Every bunny deserves a treat – as long as it’s a healthy one!

Along with nutritious feeding hay and grass-based nuggets, did you know that you can also choose healthy treats for rabbits? Yummy, healthy rabbit treats add enrichment to your pets’ day and are great for training and hand feeding, helping you to build your bond with your bunny chums.

Burgess in-house vet, Dr Suzanne Moyes MVB, MRCVS, says: “Feeding treats provides emotional and social enrichment, keeping our small animal busy and happy. Incorporating healthy and nutritious treats into their diet is good for our small pets’ emotional health, preventing boredom, encouraging natural foraging behaviour and are ideal for hand feeding, to help you build your special bond with your small furries.”

However, Dr Moyes warns that there are some rabbit treats that owners should steer well clear of: “Some treats that are marketed as rabbit food – such as milk-based yoghurt drops or sticks of sweetened cereals – can contribute to obesity and tooth decay, so these are best avoided.”

The natural choice for healthy, happy bunnies

A far better choice are treats that are designed with your buns’ health and wellbeing in mind, made with 100% natural ingredients and no artificial colours or flavours, and which replicate what rabbits enjoy chomping on in the wild.

A munch on fibre-filled bunny treats also helps keep your buns’ teeth in good shape and maintain a healthy digestion. Burgess Excel’s innovative range of Nature Snacks includes:

• BAKED TREATS Baked with love, our Excel Baked Treats have no added sugar, artificial colours or flavours and support dental, digestive and behavioural health. Our Fruity Feasts baked treats contain banana and blueberry, our Herby Hearts contain mixed herbs and apple, and our Meadow Munchies are made from a tasty blend of dried meadow grasses and flowers that we know your small furries will love. In support of RAW 2024, why not try limited edition Sunshine Snacks, made with a seasonal forage blend of blueberry and spinach that’s irresistible to rabbits!
• FORAGE FEAST BARS Our hay bars are high in fibre and perfect for hand feeding. These tasty hay treats are made with natural ingredients and topped with delicious flowers. Choose from Cornflower, Marigold or Rose.
• HERB MIXES Lovingly made, our delicious forage mixes are a healthy treat and are ideal for sprinkling on hay to encourage natural foraging behaviour. Luscious Leaves  is made with a chompable mix of dandelion leaves, nettle leaves, red clover and ribwort and our Wildflower Forage is crafted with a tempting mix of rose, hibiscus, marigold and cornflower.

How treats can boost your buns’ wellbeing

As well as adding variety to your buns’ diet – and letting them know just how special they are – treats can help with all aspects of rabbit care.

MAKING FORAGING EVEN MORE FUN

Foraging is a natural rabbit behaviour that you want to encourage. Rabbit Welfare, an organisation that works to ensure all pet rabbits in the UK are cared for with understanding, insight and kindness, says: “Rabbits that are fed in the right environment will spend more time foraging. Ideally, rabbits would graze on a lawn with lots of different plant species in it. This means that the rabbits have to move around a lot to find the food they need, and they have many opportunities to select different plants to eat. However, this often isn’t available. You can also spread hay or grass around the rabbits’ enclosure or tuck it in multiple boxes or tubes – this stimulates the rabbit to explore different areas. Rabbits that can show normal foraging behaviours are more likely to be happy and healthy. They are also interesting to watch – how quickly can your rabbit search for and find his favourite foods?”

Add to the foraging fun by mixing in some intriguing Luscious Leaves – containing dried dandelion leaves, nettle leaves, red clover and ribwort. Or add some Wildflower Forage in with your buns’ favourite hay – made with a delectable blend of rose, hibiscus, marigold and cornflower.

HELPING YOUR BUNS TO RELAX WHEN YOU’RE HANDLING THEM

Some buns are quite chilled about being handled, whereas others need time and patience to build their confidence up.

Rabbit Welfare advises: “If you’re starting off with a nervous rabbit that hasn’t been handled much in the past, you need to build its confidence in you and start off by letting them come to you. Hand feeding is a good reward, and they may allow you to stroke them quite quickly. Take it at a pace they’re comfortable with until you can touch them all over without them panicking before you ever try to lift him up.”

Hay bars topped with delicious flowers are ideal for hand feeding to help a nervous bun learn to feel comfortable about being handled – and with a delectable choice of Cornflower, Marigold or Rose, you can see which hay bar they like best!

SOMETHING TO NIBBLE ON DURING GROOMING SESSIONS

All rabbits require regular grooming sessions and providing some tasty treats can help make it a positive, enjoyable experience for them.

PDSA advises: “Your pet might not be used to being groomed or being touched in certain areas. Take things slowly, and stop if your pet is worried or stressed. Make the grooming a positive experience, using treats and praise during and afterwards.”

Having a few Herby Hearts or Sunshine Snacks to hand will keep your buns occupied while you brush out their fur and check them over.

ADDED ENCOURAGEMENT FOR LITTER TRAINING

Litter training has lots of benefits – both for your buns and you! Rabbits are clean creatures who like their home to be cosy, dry and spick-and-span. And, as buns are generally pretty quick at picking things up, training them to use a litter tray is both possible – and practical.

As rabbits like to poo and chew, placing a hay rack with lots of their favourite yummy feeding hay in it with some extra tasty Luscious Leaves or Wildflower Forage above their litter tray will encourage your buns to feel happy using it.

AN ESSENTIAL PART OF BUNNY GAMES

Bunnies are smart and active creatures who like lots of things to do and games to play – particularly if there are some tasty rabbit treats involved!

Playing games with your rabbit is a great way to prevent boredom, encourage exercise and get to understand rabbit behaviour a whole lot better. Here are some game ideas to try with your buns:

• MAGIC CUPS Take two to three plastic cups (transparent for beginners) and your bun’s favourite treats  and sit down with your pets. Fruity Feasts can work well for this game. Place a treat inside the cups and put them upside down on the ground. Now encourage your bunnies to come over to investigate and to get the treat out – you may have to help them figure it out until they’ve got the hang of it. Give them lots of praise when they accomplish it. Add more treats and repeat. Never leave your pet unattended with the plastic cups and don’t let them chew them.
• THE HOPPING CHALLENGE Build a low wall out of cardboard boxes, such as the ones fizzy drink cans come in, and encourage your buns to hop over them by repeating the word “hop” and holding a tasty treat such as a hay bar in front of them. When they make the leap, reward them with the treat, along with lots of praise.
• FIGURE IT OUT For super smart bunnies who are up for a challenge, the Trixie Snack Cube could fit the bill. This toy consists of three separate cubes that you can hide treats such Meadow Munchies or Sunshine Snacks in. A sisal rope is attached to the cubes, so your buns can pull the cubes out of the holder. The small holes in the cubes allow your bunnies to smell the treat and therefore trigger them to search for it.

Treat your buns to an Excel RAW 2024 bundle and enjoy 10% discount! Combining six of our quality Excel products, this bundle will help your small animals snuggle up and be happy in their homes >>

TREATS AND FEEDING TIPS

• Burgess Excel rabbit treats and snacks can be fed daily, because they’re packed with beneficial fibre and made with natural ingredients. The best way to ensure your rabbits get all the nutrition and fibre they need is by following the 5-point Excel Feeding Plan, developed in conjunction with one of the world’s leading small animal vets.
• High quality feeding hay or fresh grass should make up 85-90% of your rabbits’ diet. Supplement this with a small portion of rabbit nuggets. As a guide, feed each bun around one egg cup of rabbit nuggets, twice a day.
• Each day, also provide a small handful of rabbit-safe fresh greens and plenty of fresh water. This will provide your buns with the perfect diet and ideal daily balance of fibre and nutrition.

Ensure your buns get the balanced nutrition they need in 5 easy steps:

FEEDING HAY  + EXCEL NUGGETS + NATURE SNACKS + FRESH GREENS + FRESH WATER  = HEALTHY DIET, HAPPY BUNNIES!

LOVE YOUR BUNS? TRUST BURGESS!

At Burgess Pet Care, we continually work with leaders in small animal welfare, behaviour and health to ensure we are at the forefront of small animal health and nutrition. All of our rabbit treats are designed especially for natural herbivores and are made with 100% natural ingredients, are high in fibre, and contain no artificial colours or flavours.

But don’t just take our word for it. One reviewer commented: “My rabbits couldn’t get enough of these treats and binky whenever they hear the packet rustling.” Another added: “First time I’ve ever tried this type of treat with my three bunnies… even the shyest ate it out of my hand…”

NO WONDER THAT 92% OF VETS RECOMMEND OUR BURGESS EXCEL SMALL PETS RANGE!

CARE MORE Find lots of useful advice on caring for your rabbits from Burgess, the pet experts. Training, nutrition, grooming and general care, it's all here >>  

Are your bunnies Burgess bunnies? Join the Burgess Pet Club for exclusive offers and rewards.

LET’S GET SOCIAL Sign up to the Excel Bunny Base – a safe Facebook community for rabbit guardians that are looking for advice and friendly discussions from likeminded owners – and there are lots of cute bunny photos and videos! Also join us on Instagram.

WHY DOES MY RABBIT...? If you’re a bunny lover, you’ll probably have many rabbit-related questions you’d like some answers to. For example, why does my rabbit bite me? Why does my rabbit thump? Why does my rabbit nose-nudge me? Why does my rabbit chuck stuff about? Read on to discover a whole warren full of fascinating answers...

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