Food Pellets

Make sure you buy the right formula for your rabbit’s needs. Baby bunnies and sometimes seniors or special needs rabbits require more nutrient dense pellets made of alfalfa, while adults should be fed timothy hay pellets. Feeding a healthy adult bunny alfalfa long term can lead to bladder sludge and stones.

• Sherwood Pellets - Sherwood is the favorite brand of many of our fosters and volunteers. They are a local company and sell both baby and adult pellets as well as supplements and critical care. We love their appetite stimulant powder and critical care (both are great to keep in an emergency kit), and also use some of their supplements like the urine, digestive, and joint formulas. Our rabbits love them. You can buy them online on their page or we have found them at IFA and Chewy.

• Oxbow Pellets - Oxbow is another favorite of our fosters and volunteers, and it is less expensive than Sherwood and carried at more locations. Oxbow is what all of our current foster bunnies are fed. We also will use the Oxbow digestive tablets, especially for longer hair buns.

• The Pet Zone IQ Treat Ball, specifically the 3” version, is a great option to put your rabbit's pellets in to give mental stimulation. It ha three separable and removable puzzle pieces on the inside to increase or decrease difficulty. The outside clear shell of the ball is in two halves, with the half with the treat hole being able to be separated into two further pieces for safety in case your pet or anything gets stuck in the hole. When filling, hold the half with the two pieces still while twisting the lower half on to put it together easier. This toy can sometimes be found at TJMaxx/HomeGoods/Sierra Trading Post.

Hay

Rabbits should have access to plenty of fresh hay at all times. Make sure it doesn’t smell or look moldy. Baby rabbits should be fed alfalfa, transitioning to adult hays between the ages of 6 months and a year. Some senior or sick buns may also be put on alfalfa, but long term, alfalfa hay can cause bladder issues in adult bunnies because of the calcium content. If you are allergic to timothy hay there are several other types of hay you can try in order to reduce your allergies.

• Small Pet Select Hay -This is one of the more popular online sources of hay for our fosters and adopters, you can find all 3 cuts of Timothy, Orchard, Alfalfa, and Oat hay

• Oxbow -Oxbow has a variety of hay, you find all the types on this website and purchase them online at sites like Amazon and Chewy, or in pet stores (our fosters have not loved their alfalfa hay. We recommend getting the Viking Farmer Brand or High Desert)

• Rabbit Hole Hay- They have a variety of hays grown in Northern California

• Viking Farmer Alfalfa- This is one of our rabbits’ favorite alfalfa hay

• You can also find hays at your local farm store, or from a local farmer. If you are in an area where there is RHDV and purchase local hay, it is recommended to store it at LEAST 3 months prior to using it.

Treats

There are many boutique companies out there that sell minimal ingredient, organic treats, which are great, but if you can’t afford to buy some bougie treats, small pieces of fruit work great too. You have to be careful purchasing certain brands of treats for bunnies, Kaytee is one we stay away from, anything that has seeds or is coated in honey we also avoid. Lots of sugar is not good for your bun’s sensitive digestive system. Here is a list of some of our favorite bun treats

• Small pieces of fruit or veggies: small pieces of carrots (many people don’t realize carrots are high in sugar and should only be given as a treat not a part of their regular diet), blueberries, strawberries, or banana

• Fluffy Bunny Confections- This is one of our favorite companies to buy bunny treats from. They use just a few ingredients and their stars are the perfect size for training treats or just to give your bunny a tiny treat at a time, but we’ve found most buns also love pretty much everything they make.

• Oxbow digestive tablets- while this is a supplement to aid in digestions, bunnies also love them and think they’re a treat

• Sherwood digestive tablets- These are also a supplement but the bunnies think they are getting a treat

• Well Kept rabbit supplements, treats, and forage mixes- They have a variety of treats designed to help a variety of conditions in addition to regular treats and forage mixes

• Bunny Bunch toys and treats- This rescue in California sells lots of fun chews, toys, and treats

Litter and Litter Boxes

The litter we provide our fosters are either the woodstove pellets you can purchase at any Lowes or Home Depot or horse bedding pellets you can find at IFA, or CareFresh litter. There are a few choices for safe litter you can use, but also unsafe litters. You do not want to use any kind of pine shavings as they contain phenols which can be toxic to rabbits (the pellets are kiln dried removing most of the phenols), and you don’t want to use any clay or clumping litters. Below are links to some of the litter we recommend and/or use for our rabbits. As with everything, make sure your rabbit isn’t eating or ingesting litter. If you suspect they are, then switch to a different kind of litter to prevent impaction. Also, we caution against lining your litter boxes with anything plastic. They may chew and ingest them or could get tangled in them.

Recycled shredded paper (some rabbits may turn this into bedding too)

• Chewy- carefresh litter

• Petco- carefresh litter

• Small Pet Select Paper Litter - This litter is nontoxic, biodegradable, and compostable

Most of our fosters use some version of wood or newspaper pellets. The wood burning stove pellets tend to be the least expensive and can be found in any Lowes or Home Depot or online. They are also much better for long haired rabbits since they don’t get stuck in their fur and tracked around

• Home Depot wood stove pellets

• Small Pet Select Pelleted Pine specifically for bunnies

• Lowes wood stove pellets

  Litter Boxes

  Rabbits prefer more shallow, large boxes. You can hang their hay over their litter box or put it directly in their litter box

• Small Animal Litter Pan: this litter box is great because it’s a little bit larger and is more shallow

• Petmate Open Litter Box: This is a basic litterbox that works great for buns 6-7 lbs and under

• You can also use the large, shallow under the bed Sterilite boxes or similar

Toys and other Accessories

You can find all kinds of toys online, one of the best places to find creative toys is on Etsy. We’ve included some of our favorites below. Avoid toys that are made out of pine shavings, use lots of dyes, or come from China.

• Apple and Pear sticks- Find a source that doesn’t spray the trees

• Foraging tray - This is great to place treats in or even just their food pellets to keep them busy a little longer. Beware however that the small parts quickly turn into cat toys, so it would be wise to order extra parts if you have some four legged fluffies of the feline persuasion

• SunGrow Assorted Rabbit & Cat Chew Balls, Teething Activity Toy for Pocket Pets, (Assorted Rabbit Chew Balls, 6 Pcs).

• PetSmart has a large willow twig tunnel that is great for rabbits that love to do some “bunstruction” and break things apart. It's much cheaper than options offered by other companies. If you have a larger bunny, they will likely not use it as a tunnel but will love breaking it into pieces.

• PetSmart has a big ball made of wound up willow that many bunnies love. Be sure to remove the string and hanger before giving it to your bunny. PetSmart often has buy 2 & get 1 free, or buy 1 & get 1 50% off, so it's good to wait for these sales to stock up.

• Hide-a-treat wood toy - This is another great puzzle toy for your bun, and the pieces are bigger, so less likely to be lost

• Snuffle mats - Snuffle mats are a great way to give your bunnies foraging treats and stimulate their mind

• Snuffle mat - This one is adjustable and comes with a non-slip bottom

• Rabbit puzzle treat toy -Another fun wood toy to hide things in for your rabbit

• Ikea Doll Bed

• Bunny-sized tents

• Bunny Beds Use our contact us form to purchase a rabbit bed

• Many rabbits will really enjoy a dig box of some sort to satisfy their natural urge to dig and burrow. A large plastic bin with an entry hole cut out is a great and cheap option, but be sure to have the entrance at least 5 inches from the bottom so the contents don't come out during digging and to make sure there are no jagged edges. Coco coir, specifically the heat treated substrate used for reptiles and amphibians, is a great safe option for the dig box. Do not use play sand since it can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, and genital region, and do not use dirt from outside due to contamination risk. You can also use shredded newspaper, shredded paper bags, or bits of cardboard. Your rabbit may decide that their dig box is also their new litter box, in which case frequent cleaning may be necessary or removal of the dig box. If you rabbit is intent on consuming large amounts of whatever substrate you've filled your dig box with, remove the dig box until you have a chance to talk to your vet about if your rabbit should continue to have access to it.

• If your rabbits likes to hop up onto your bed, it's important to get a ramp of some sort so that they are able to safely get up and down from that height. A pet ramp, specifically those that are made of dense foam and covered in fabric, are the best option. Ramps made of wood are going to be prone to having their stability and adjustment mechanism compromised by curious bunny teeth, and most pet stairs are too steep or don't have deep enough of a tread for the rabbit's back feet.

Grooming Tools

Brushes/combs

• Hartz Fur Fetcher - This is one of our newer, and now, more favorite de-shedding tools, it is great for shorter hair rabbits and pulls up a lot of dead fur without damaging our rabbit’s skin

• Hair Buster Comb -This is a decent comb for both long and short haired buns

• Wide comb - This type of comb is a favorite for grooming Angoras and double/triple maned lionheads

• Depets slicker Brush- Always use brushes where the bristles have the plastic end covers to protect fragile rabbit skin

Fur Trimmers

• Gimars Cordless Clipper: is not adjustable but does have comb guides (which we have never used). Is quieter and a favorite for Angora rabbit trims. It is rechargeable and we like not having to work around a cord. We also use this to do sanitary trims. Just get guidance the first time you use it because rabbit’s have very thin and easily ripped/cut skin.

Nails

For Nails it is best to use smaller nail clippers meant for cats. We’ve provided a options below this style is the only one we use to trim all of our rabbit nails

• Purrcision Cat Nail Clippers

• JW Pet Company cat nail clippers

• Angled cat nail clipper These make it easier to trim their dewclaws