Category: Rabbits

Most likely you’ve been eating meat and meat products such as ham, bacon and sausages since you were a toddler. Surely you know that rabbits are herbivores and wouldn’t naturally eat meat. However, if you would offer your pet rabbit ham or some other meat product, would he or she like it? Can rabbits even eat meat products?

Can Rabbits Eat Ham or Other Meat Products?

The answer would be no, rabbits cannot eat ham or other meat products. The digestive system of your rabbit simply is not meant for digesting meat, which is high in protein and fat and doesn’t contain any fiber.

If you would give your rabbit meat, then most likely she would only nibble at it, but wouldn’t eat it. However, there are some reported cases of rabbits that did eat meat when offered, so it’s best not to offer your rabbit anything with meat.

If your rabbits eat a small piece of meat, then it probably would cause some digestive discomfort, but wouldn’t cause any serious problems for your pet. However, if you’d regularly give your pet bunny ham or other meat products instead of hay and pellets, then that is very likely to cause serious, even life-threatening, problems for your pet.

In Conclusion

Rabbits’ digestive system is designed to process high-fiber and low-fat foods such as hay, pellets and some vegetables. It’s best if you stick to feeding your rabbit these things as this way you’ll ensure that your rabbit gets everything she needs to be healthy. Feeding your rabbit meat is not recommended because meat doesn’t offer your rabbit much nutritional value and it would hard to digest, in the long term, it could also cause serious health problems for your bunny.

Rabbits get most of their nutritional needs filled by timothy hay. The idea of eating nothing but hay might sound a bit tedious for us, but hay is the most optimal food for rabbits. However, rabbits can still eat a little bit of fruits and vegetables on the side.

Tomatoes are one of my favorite fruits. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6 as well as potassium and antioxidants. If you happen to like tomatoes too, then you might want to share a little bit with your pet rabbit. But can rabbits even eat tomatoes?

Can Rabbits Eat Tomatoes?

Quick answer: Rabbits can eat tomatoes, but only in small amounts.

I would not recommend to feed your rabbit more than a few slices of tomato in a day. Tomatoes are acidic and contain a lot sugar, that’s why it’s only okay for rabbits to have a very small amount of this fruit.

Eating a larger amount would cause problems in your bunny’s stomach. Your pet might get a stomach ache and experience bloating, diarrhea and constipation. So, it’s definitely for the best not to give your bunny more than a slice or two.

No Tomato Plants for Your Bunny!

Now that you know that tomatoes can only be fed to bunnies in very small amounts, you be thinking about giving your rabbit tomato plants instead, but don’t. Tomato plants contain poisonous solanine, which, if consumed in large amounts, can cause very serious health problems for your pet rabbit and other animals as well.

By the way, green parts of potatoes also contain solanine, so be careful not to feed your rabbit any green parts of potatoes as well.

Feeding Tomatoes to a Rabbit: Other Things to Consider

Just like you wouldn’t eat a dirty or rotten tomato yourself, don’t give one to your pet rabbit as well. Carefully washing a tomato before giving a slice or two to your rabbit is important in order to get rid of any pesticide residue. Rotten fruits should be discarded because they are very like to cause diarrhea or other digestive issues.

Never give your rabbit ketchup or tomato sauce. These products contain a lot of added sugar and food preservatives, which would be very bad for your bunny.

You also shouldn’t give your rabbit canned or cooked tomatoes as they are even more acidic than raw tomatoes and wouldn’t agree with your rabbit’s stomach.

In Conclusion

Rabbits can eat a few tomato slices, but make sure that you carefully wash the tomato before cutting a slice for your pet. Also, don’t forget that fruits and vegetables can only be given to bunnies as occasional treats, good quality timothy hay should still be the basis of her diet.

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Popcorn is a good source of dietary fiber, iron, magnesium and Vitamin B-6, depending on how it’s prepared, popcoprn can be a healthy snack for us humans. That’s why you might think that it would be a good idea to give popcorn to your pet rabbit as well, but is popcorn safe for rabbits?

Can Rabbits Eat Popcorn?

The short answer would be no, it’s best not to feed popcorn to a pet rabbit.

Popcorn Is Not an Okay Snack for Your Bunny

For one, the unpopped kernels can be dangerous for rabbits. They are very hard and can hurt your rabbit’s intestinal tract.

For two, eating a good amount of popcorn in a single sitting is very likely to cause painful bloating of the stomach for your beloved pet. It might not sound like a very serious condition, but it is. Rabbits are fragile creatures and bloating can permanently damage a rabbit’s stomach and even cause death.

For three, eating popcorn would contribute to weight gain in rabbits. As popcorn is not toxic to rabbits, you might think that it’s still okay to give your rabbit a little bit of popcorn every now and then, but it’s best not to.

There are no nutritional benefits in eating popcorn for rabbits. Rabbits can get everything they need from good quality hay and fresh vegetables. Human snack food such as popcorn would only give them unnecessary calories, which can contribute to weight gain, and, if feed regularly, lead to obesity and a number of health problems.

On top of that, even a little bit of popcorn or any other human snack food can cause digestive distress in rabbits.

In Conclusion

To sum it up, popcorn is not toxic to rabbits, but it’s still best to avoid feeding it to your bunny. Eating popcorn wouldn’t do anything good for your rabbit, it would only cause digestive distress or even more serious problems such as bloating for your pet.

If you want to be a good friend to your bunny, giver her some leafy greens instead.

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Don’t you just love Brussels sprouts? These miniature cabbages are tasty and packed with vitamins and other important nutrients. There’s really nothing not to like about Brussels sprouts. So, surely you’d like to share these tasty vegetables with your pet rabbit. Can bunnies, though, eat Brussels sprouts?

Can Rabbits Eat Brussels Sprouts?

Yes, rabbits can eat a little bit of Brussels sprouts. Both the leaves and the sprouts are safe for rabbits to eat. However, only a small amount of Brussels sprouts is okay for rabbits. Brussels sprouts are very likely to cause gas, and excessive gas can get quite painful for your bunny.

Things to Consider When Feeding Brussels Sprouts to Your Rabbit

For one, rabbits should only be given plain, raw Brussels sprouts or other vegetables. This is important because that’s the way a rabbit would eat the vegetables in the wild. Also, cooking vegetables reduces the nutrient content and your rabbit really does not need the salt we like to add to our cooked vegetables.

For two, carefully wash the Brussels sprouts or other vegetables before giving them to your bunny. This is important for getting rid of any pesticide residue.

For tree, only give your rabbit a small amount of vegetables. In the case of Brussels sprouts, I’d say one or two sprouts in a week would be an okay amount, but do observe your pet carefully after first introducing Brussels sprouts into her diet. Maybe it doesn’t agree with her tummy? In which case you can just leave Brussels sprouts out of your bunny’s diet and feed her other vegetables.

Conclusion on Brussels Sprouts

In small amounts Brussels sprouts can serve as a safe treat for your pet rabbit. However, if your bunny doesn’t seem to like them, don’t worry about it and give her some other vegetables. Most importantly, don’t forget that the most important part of your rabbit’s diet is timothy hay and clean drinking water.

 

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Ice cream is a dessert enjoyed by millions of people around the world. I’m sure that from time to time you like to treat yourself to an ice cream as well. As you enjoy the cone of ice cream so much, you might want to share it with your beloved pet rabbit. That, though, raises a question: can rabbits eat ice cream?

Can Rabbits Eat Ice Cream?

Unfortunately for your bunny, the answer, in short, would be no, it’s best not to share ice cream with your pet rabbit. The main problem with ice cream for rabbits is that ice cream is made out of cow’s milk, which rabbits, just like many other animals, simply cannot digest.

Baby rabbits need the milk of their mother, but once the lactation period ends, they do not need any more milk, especially that from an animal of another species.

If you would accidentally feed your rabbit some ice cream or any other dairy product, then it would most likely give her diarrhea.

Furthermore, studies have shown that regularly giving rabbits cow’s milk can result in the development of rheumatoid like lesions. So, it should be more than clear that any dairy product (ice cream, yogurt, butter, cheese etc) should not be feed to a rabbit.

In addition to the above, ice cream also contains a lot of sugar, which would be bad for your rabbit’s teeth.

Absolutely No Chocolate Ice Cream for Pet Rabbits!

Although all ice cream is bad for rabbits, you need to be especially careful with chocolate ice cream. Chocolate is poisonous to rabbits, just like it’s poisonous to cats and dogs as well as many other animals.

Conclusion on Ice Cream

Once again, it’s not safe to share a cone of ice cream with your pet rabbit. Also, remember that you shouldn’t give your bunny any other dairy products as well. If you want to give your rabbit a sweet treat, then a slice of apple or banana would be a much better option.

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