"I bought my new rabbit Pippin five weeks ago. She’s now 12 weeks old. The pet shop told me to give her nothing but rabbit mix until she is six months old, but the BHRA leaflet suggests a diet based on grass, greens and hay. What should I be feeding her?" Baby rabbits have different nutritional needs to adults. They need higher protein levels (around 16%) to support growth, as well as high fibre (at least 18-20%) to promote healthy digestion. Young rabbits are very vulnerable to digestive problems, especially around the time of weaning. Sudden changes in diet can be dangerous. This is one of the main problems in buying rabbits from pet shops - they are likely to have had three changes of environment and diet in quick succession. In addition, the immature gut has to establish proper movement of its contents and stress hormones can upset this process. Fatal digestive upsets are all too common, especially in babies who have left the breeder before eight weeks of age. Avoid pet shops selling 6 - 7 week old rabbits. Thankfully, Pippin has made the transition with no problems and at twelve weeks is out of the main danger phase. Her gut flora (friendly bacteria) should be well established, so you can start making gradual changes to her diet. The first step is to introduce hay. Unlimited, good quality hay is an essential component of every rabbit’s diet and should be freely available from weaning onwards. Once Pippin is eating hay freely, review her rabbit food. If you need to change onto a different product, do so over a period of at least one week and preferably even more gradually. As for green food, baby rabbits whose mum ate greens whilst lactating have no problems eating greens (after all, it’s what wild rabbits are weaned onto!) but with Pippin’s unknown dietary history we suggest a more cautious approach. Once she is eating hay and a suitable mix, start adding in very small quantities of vegetables every day (e.g. a chunk of carrot or swede) and then progress to grass, leafy greens and small amounts of fruit. If you build up gradually, you should not run into any problems. Once Pippin is 6 - 8 months old, she will be almost full grown. You should then start reducing the amount of pellets/mix and allow her to fill up on hay and greens.
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