What can and cannot be given to a decorative rabbit as food? How to feed your pet properly at home? What should be the daily diet of a rodent.
The decorative rabbit is a pet loved by many, which is started up exclusively for companionship, leisure and positive emotions, and not for the sake of obtaining meat and wool.
This representative of rodents is distinguished by its cute appearance, playfulness, interesting behavioral features, a tendency to upbringing and even to training.
Like other companion animals, the decorative rabbit requires competent maintenance, otherwise the little fluffy will leave behind only the bitterness of loss and traces of its recent presence.
To prevent premature death of a pet and problems with its health, proper feeding will allow - the key to good health and active life of the ward.
How to feed a decorative rabbit
The animal should be fed around the clock. That is, in the place where the baby's dwelling is equipped, food should always be available in unlimited quantities.
Decorative rabbits are categorically contraindicated in hunger and long breaks between meals. The thing is that these mammals have a special structure of the digestive organs, in particular, an elongated intestinal tract, where the main process of assimilation of food takes place.
It is due to the constant supply of new portions of food that normal functioning and emptying of the intestines is possible. Otherwise, the animal will suffer from stomach pain and excessive fermentation of feces.
Thus, fresh hay, tree bark and twigs should always be in the rabbit's enclosure.
And replenishment of the feeder with herbs, fruits and vegetables should be carried out twice a day - in the morning and in the evening.
As for the water in the drinker, it must be changed regularly.
How to feed a decorative rabbit at home
Since decorative rabbits are absolutely frivolous about the meal, the responsibility for the quality and quantity of food lies entirely with the owner.
The main part of the diet of fluffy animals is roughage, which is responsible for grinding the teeth of animals, the intake of plant fiber and, as mentioned above, the full functioning of the digestive system.
Rough feeds include:
- hay (meadow, steppe, cereal);
- straw (lentil, bean), dried flowers;
- branches, bark of berry bushes and fruit trees;
- in winter, rabbits are offered branches of coniferous trees: fir, spruce, pine.
Do not give decorative rabbits branches of heather, elderberry, sumac, rakita, wild rosemary and wolf berries.
The composition of roughage also includes dried wild herbs - sources of vitamins and minerals:
- clover;
- alfalfa;
- plantain;
- yarrow;
- field dandelion;
- stinging nettle.
Suitable natural juicy products for a rabbit are:
- tomatoes, bell peppers;
- cabbage - broccoli, white cabbage, cauliflower;
- melon crops - melon, pumpkin, eggplant, zucchini;
- tubers and root vegetables of vegetables - peas, corn, fodder beets, potatoes, carrots, turnips.
Succulent feeds are replenished with a pet's feeder in the morning and evening hours in the amount of 120-250 grams for each feeding, changing them about 1 time per week.
Cabbage and carrots are acceptable in minimal portions (in the form of a treat): their excessive use by a rabbit causes bloating, increased gas formation, colic in the intestines, and impaired appetite.
From fruits and berries, the decorative rabbit is allowed:
- pears and apples;
- apricots and peaches;
- kiwi, bananas, grapes, prunes;
- cherry, quince, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, watermelon.
The only "but": these products should not be included in the main composition of the morning and evening menus, but offered only as a dessert 2-3 times a week at the rate of 20-25 grams per meal.
All vegetables and fruits, before serving to the pet, must be washed, and, if necessary, also peeled.
Green pet food for the domestic rabbit is presented:
- corn leaves;
- parsley, celery;
- greens of oats and winter rye;
- lettuce, basil.
It is important to gradually introduce fresh herbs into the animal's grocery basket at the end of winter. In summer, green food, for all its usefulness, should not exceed roughage in quantity: the daily rate is 70-150 grams in the morning and evening.
Prohibited foods for a decorative rabbit
Any thermally processed food (boiled, fried, canned) and all sweets (refined sugar, chocolate, sweets, cookies, muesli) are banned.
Also, you can not feed the decorative rabbit with dairy products, pastries, bread and breadcrumbs.
In decorative rabbits, as in any other domestic animals, individual intolerance to certain types of food is possible. Thus, in case of manifestation of allergic reactions (edema, vomiting, diarrhea) to a particular food, it should be unconditionally excluded from the pet's diet.
