The Ad Libitum Diet

The Ad Libitum Diet means to be able to choose at will. In nature rabbits and guinea-pigs graze all day long on a variety of food, yet in captivity they are usually given rationed feeds with only hay being available around the clock. This means that they can eat only what they are given and cannot choose to eat something else. This is a problem.

Both rabbits and guinea-pigs are very good at hiding health problems. As prey animals they need to appear healthy at all times to survive as long as possible in the wild. The Ad Libitum diet means that all appropriate types of feedstuffs should be available to them around the clock. This includes fresh grasses, wild plants, leaves, vegetables, herbs & fruit, hay, dried herbs/forage, branches, seeds & water as in nature. Pellets are not part of a healthy natural diet. This allows the animals to select according to their needs and how they are feeling, ensuring that their diet is optimal.

Transitioning to an ad libitum diet should be done by slowly increasing the portions until they get to a point where they never run out and are always available for the animal to select from. For fresh food this should be around 200g per kg of animal, daily. You can choose to top up either once or twice a day, each individual component should be assessed to see how much is being eaten and whether more should be given. You will not need to top up each component every time and this will change seasonally.

To get started with the ad libitum diet you will need a bowl or tray for each component. Anything collected from the wild & leafy greens & herbs can go in the largest container. Dried herbs can go in the next largest. A smaller container can be used for tuber/root vegetables & then an even smaller one is needed for fruit. The size of the containers will depend on how many animals you have. Good containers & trays are available at ikea, the smula tray and the Variera box are perfect.

Seeds should only be given in small amounts, not large mounds. For the average animal kept indoors with no special requirements, 1 tsp per day (1/2 tsp per day for guinea-pigs) of an oil seed mix is enough. In Autumn and Spring, using higher quantities of Vitamin E rich seeds is of benefit, as they will help with the change of coat. If your animal has a skin condition this amount can be larger, up to 1tbsp. If your animal is kept outdoors in winter then a mix of oil seeds and flour seeds will be necessary and this mix can also be used in underweight, ill, old or young animals for an extra energy boost. For large breed rabbits and skinny pigs flour seeds should be used all year round (up to 1tbsp a day).

Hay intake will probably reduce but this is fine as the greens will wear down the teeth. Water should be in a bowl not a water bottle, as the position a water bottle puts the animals head in is unnatural and the animal has to work much harder to get a drink. Branches must also be available at all times but do not need a container.

The Ad Libitum Diet can be quite expensive, so I recommend collecting as much from nature as you can & trying to grow something yourself which will cut down your food bill massively. Even though this diet can be expensive, it is worth it for your animals health. Having a pet is not and should not be cheap. The better their diet, the less likely problems with their health will arise which in turn reduces your veterinary bills.

Dried herbs, seeds and treats, can be found in the shop area of this website.

For more details about the individual components of the ad libitum diet please see the articles on fresh food & dried food in the blog area of this website.

Sources:

https://www.kaninchenwiese.de/

http://www.diebrain.de/nh-index.html

https://www.moehren-sind-orange.de/

Plus, my own experience.