Fibrevores

Why Fibre is so important for fibrevores (the science) (Digestive, Dental, Emotional)

What's a 'Fibrevore'?

You'll be familiar with the words carnivore (a meat eater), omnivore (an eater of meat and plants) and herbivore (animals with a plant-based diet). Rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas are all herbivores. But by far the most important element of their diet, the one thing they absolutely must have to stay healthy and happy, is fibre. We call these animals 'fibrevores'.

Digestive Health

In the natural world, rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas all live off grass, plants, twigs and bark, low in nutrients, but high in fibre. To get to the nutrients, the animals' digestive systems break these foods down into simple compounds their bodies can absorb.

'Fibrevores' have developed a double digestive system where fibre passes through their stomachs not once but twice. Their bodies and behavior have adapted over thousands of years to let them eat continuously while staying alert - essential in the wild where they are small prey. Pet rabbits are better protected from animals of prey, but they still share the digestive system of a wild rabbit, and, of course have the same dietary needs.

Keeping the whole digestive system moving is absolutely vital. That's why 'fibrevores' need two types of fibre: digestible and indigestible. Failing to provide adequate portions of the right kind of fibre can rapidly lead to illness or death.

Indigestible fibre keeps the digestive system going and stimulates appetite. Indigestible fibre is excreted as separate, round, hard droppings.

Digestible fibre is moved up into the caecum organ, like a giant appendix. Good bacteria in the caecum ferment the fibre which emerges as clumps of sticky droppings called caecotrophs. Rabbits then re-eat the caecotrophs and their systems extract essential nutrition as the digestible fibre passes through for the second time.

Dental Health

The teeth of rabbits are constantly growing and overgrown teeth can be the cause of potentially fatal problems. They will grow 10-12 cm a year all its life. Rabbits need lots of good quality long fibre to gnaw on. If rabbits don't eat enough hay, a naturally abrasive fibre-rich food that helps to wear down the teeth, their molars and spurs will become overgrown, leading to extreme pain and, potentially, death.

Emotional Wellbeing

In the wild, rabbits feed constantly, and pet rabbits need to gnaw on large quantities of fibre through the day for their emotional wellbeing as well as for good nutrition.

Rabbits are also social animals, and they need the company of people and other rabbits. They enjoy being handled and stroked, and snacking from your hand builds up an emotional bond, but you must feed right kind of snacks, made from healthy and natural, fibre-rich ingredients.

You can also hide healthy snacks in plenty of hay, this encourages their natural foraging behavior, which can prevent boredom.