{"topic_id":"exotic_nutrition_rabbit","category":"exotic-pet-nutrition","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_nutrition_rabbit\ncategory: exotic-pet-nutrition\ntitle: \"Nutrition of rabbits (Merck): hay, cecotrophs, calcium, fiber\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Merck Veterinary Manual — Nutrition of Rabbits (first-hand server-rendered HTML, stripped to text; retrieved 2026-07-29 via curl -A Mozilla/5.0)\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/merck/rabbits_nutrition.txt\nsource_type: veterinary_reference\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-29\ntokens_estimated: 220\nverification: C1_substring_match\nclaims: 4\nsource_document: \"Merck Veterinary Manual, Nutrition of Rabbits\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Merck Veterinary Manual\"\n  title: \"Nutrition of rabbits (Merck): hay, cecotrophs, calcium, fiber\"\n  url: \"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rabbits/nutrition-of-rabbits\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-07-29\"\n  ref: \"Merck Veterinary Manual (first-hand HTML, stripped to .txt)\"\n  doc_type: \"professional veterinary reference (first-hand English text)\"\n  needs_review: false\n---\n\n# Nutrition of rabbits (Merck): hay, cecotrophs, calcium, fiber\nSource: Merck Veterinary Manual article \"Nutrition of Rabbits\" (first-hand, retrieved 2026-07-29 via curl, HTML stripped to plain text). All bullets are exact verbatim substrings of the cited source_file and C1-substring verified.\n\n## Dietary requirements of pet rabbits\n- `Rabbits are small herbivores with specialized feeding needs and digestive systems. They are selective eaters and choose nutrient-rich leaves and new plant shoots over mature plant material that is higher in fiber.`\n- `Cecotroph ingestion is highest when rabbits are fed a diet high in nondigestible fiber. This reingested material provides microbial protein, vitamins (including all the B vitamins needed), and small quantities of volatile fatty acids, which are essential in rabbit nutrition.`\n- `Reducing the calcium level to 0.4%–0.5% of the diet for nonlactating rabbits helps reduce these problems. This can be accomplished by feeding pelleted diets with a timothy hay base.`\n- `A rabbit should always have an unlimited supply of hay, because they frequently need to nibble on it to keep peristalsis active.`\n","sources":["exotic-pet-nutrition — Nutrition of rabbits (Merck): hay, cecotrophs, calcium, fiber (retrieved 2026-07-29)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-nutrition","title":"Nutrition of rabbits (Merck): hay, cecotrophs, calcium, fiber","url":"https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/rabbits/nutrition-of-rabbits","retrieved":"2026-07-29","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual, Nutrition of Rabbits","verification_file":"pdf-raw/merck/rabbits_nutrition.txt"},"source_document":"Merck Veterinary Manual, Nutrition of Rabbits","source_file":"pdf-raw/merck/rabbits_nutrition.txt","tokens_estimated":220,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}