Rabbit food: What a rabbit can and can’t eat

For starters, your rabbit should have access to fresh, clean drinking water round the clock. Whether you offer a jar or a bottle is up to you.

Hay makes up the bulk of your rabbit's diet. It’s essential for keeping its bowels healthy. Choose quality hay, such as timothy. Adult rabbits should not be fed alfalfa/lucerne as it contains too much calcium, which can lead to painful bladder stones. Young rabbits can eat alfalfa, though, because they benefit from the large amount of protein it has, which they need at that stage of growth.

Variety is important! Romaine lettuce, carrot leaves, watercress, beet leaves, broccoli, paprika, Brussels sprouts, endive, radicchio, pumpkin... the choice is yours (or should we say, your rabbit’s)! Switch up its food so that your rabbit gets the vitamins and minerals it needs.

Extruded pellets or muesli are useful because they give your rabbit the opportunity to have a quick nibble when it’s feeling peckish. This food stays tasty all day long, unlike greens, which quickly wilt. It’s the ideal rabbit food if you’re out of the house all day.

Fruit is okay, but only sporadically. It usually contains too much sugar, which can upset the bacteria in the digestive tract. And contrary to what you might think, carrots contain a lot of sugars as well as carbohydrates, which is why rabbits shouldn’t eat too much of them.

Do you want to offer your rabbit a healthy snack? Then choose a snack with natural ingredients. By doing so, you can reward your rabbit and strengthen your bond without having to worry about your animal's health.

The list is too long to cover here, but we’ll mention the most important ones here: yoghurt, carbohydrate-rich foods such as bread, pasta or biscuits, nuts, chocolate (which, by the way, several species must never eat), rhubarb and avocado.