Rabbits are very sensitive creatures in many ways. They can literally die from fright and suffer from many nervous health problems and overheat easily. Also since they are small in size they can easily break bones or otherwise injure themselves if handled improperly. But one way that can really affect your rabbit’s well-being and even shorten its life span is improper feeding. This is not only feeding it the wrong foods, but also the wrong amounts or allowing the food to become moldy or otherwise spoiled.
Knowing what not to feed your rabbit can be as important as knowing what to feed him or her. Some foods that may seem natural to you or even be thought of worldwide as a great choice, can turn out to be bad for your bunny rabbit. Make sure to get plenty of books on rabbits and do your research before obtaining one. A very, very common food that people feed rabbits is lettuce. This is almost universally known as a favorite for rabbits, but lettuce actually contains lactucarium which can make your rabbit very sick or even kill it in large amounts. This happens because the lactucarium gives your bunny very bad diarrhea and works almost as a poison.
Other foods that you should avoid are cabbage for the same reason as lettuce, potatoes, and tomato leaves. Timothy hay is great to feed your bunny and a small selection of pellets as part of their everyday diet can be added as well. Never overfeed your rabbits and use the pellets as only a small part of their regular diet. Provide fresh hay, but only feed pellets once per day. Rabbits can also be fed treats such as carrots, apples and bananas semi-regularly but again only in small amounts. These treats can also be used to help train your rabbit to do tricks!
Overfeeding rabbits is a big problem and giving a rabbit too much food can not only lead to a rabbit becoming overweight but also usually makes rabbits sick and leads to vet bills as you wonder why your beloved bunny acts lethargic and keeps vomiting. Only pregnant does and very young rabbits need pellets down constantly and even hay should be kept up if you have a rabid over-eating bunny on your hands.
A big problem with feeding is that a rabbit may spill his water on his food and cause it to become moldy. So as soon as you notice soggy food, throw it away because it can make the bunnies very sick. You may also see your rabbit try to eat his or her own droppings. As disgusting as this sounds, it is done commonly in the wild. Also it does not mean there is anything wrong with your rabbit or its diet. However, keeping the rabbit's pen very clean will help to eliminate this behavior.
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