A large part of being a bunny owner is the constant worry of whether you are feeding your rabbits a good, balanced diet with all the fibre, vitamins, and minerals that they need. With bunnies’ naturally sensitive digestion, the dreaded threat of GI stasis and the small mortgage of an emergency vets bill always seem to be ominously lurking on the horizon. On top of this, recommended rabbit diets have changed vastly over the years – with common items, such as muesli, now shown to be detrimental to rabbit health. All of this can make bunny nutrition seem, frankly, confusing. 

Here at Bunny Bistro, we are here to alleviate these concerns and confusions by making bunny nutrition simple, fuss free, and cost effective. 

A common query we receive here at Bunny Bistro is the benefits of fresh vs. dried forage for rabbits. And, simply put, they are both important.  

To keep your rabbits happy and healthy, their recommended diet should always be approximately 85% dried hay or grass, 10% fresh greens, and 5% good quality nuggets/pellets. This means rabbits should always have access to an unlimited amount of premium feeding hay, roughly two handfuls of fresh greens, and approximately 1 tbsp of pellets each day.  

But where does dried forage fit into this? Should it replace fresh greens? Dried forage is naturally high in fibre and crammed full of essential vitamins and minerals. However, we would always recommend feeding dried forage alongside the delicious, nutritious fresh stuff. Fresh greens are an important part of your rabbit’s diet as they are bursting with nutrients and fibre, and, of course, they are delicious. Dried forage can lose some nutrients during the drying process, making it important to still feed your rabbit their fresh greens. It can also be incredibly beneficial to go foraging yourself – commonly finding tasty, nutritious plants, such as dandelions and plantain.  

However, dried forage is the perfect addition to your rabbit’s diet for a wide variety of reasons. Good quality, fresh greens are not always readily available, depending on the growing season, and foraging them for yourself can be time consuming and difficult. Finding good foraging areas, away from weed killers, pesticides, and high levels of traffic, people, or dogs, is not always possible. This is where dried forage can ensure your bunny is getting the variety of plants that they need for optimal overall health. 

Dried forage is the perfect way to get a high amount of fibre, vitamins, and minerals into your rabbit’s diet. It allows you to give your bunnies forage that is not readily accessible to you fresh – whether due to being out of season, not growing near to you, or not being available in local supermarkets. Not only this, but it is also an incredibly easy way to encourage your bunny’s natural foraging instincts, helping to prevent boredom and promote hours of fun.  

We would always recommend mixing your dried forage into your bunny’s hay to encourage them rummage to find the tasty forage, mimicking what they would naturally do in the wild. It can also help to encourage fussy eaters to eat their hay, which is incredibly important for their digestive health. Using aromatic flowers, such as our rose petals or premium flower mix, can stimulate your rabbit’s appetite and make their hay smell deliciously appetising. There are so many different, fun ways to feed dried forage to your rabbits, such as snuffle mats or hiding it in cardboard boxes/tubes, that help to stave off boredom, leading to happier (less destructive) bunnies.  

As well as this, dried forage can be more beneficial than fresh greens for dental health as the crunchier, dried texture helps to naturally wear down teeth. Rabbit dental care is incredibly important as their teeth are continuously growing. If not maintained, they can develop painful molar spurs, leading to dental disease, abscesses, and often GI statis. Dried forage, alongside hay, is a great way to get your buns to chew for great dental health. 

Let’s be honest, each bunny is different, and some can be incredibly fussy – only wanting the very best forage available, like the prince/princess that they are. That’s why here at Bunny Bistro we have a wide variety of tasty forage for your bun to try. Ultimately, it is best to try different types of forage and find what your bunny absolutely loves. However, here is a rough guide as to some common bunny favourites.