Automatic feeders for two rabbits on different diets

Two rabbits on separate diets is a genuinely tricky setup — you need reliable portion control for each animal independently, and with rabbits especially, hygiene matters enormously because pellet dispensers can harbour moisture and grow mould fast. The most important things in any rabbit feeder are portion accuracy, how thoroughly you can clean it, and whether the mechanism can actually handle the pellet size you're using without jamming. Before I point you toward anything specific: what pellets are each rabbit on, roughly what portion sizes are you aiming for, and are they housed separately or in the same space?

Good — separate enclosures makes this much more manageable. For the pellet dispensing, the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder isn't designed for scheduled portions, so set that aside. What you actually want for each rabbit is the Closer Pets 5-Meal Automatic Pet Feeder. It's compact, handles small pellets and nuggets reliably without the jamming issues you get with cheaper carousel-style feeders, and crucially it pulls apart fully for washing. You'd buy two — one programmed for 15g at each meal for your senior, one set to 25g twice daily for the younger one. On the hay side, I want to be straight with you: there's no automated hay dispenser that works well for rabbits. The products that claim to are essentially just hay boxes with lids, not true dispensers. Your best approach is an oversized hay rack or hay bag that holds a two-to-three day supply, topped up manually. Rabbits need unlimited hay anyway, so automation there isn't really the goal — it's just making sure the rack is big enough that you're not refilling it daily.

Programming is straightforward — you set the time and then dial the portion tray to the amount you want. The trays are divided into five compartments and you fill each one manually, which is actually an advantage for small or oddly-sized pellets because there's no auger mechanism to jam. The trade-off is that you're pre-loading the meals rather than it dispensing from a hopper, so you're filling it every two to three days rather than once a week. For 30g portions that's fine — you'll know exactly what's going in. Accuracy is high because it's physical portioning rather than weight-based estimation. One thing to watch: if your senior pellet is particularly small or powdery, check the tray gap doesn't let fragments fall through. Most standard rabbit pellets and nuggets sit fine in it.

A couple of things worth knowing. Rabbits will often try to interfere with feeders — nudging, chewing, or tipping — so position the feeder against a wall or in a corner where they can access the tray but can't get around the back of the unit. The Closer Pets model is reasonably sturdy but it's not indestructible against a determined rabbit. For cleaning, wash the tray compartments at every refill with warm soapy water and dry thoroughly before reloading — pellet dust mixed with saliva residue is exactly the environment where mould starts. The main unit can be wiped down with a damp cloth. That routine every two to three days keeps it genuinely hygienic rather than just superficially clean.

Good luck with it. Once you've had them running for a week or so it's worth double-checking the portions match what you expect — just weigh what comes out of a couple of meals to confirm. Senior rabbit diets in particular benefit from consistency, so getting that dialled in early is worth the few minutes.