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Rabbit Feeding Calculator

Calculate your rabbit's daily pellet portion based on body weight.

Result

Daily Pellet Portion
0.35 cups

Based on the common house-rabbit guideline of roughly 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 lb of body weight per day - unlimited fresh grass hay should make up the majority of a rabbit's diet, with pellets as a supplement, not the main food source.

About the Rabbit Feeding Calculator

This calculator estimates a pet rabbit's daily pellet portion based on its body weight, using a common house-rabbit feeding guideline. It's intended for rabbit owners who want a starting point for portioning pellets alongside a hay-based diet.

How It Works

You enter the rabbit's weight in pounds. The calculator multiplies that weight by a fixed ratio of 1/20 cup of pellets per pound, giving a daily pellet portion in cups. The underlying guideline is roughly 1/4 cup of pellets per 5 pounds of body weight per day, which reduces to that same 1/20-cup-per-pound rate.

dailyCups = weight (lb) x (1/20)

Examples

A 7-lb rabbit

A 7-lb rabbit gets 7 x (1/20) = 0.35 cups of pellets per day.

A smaller 4-lb rabbit

A 4-lb rabbit gets 4 x (1/20) = 0.2 cups of pellets per day.

Advantages

  • Turns a fractional feeding guideline (1/4 cup per 5 lb) into a precise, weight-specific daily portion.
  • Gives rabbit owners a fast reference point without needing to do the per-5-pound math themselves.
  • Scales linearly with weight, making it simple to recalculate a growing rabbit's portion as it gains weight over time.

Common Mistakes

  • Feeding the calculated pellet amount as the rabbit's whole diet, when unlimited fresh hay should be the primary food source.
  • Rounding the daily portion up "to be safe," which can contribute to the obesity and dental problems linked to pellet-heavy diets.
  • Using an outdated or estimated weight rather than the rabbit's current weight, which skews the portion as the rabbit grows or loses weight.

Edge Cases to Watch For

  • A weight of zero or less returns an error asking for a weight greater than zero, since the ratio can't be applied to a non-positive number.
  • The result covers pellets only; it does not include hay, which the accompanying note describes as needing to make up the majority of a rabbit's diet, with pellets as a supplement rather than the main food source.
  • The 1/20-cup-per-pound rate is a single flat ratio applied at any weight, so it doesn't distinguish between a young growing rabbit, a pregnant or nursing rabbit, or a senior rabbit, all of which may have different pellet needs in practice.

Common Use Cases

  • New rabbit owners setting up an initial daily feeding routine.
  • Owners recalculating pellet portions periodically as a growing or dieting rabbit's weight changes.
  • Rabbit rescues providing adopters with a starting feeding guideline based on the rabbit's known weight.
Written & fact-checked by the Calculateus TeamLast updated August 5, 2026How we verify our formulas

Frequently asked questions

Why is hay more important than pellets for a rabbit's diet?

Rabbits have a digestive system built around continuous grazing of high-fiber grass hay, which keeps their gut moving and their teeth (which grow continuously) worn down naturally - pellets are nutrient-dense and useful as a supplement, but a pellet-heavy, hay-light diet is linked to obesity and dental problems in pet rabbits.

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Conclusion

This calculator converts a standard pellet-to-weight ratio into a specific daily cup measurement for a given rabbit. It covers only the pellet portion of the diet, so pair it with unlimited grass hay and fresh water as the foundation of a balanced rabbit diet.