Rabbit Daily Diet Amounts by Weight Chart

A healthy adult rabbit's daily diet is built on unlimited grass hay, which should make up around 80 percent of what it eats, plus a measured portion of pellets and a generous serving of fresh leafy greens, with treats kept tiny. Pellets and greens are portioned by body weight, while hay is never limited. A common guide is roughly a packed cup of leafy greens per 2 pounds of body weight daily and about a quarter cup of quality pellets per 5 pounds, but always adjust to your individual rabbit and your vet's advice.

Pellets are a supplement, not a staple, and most adult rabbits need only a small measured amount, commonly around one-eighth to one-quarter cup of quality timothy-based pellets per 5 to 6 pounds of body weight per day. Overfeeding pellets is a leading cause of obesity and soft uneaten cecotropes, because pellets are calorie-dense and easy to overdo. Choose a plain, high-fiber, timothy-based pellet without seeds, nuts, or colorful bits, and let hay and greens do most of the feeding. Adjust the amount with your vet if your rabbit gains or loses weight.

Fresh leafy greens are an important daily part of a rabbit's diet, with a common guideline of about one packed cup of greens per 2 pounds of body weight each day, offered as a variety of two or more types. Rotate among rabbit-safe greens like romaine, cilantro, parsley, and herbs, and introduce any new green slowly. Avoid relying on a single green, and go easy on higher-calcium ones. Greens add moisture, variety, and nutrients, but they supplement rather than replace the unlimited hay that forms the bulk of the diet.

No. Unlike pellets and greens, hay should never be rationed. Grass hay needs to be available at all times and unlimited, since constant grazing is what wears down a rabbit's continuously growing teeth and keeps the gut moving to prevent GI stasis. A handy visual is to provide a pile of hay at least as big as your rabbit's body each day and keep it topped up with fresh hay. The portioning by weight applies only to the supplementary pellets and greens, never to the hay itself.

For an overweight rabbit, the usual approach is to keep hay unlimited while reducing or temporarily cutting pellets and trimming sugary treats and fruit, all under veterinary guidance. Because hay is high in fiber and low in calories, it fills a rabbit up healthily, so weight loss comes from cutting the calorie-dense extras, not the hay. Greens generally remain part of the diet. Make changes gradually, weigh your rabbit regularly, and work with a rabbit-savvy vet, since crash dieting and any drop in eating are dangerous for rabbits.

Yes. Young kits under about seven months have different needs, typically getting alfalfa hay and often unlimited or larger pellet portions to support rapid growth, alongside their mother's milk early on and a careful introduction of greens as they mature. Around seven months, you transition them to adult feeding: grass hay, measured pellets, and the standard greens. Because the timing and amounts for growing rabbits are more nuanced, follow a rabbit-savvy vet's guidance on when and how to shift a young rabbit onto an adult diet.

Measuring pellets and greens by body weight gives you a sensible starting portion tailored to your rabbit's size, since a 3-pound dwarf and a 10-pound giant have very different needs. Weight-based guidelines prevent the common mistakes of overfeeding pellets to a small rabbit or underfeeding a large one. They are a starting point, not a rigid rule: monitor your rabbit's body condition and weight over time and adjust with your vet. Hay stays unlimited regardless of weight, while the measured extras scale to the individual rabbit.