rabbit toys and treats/supplements

Question
My daughter just "rescued" a rabbit from a friend who was not caring forit. We know basically nothing about rabbits.
We have been giving it pellets and carrots.

I read on line that they need chew toys. My daughter went to buy a toy and came home with Hartz salt and mineral Wheels. She asked me to find out if they were really good for bunnies of not before we give them to him.

What do you suggest as far as these wheels and what would you suggest for appropriate chew toys in addition to or instead of?

Thanks, terri

Answer
Hi Terri....As a rescue, thank you for helping this little rabbit.  He sounds like he needs some TLC...they can easily become very bonded to their humans.

First let's discuss diet.  Rabbits are "hind gut fermenters" and need a low protein, high fiber diet.  The primary food for a house rabbit should be unlimited amounts of grass hays such as timothy, brome, orchard grass, meadow grass, oat and similar grasses.  Pellets contain much more protein than a rabbit needs.  They should be of high quality and pelleted....meaning none of the little treats.  Most feel that a timothy grass based pellet is better but most pellets are alfalfa based.  Carrots contain lots of sugar and should be a very limited part of the diet.  In our rescue we offer all our healthy rabbits unlimited grass hays, limited pellets (there are several differing opinions of the amount...we use pellets to maintain weight and conditioning) and limited greens.  Some healthy greens are romaine lettuce, parsley, cilantro, kale....and our buns fav is dandelion greens.  We rarely offer "treats".  As far as the salt/mineral wheels....most rabbits don't use them and they really aren't necessary if the rabbit is receiving a proper diet.  But it can be a source of entertainment for them.

The idea with chew toys is to keep the teeth worn down.  Rabbit's teeth are open rooted and continue to grow all the time.  At one time it was thought that by offering chew toys, it would help wear the teeth down.  We now know that is not necessarily the case....it's the tooth to tooth contact when they chew.  It's not how hard something is...it's how chewy it is.  Not only does unlimited amounts of hay help with the digestive system, it is very chewy and really works the teeth.  Look how your rabbit chews...it's not and up and down motion....it's side to side.  By offering different types of hay, it requires differing chewing mechanisms and helps keep the teeth down.  But chew toys can be entertaining as rabbits are very intelligent and do need mental stimulation.  

I have tried to condense some very complicated answers down to a readable document.  I suggest you check out this web site  www.rabbit.org  It is a link to the House Rabbit Society which is a national organization for "rabbit slaves".  It has information concerning all things rabbit and should be considered required reading for rabbit people.  Hope this answers your questions....and don't hesitate to ask more.  

Randy