Help Your Fuzzy Friend Start the Year Right With Delicious, Healthy Bunny Food
The start of 2021 is a great time to eat clean, exercise more, and live healthier. But what about your fuzzy friends? Eating healthy food should be a priority for your bun, too. We’ll help you find the right hay, pelleted food, and treats for starting the year off on the right paw.
Healthy Rabbit Food Matters
It’s super important to feed your rabbit healthy, tasty food and a balanced diet. Rabbits have sensitive tummies, so stay educated on what you’re offering your pet. The majority of diets should be made up of high-quality hay, hay-based pellets, and the occasional healthy treat. Bunnies are true vegetarians… no meat, please! Imagine what your bunny would eat in the wild (hays and grasses, ground veggies, some fruits) and use this as your bunny food inspiration.
What Do Bunnies Eat?
Bunnies eat all kinds of goodies and choosing the right bunny food for your fuzzy is easy once you understand their typical diet. There is a long list of safe fruits and veggies you can feed your bun in moderation, but the majority of their diet should be hay. We’ll talk more about hay later, but first let’s look at all the other goodies your little one can start with.
Greens, Please
There are lots of veggies that are safe for your rabbit. Buns love leafy greens. Some favorites are:
- Alfalfa Sprouts
- Basil
- The Tops of Beets
- Bok Choy
- Broccoli 🥦
- Brussel sprouts
- Carrots 🥕
- Celery
- Green Peppers
- Kale 🥬
- Lettuce (no iceberg) 🥬
- Parsley
- Radish tops
- Spinach
- Wheatgrass
Delicious green veggies can make up 5-15% of your bunny’s food. Want an even more fun treat? Make yourself a delicious salad and dine with your bun. You’ll be hitting your New Year’s resolution while helping them eat healthier, too. Like human, like bunny.
Watch the Sugar
While lots of veggies are safe and healthy for your bunny, fruit should be only given once in a while. Most fruits contain a lot of sugar, which isn’t easy to digest for bunnies and their little tummies. If you do want to give your rabbit the occasional fruity treat, choose from:
- Apples 🍎🍏
- Blueberries
- Melons 🍈
- Mangos 🥭
- Cherries 🍒
- Oranges 🍊
- Peaches 🍑
- Pears 🍐
- Pineapple (fresh or dried) 🍍
- Raspberries
- Strawberries 🍓
There’s nothing wrong with treating your bunny every now and then. After all, they are pretty awesome and they deserve some fruity goodness, too.
Give Me All the Healthy Bunny Food
Now that we know what bunnies eat, let’s look at how to find the healthiest, most delicious food for your little guy or girl. Bunnies eat hay, pellets, and some fruits and veggies, but there is so much more to learn about bunny food.
Hay, Hay, and More Hay
Hay should be the main ingredient in any bun’s diet. Not only is it tasty, it helps with digestion and energy and helps prevent kidney and GI issues. Hay contributes to preventative health care to your bun… that’s a big win.
In the wild, your bunny searches out lots of different types of hay, so use the many varieties of hay to simulate this foraging behavior. Here are some of our favorites:
- Timothy Hay is a classic because of its perfectly balanced protein, fiber, and fat. 2nd cutting Timothy is the gold standard for buns, but 1st cutting and 3rd cutting are also delicious. 1st cutting Timothy hay has more fiber and less protein and 3rd cutting has more protein and fat, but all three are super delicious and will have your bun munching for days.
- Alfalfa Hay is a delicious treat hay to add to your bunny’s food to avoid hay boredom. We’re guessing you wouldn’t want to eat the same thing every single day, and neither does your bun. Mix it up with this sweet, dense hay.
- Orchard Hay can be used as a treat hay or a meal all on its own (especially for little friends that are allergic to Timothy hay). Orchard hay is fragrant and will encourage even the pickiest rabbit to eat.
- Oat Hay is just as delicious as it sounds and provides lots of protein, fiber, and fat. It’s easy to eat your greens with delicious, handpicked hay.
Pelleted Food for Bunnies
Many bunny parents choose to feed their friend pelleted rabbit food. Pelleted food shouldn’t make up the majority of your friend’s diet (shoot for about 20%), but high-quality pellets can help supplement some nutrition, especially for picky buns. The best premium bunny food pellets are made out of hay and are fortified with all essential vitamins and minerals. Never buy your bunny pellets that have any icky stuff in them like fillers, cornmeal, artificial dyes, or any other ingredient that isn’t completely natural.
When adding pellets into your bunny’s diet, make sure to limit the amount at first until you see how they react. Pellets have more calories than hay, so rabbits can easily put on weight if they eat too much. That’s the opposite of what we want when eating healthy in the New Year.
Snacks and Treats for Bunnies
Even bunnies crave the occasional snack or treat here and there, and we don’t blame them. But treats don’t have to be all bad. In fact, they can be healthy and entertaining for your little rabbit.
These healthy treats are the perfect complement to your everyday bunny food. They include tasty tidbits like dried berries, hay blends, and even flowers. One or two treats a day should be plenty for the special bunny in your life (just don’t let them do that super cute begging thing, or else you may have to give them more).
Did you know that bunny food can actually be fun, too? Our toys and chews are made from all-natural ingredients like hay, clovers, and apple twigs. Your little friend is sure to get the zoomies when they find one of these new toys in their cage. Toss ‘em, chew ‘em, and throw ‘em around. You can be sure you’re treating your rabbit to the best with our all-natural toys and chews.
Make it a New Year’s resolution to yourself and your bun to feed them the healthiest, most delicious food in 2019. A healthy bunny means a happy bunny and many long years of snuggles, games, boops, and love.
