Pet Rabbit Diet Calculator (Hay, Pellets, Greens & Treats by Weight)

How it works

hay eaten ≈ 5% of body weight/day (dry); offer ≈ 1.4× — a pile the rabbit's own size · pellets: adults ≈ 25 g per kg (¼ cup per 2 kg); kits free-choice alfalfa; × 0.75 overweight, × 1.2 underweight · greens ≈ 1 packed cup (70 g) per kg · fruit ≤ 1 tsp (10 g) per kg, max 30 g · water ≈ 100 mL per kg · space ≥ 3 m² for a pair + daily exercise

Rabbits are hindgut fermenters built to eat grass all day, so the diet is a hay pile the size of the animal, always available, with pellets rationed by body weight because the concentrated food that keeps a farm rabbit growing makes a pet rabbit fat and its teeth overgrown, and a daily salad of leafy greens for variety, water and micronutrients. Portions scale linearly with weight across a tenfold range of breeds and shift with age — young rabbits get alfalfa and free pellets, seniors sometimes need more — and with body condition, which a monthly weigh-in on kitchen scales tracks better than the eye. Space, litter and companionship round out husbandry that most hutches were never designed to meet.

Worked example

Two ideal-weight 2.2 kg adult rabbits each get a pile of about 150 g of grass hay a day (eating around 110 g), 55 g of timothy pellets (a generous half cup), 2.2 packed cups (≈ 150 g) of leafy greens, up to 22 g of fruit and 220 mL of water. The pair goes through about 9 kg of hay, 3.3 kg of pellets and 9 kg of greens a month — roughly $140 with litter — and needs at least 4 m² of enclosure plus daily free-roam time.

Frequently asked questions