We had a stray pet rabbit come to our door yesterday. We took them in and bought some supplies to keep them comfortable, but we're puzzled by dishes. What types of dishes are best for the various things a rabbit needs? Hay, greens, food and water is what I'm thinking of.

They're eating fine, but I know from experience with cats that the right shape makes all the difference.

Thanks for any advice you can give on this part. I'm checking with neighbors, vets, various rescue groups and the local shelter, nobody has reported them missing yet.

#rabbit #petsofmastodon #foundpets

@Rincewind Rabbits usually like to just have hay in their litterbox. Some people just put it straight in their litterbox on top of their litter, some people get racks or feeders that can hold the hay near the litterbox but try to keep it out to reduce the amount of hay lost to being peed on.

For litter, paper based litter like CareFresh is generally preferred.

As far as dishes, I've never seen them have much preference on shape. Heavy, smooth, or otherwise hard to pick up dishes are best, as otherwise rabbits will pick them up and fling food all over the place.

A rabbits diet should be mostly Timothy hay, plus a small amount of a high-quality rabbit pellet like Oxbow, plus some greens. Very small amounts of fruit can be good as a treat.

@Rincewind I use a no-tip bowl like this for their water, though I remove the rubbery part around the rim as they'll just chew through that.

And I just use a ceramic cylindrical pet food bowl for their pellets, also heavy and smooth enough that it's hard for them to pick up (though they do occasionally manage to flip it). And just a ceramic plate from the thrift store for greens.

@unlambda Thank you, this is great information! They definitely tossed their pellet food dish around last night, so I'll be picking up some of those non-tip bowls today. I wondered about the feeder racks, I think I'll get that, too. Nobody wants peed-on hay.

#RabbitsOfMastodon #HouseRabbit #BunniesOfMastodon