WHAT IS POISONOUS TO RABBITS?
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| Fox glove |
In the wild, rabbits eat grass and leafy greens virtually continually, and this makes up the bulk of their diet, topped up by the occasional windfall or tasty morsel of certain fruit and veg that they manage to find! In order to provide the correct diet for the domestic rabbit, these too should have access to lots of roughage to chew on continually, ideally in the form of fresh grass grazing, but if this is not possible, hay is an appropriate substitute.
The diet of a domesticated rabbits also needs to be supplemented with a complete food and some fresh offerings too, such as leafy greens, and other fruit and veg. However, you cannot simply give your rabbit household scraps or any vegetable or fruit in order to fulfill this need-certain common and popular plants and vegetables are actually poisonous for rabbits, or likely to upset their digestive systems and threaten their gut motility.
In this article, I will share a basic description of some common and popular common foods, plants and weeds that are not suitable for rabbits, which can provide a basic frame of reference when deciding what to feed to your rabbit. Read on to learn more.
Always remember: unless you are sure DO NOT FEED!
Core/seeds of fruits
Pips of certain fruits, which contain very minute particles of cyanide, can harm a rabbit, even though they are eaten by humans with no ill effect.
Such examples are the seeds of apples and pears.
In addition, the pits of apricots, peaches and plums contain cyanide compounds.
There are minute amounts of cyanide in almonds, cassava roots, mangoes and millet sprouts, while a substance called 'Psoralens', found in Parsnips, is poisonous to rabbits.
The toxic compound called 'Persin' found in Avocado fruit, seeds, leaves and bark is harmful, even fatal, to rabbits.
Rhubarb contains oxalates preventing absorption of calcium and is therefore harmful, though should not be fatal, Spinach is harmful, though again, should not be fatal.
Foods that may be harmful in the long term, such as mushrooms, button mushrooms, and other mushrooms from the 'agaricus bisporus' family, have been shown to cause cancer in mice.
Garden plants
There are common garden plants that are dangerous and poisonous to rabbits.
Good examples of those to stay away from are, Eggplants, Potato plants, Tomato plants and the root of mustard plants.
While on the subject of potatoes, the 'eyes' of potatoes contain a toxin harmful to rabbits.
On reading the above, many of you may wonder why a rabbit is eating these foods in the first place, but such feeding can come from misconceptions that rabbits are allowed to eat anything that's not meat.
If you think your rabbit has eaten something that is, or can be harmful, seek veterinary help immediately.
It may also help to take what the rabbit ate or chewed, along with you.
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| Dandelion |
Related: List of rabbit safe plants
Rabbits will not always show ill effects immediately. In fact there may even be a day or two before a rabbit shows signs of poisoning. Therefore, if you think your rabbit ate something poisonous or harmful, still go to vet.
Human food
While on the subject of food that humans eat, do not feed your rabbit any of the following since these are also harmful or poisonous to rabbits.
Chocolate or foods that contain coffee and caffeine since these contain substances called methylxanthines and if ingested by rabbits, methylxanthines can cause diarrhoea, excessive thirst, urination, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and death.
White chocolate has a lower level of methylxanthines while dark chocolate is more dangerous than milk chocolate.
Food products containing alcohol can cause diarrhoea, decreased coordination, central nervous system problems, breathing difficulties, tremors, coma and death.
Grapes & Raisins can be harmful
Sour food is also harmful
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| Large onion |
Vegetables
Vegetables such as the Onion, garlic and Chive family can obviously cause gastrointestinal problems fatal to rabbits.
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| Milk based product |
Milk based product
Dairy products
Milk-based products cause diarrhea and other digestive problems since rabbits do not have large enough amounts of lactase, which breaks down lactose in milk.
Excessive consumption of salt can obviously produce excessive thirst, urination and sodium poisoning in rabbits, as is the case with most pets.
At this point I will like to emphasize again: unless you are sure DO NOT FEED!
