This is a specific conversation about Rabbit food and hay — getting the diet right — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
Hay should make up around 80% of a rabbit's diet — this isn't just a guideline, it's the foundation of healthy gut motility and the primary mechanism that keeps a rabbit's continuously growing teeth properly worn down. Pellets are a small supplement, not the centrepiece. Good to hear you're getting ahead of this proactively — that's exactly the right approach. How old is your rabbit, are there any health concerns, and what are they currently eating day to day?
He's just turned one, an Argente Brun. No health issues at all. Right now he gets a mix of supermarket hay and some pellets — probably more pellets than I should be giving if I'm honest. I want to set up a proper routine before any bad habits become ingrained.
inparticular.ai
That's a really sensible place to be. At one year old your Argente Brun has just moved out of his junior phase, so you're right on time to lock in adult feeding habits. The supermarket hay is the part worth upgrading first — most of it is quite coarse, dusty, and low in nutritional quality, which means rabbits often ignore it or eat less than they should. What does his current hay look like — does he actually eat it enthusiastically, or does it tend to sit in the rack?
Honestly, he picks through it a bit but doesn't go mad for it. He's much more interested in the pellets. Which is probably the problem.
inparticular.ai
Yes, that's a classic pattern — low-quality hay gets ignored, pellets fill the gap, and the rabbit learns to hold out for the good stuff. The fix is straightforward: cut the pellets back to one tablespoon per kilogram of body weight per day, and replace the supermarket hay with something he'll actually want to eat. For an adult rabbit with no health issues, I'd go with Oxbow Western Timothy Hay. It's consistently high quality — green, fragrant, and cut at the right stage so it has a good leaf-to-stem ratio that rabbits find genuinely appealing. It's also the right fibre profile for long-term dental and gut health. Once the pellets drop, most rabbits come round to good hay within a week or two. How heavy is he roughly?
He's about 3.5kg. So roughly a tablespoon and a half of pellets a day then? And just hay freely available the rest of the time?
inparticular.ai
Exactly right. Three and a half tablespoons would be too much — stick closer to three to three and a half teaspoons, or just under two tablespoons if that's easier to measure. Hay should be available constantly, replenished daily so it stays fresh and inviting. A rack rather than a bowl is better — it keeps it off the floor and encourages natural foraging posture. Alongside the Oxbow Timothy, a small daily handful of fresh leafy greens like romaine, fresh herbs, or dark leafy veg rounds things out nicely. That combination — unlimited good hay, minimal pellets, fresh greens — is genuinely all a healthy adult rabbit needs.
That's really clear, thank you. I'll order the Oxbow hay and start cutting back the pellets this week.
inparticular.ai
Perfect. Do it gradually over about a week if he's been on high pellets — drop them by a third every couple of days rather than all at once, so he doesn't stress. Once the Oxbow arrives you'll likely notice the difference in how enthusiastically he eats it compared to what you have now. You're setting him up well.