcium as much as possible.

Timothy Hay Health Benefits

Research has shown that offering your pet rabbit special rabbit food such as the one from this brand, can have plenty of improvement effects upon his health. The fiber element part of hay is essential for the development of a rabbit's organism. Their digestive system is naturally built around a high-fiber diet. The fiber content levels make sure that their intestines do not get clogged up, a fact that leads to gastrointestinal stasis. This illness is extremely serious and can be even lethal. To avoid it make sure your pet bunny gets his intake of required fiber. Another reason for which a high fiber intake helps general health is represented by its contribution to keeping their teeth healthy. Rabbit's teeth are known to grow up to 5 inches in one year which can make it difficult for them to breathe. Without having rough hay and grass to chew on your bunny's teeth can turn into long and sharp bits that turn to be extremely uncomfortable. Timothy hay rabbit food can help your rabbit maintain its teeth in a healthy state.

Calcium in Hay

As any living being requires a certain amount of calcium in the first phases of their life in order to properly develop their structural bones and muscular system, rabbits require it too. It has been proven that bunnies are extremely efficient in getting calcium from the rabbit food they eat. While most animals absorb only a small percentage of calcium from their food, rabbits try absorbing the entire amount from which they excrete half through urine. Their urine may turn to a chalky consistency to eliminate the excess when ingesting too much calcium. To prevent urinary stones it is best to be careful with the amount of calcium in the food you give your pet has. Timothy hay is quite low on calcium so it is ideal for older bunnies.

The Quantity of Food

The amount of rabbit food you bunny requires depends on a lot of factors. From what type of rabbit you own, how big its structure is, its age, and how much it weights. People tend to not give enough hay to their rabbits because they do not know how much they need. Normally, a healthy bunny eats on a daily basis as much as the dimensions of its body. So the larger the bunny the more food it needs to get its nutritional balance in order. Also, keep in mind that rabbits eat more than hay. You can supply them with a snack made of a handful of green vegetables and herbs. Basil and cilantro have been shown to be the most preferred herbs by rabbits. Besides these two you can also give them small amounts of fennel, fresh lavender, tiny bits of mint, oregano, parsley, watercress, and even sage.

Like other animals when feeding rabbits there are some ingredients you should never give such as chives, spring onions, or garlic. Every vegetable coming from the onion family is poisonous to rabbits. Also never give alcohol, sugar, or salt to your pet bunny because it causes serious health problems that can lead to instant heart failure. Rabbits have sensitive hearts so it is best to avoid any possible danger.

Oznake: timothy hay, rabbit food