What Do Bunnies Need?
Food
Bunnies need food--shocking, we know. Obviously this can be quite debated but for the majority of bunny owners, pellets and hay are the best bet--with fresh fruits and veggies after 6 months old as treats. We recommend young rabbit/alfalfa-based pellets until a year, adult/timothy pellets over a year-ish.
Water
Fresh, clean water provided daily allows you to quench your bunny's need for liquid as well as providing a way to cool off in the summer or when your kid adjusts the thermostat and turns your home into a sauna. Bowl and bottle preferences vary by owner, for cleanliness use a bottle, for amply consumption use a bowl.
Shelter
As tempting as it is to just buy a metal cage and call it a day, a bunny needs a shelter with a bit more oomph. We suggest a hutch with an exercise pen to allow for stretches and safety from *spicy* hay.
Buns WILL chew wood cages, but they need to--so just plan to rebuy every few years if you need to.
Enrichment
A bored and hungry bunny will for sure fine trouble. From spicy hay to baseboards, to shoes, and food they shouldn't have, buns will find what they shouldn't and try to eat it--which can be very very expensive or even deadly. Providing toys for them helps keep them entertained and hopefully--happy.
How Do I Know What to Buy For My Bunny?
Choosing products for bunnies can be daunting when everything seems just as amazing or questionable as the next. I have choice anxiety myself and felt this would be the best way to help alleviate some of that for you and steer you in the right direction. MOST of what we buy for our bunny needs comes from Tractor Supply or Amazon. For ease, most of these recommendations are from Amazon. It’s just available in most places and fairly quick/reliable.
Amazon Recommendations
Fluffle Farm makes a small commission on sales purchased via the links below. But I wouldn’t recommend something that isn’t what I have used, would use or have been told by other Fluffle Farm families that they use. If you have any questions please let me know!
We have this for our grow outs and separate by gender, but you can leave the middle open if you want or have a cage for two buns. Beware of their shipping on Amazon. It’s confusing, but basically they drop the price and add shipping so if you were to go to their website it’s the same total.
The open top feature of this hutch allows for easy access to bun as well as easy cleaning. It’s definitely a smaller footprint set up without the “house” look of other hutches.
I feel fairly confident in this brand. It isn’t Fort Knox, but it also is decent for the price point. It’s a softwood and your bun will chew it, but that’s to be expected.
Twenty-five pounds will last awhile! This is a widely known brand in the rabbit world and a solid pet food.
Blue Seal is one of the brands we have purchased the most. It is a lighter pellet that is crunchier and smaller, so don’t be shocked if buns like it and don’t want to change.
We recommend alfalfa hay until 6 months. After that you can swap to timothy or a lower nutrient content hay. I like to say this is like the whole milk and other hay is like 2%, 1% or skim. They all work but some have more oomph that’s needed for growing tinies.
We like this food storage container. It seals to keep out bugs and curious floofy fluffs.
We like this food storage container. It seals to keep out bugs and curious floofy fluffs.
Roller ball water bottles are pretty common for buns. Our bunny barn is on peg nipples so they pick these up pretty quick.
This style with the flip top lid and peg water nipple are the choice we tend to lean towards.
Water crocks are also a great option. Sometimes they get dumped, sometimes they get dirty, but buns will drink more from a bowl than a bottle.
Same as the 3 inch but bigger and this one is a bit fancier. (Can you tell I’m running out of creative steam?)
We like this food storage container. It seals to keep out bugs and curious floofy fluffs.
I may or may not have been given one of these by a fluffle family. Ok, yeah, I did and I love it.
This one might seem off-base, but having a bottle of baby gas drops with nothing added (including xylitol–it’s poisonous) can help bright from an emergency to a regular vet visit. Or even from needing a vet to not needing one at all. When a bun gets into GI Stasis, gas builds up and hurts. This makes their condition spiral. Removing the gas helps them get back to normal.
When a bunny goes off pellets, and isn’t eating. This is a balanced feed that is a powder. You mix it with water and/or applesauce and feed the bunnies who might not be super hungry.
We recommend the 36″ gold zinc exercise pen for a space to run and jump. Some buns can get over this, but it’s a good starting point.
Worth every single penny. I swear. The little purple strip is like a silicone or rubber band and grabs the hairs to pull out the loose ones.
We use this for our litter boxes and recommend it highly. We buy it from Tractor Supply in the horse bedding, but the same product. It’s compressed pine pellets that when they get wet turn into saw dust. Definitely cheaper at Tractor Supply in person. NOT THE SAME AS PELLETS USED FOR FIRE/HEATING. Those have toxins.
We have used everything from wash basins, to plastic shoe boxes, but these are the most widely used among bunny pet owners.
Pretty self-explanatory. Hangs on to the side of the cage above their litter so they can nibble and wee at the same time.
Pretty self-explanatory. Hangs on to the side of the cage above their litter so they can nibble and wee at the same time.