| In short : The rabbit is a strict herbivore with an extremely sensitive digestive system. Contrary to popular belief conveyed by the collective imagination or cartoons, many everyday foods – often perceived as healthy – are actually dangerous for him. Here’s what to remember: – The trap of common vegetables and fruits: Foods as banal as the avocado, the potato, or certain parts of the tomato hide formidable toxins for the rabbit. – The carrot myth: Rich in sugar, carrot root should never be the basis of its diet, otherwise it will cause serious metabolic disorders. – The danger of carbohydrates and starches: Bread, cereals and industrial treats seriously disrupt the rabbit’s caecal microbiota, leading to often fatal transit stops. – The golden rule: The rabbit’s diet should be 80% quality hay at will, supplemented by fresh water and authorized fresh greens. |
In the minds of many, Feed a rabbit is a child’s game: a little hay, a few vegetable peelings from the kitchen, and a carrot to make him happy. However, the rabbit digestive system is a mechanism of great complexity that does not tolerate any missteps.
Did you know that certain foods that we eat daily, and that we think are excellent natural treats for our companions, know to be real poisons for them? A simple error of judgment can cause bloating, serious poisoning or a stop in intestinal transit, which constitutes an absolute veterinary emergency in rabbits.
To preserve the health of your little hairball, here is the detailed list of the 15 falsely healthy foods to banish permanently from its bowl.
The 15 toxic or dangerous foods that we believe to be healthy
1. The carrot (the root)
Popularized by Bugs Bunny, the carrot is nevertheless the number one trap. If the tops (the green leaves) are excellent for rabbits, the orange root is extremely high in carbohydrates. Given in excess, it causes obesity, cavities and an imbalance in the intestinal flora. It must be considered as a “candy”, to be given in tiny quantity.
2. Lawyer
This fruit, excellent for humans because of its good fats, contains Persine. This toxin is highly toxic to rabbits and can cause severe, often fatal heart and respiratory problems.
3. Potato
whether raw, cooked, or in the form of drips, the potato contains solanin (a toxic alkaloid) and a toasting amount that the rabbit’s digestive system is totally incapable of assimilating.
4. The bread (and all the biscuits)
A tenacious belief is that hard bread helps the rabbit use its teeth. It’s doubly wrong. The rabbit’s teeth suck only by rubbing against each other when he chews hay. The bread, gorged with starch and gluten, swells in the stomach and blocks the transit.
5. Iceberg lettuce
If green salads like Batavia or Romaine are appreciated, iceberg lettuce is to be avoided. It contains a very high amount of lactucarium, a substance that can cause serious diarrhea and dangerous sedative effects in rabbits. In addition, it is composed only of water and has no nutritional value.
6. Fruit seeds and kernels (apples, pears, apricots)
Giving an apple wedge is a good idea of occasional treat. However, you must imperatively remove all pips. They contain theamygdalin, a compound that releases cyanide during digestion.
7. Tomato leaves and stems
If the flesh of the very ripe tomato can be tolerated in tiny amounts, the green parts of the plant (stems, chalices, leaves) and green tomatoes contain tomatine, a very toxic alkaloid for small mammals.
8. Rhubarb
All parts of the rhubarb (stems and leaves) contain very high concentrations ofoxalates. These components block calcium absorption and cause acute renal failures in rabbits.
9. Leeks, onions and shallots
These plants of the family of alliaceae Contain sulfur compounds that destroy the red blood cells of the rabbit, causing severe hemolytic anemia, in addition to strongly irritating its stomach.
10. Chocolate
As for dogs and cats, chocolate contains theobromine. Rabbit metabolism cannot eliminate this molecule, resulting in cardiac acceleration, tremors and death.
11. Seeds and cereals (corn, wheat)
Many seed mixes sold in pet stores contain corn or wheat. The rabbit is a follicular herbivore (which eats leaves), not a granivore. The seeds cause fatty liver disease (liver fat) and occlusions.
12. Industrial treats (yogurt drops, honey sticks)
These commercial products are true nutritional aberrations. Rabbits do not digest dairy products (yogurt) or quick sugars (honey). They destroy its beneficial caecal flora.
13. garlic
Just like onion, garlic contains substances highly toxic to the rabbit’s blood system and can cause neurological disorders.
14. Walnuts and peanuts
Nuts are too high in lipids (fats). The rabbit’s digestive system is designed to extract nutrients from poor and fibrous foods (such as grass). Excess fat saturates his liver irreversibly.
15. Turnips (the root)
Like the carrot, if the turnip leaves are edible, the root is too high in calcium and carbohydrates, favoring urinary stones (sand in the bladder), a very painful and frequent pathology in rabbits.
Summary table: Dangerous foods and healthy alternatives
| Common hazardous foods | Why is it dangerous? | Favored healthy alternative |
| carrot root | too high in sugar (risk of diabetes). | carrot tops (green leaves). |
| Hard Bread / Biscots | starch and gluten (transit stop). | Crau or timothy hay at will. |
| Iceberg lettuce | Contains lactucarium (toxic diarrhea). | Branch, chicory, roman celery leaves. |
| Seed/corn mixes | unsuitable for the strict herbivorous system. | Complete extruded granules ($100\%$ hay/grass). |
| Honey/Yogurt Treats | Sugars and toxic dairy products. | a small piece of strawberry or apple (without glitch). |
What if your rabbit has ingested a poisonous food?
The rabbit’s digestive system does not have a vomiting reflex: A rabbit can’t physically vomit. If the poison is ingested, it will have to cross its entire body.
If you take your rabbit on or if you notice abnormal signs (prostrate rabbit in a corner, refusal to eat hay, absence of droppings for more than 6 hours, teeth grinding signs of pain), Don’t wait. Contact a veterinarian immediately specialized in NAC (New Pets). Try to note the exact amount and name of the food ingested to help the practitioner.
FAQ: Your Frequently Asked Questions
Don’t rabbits know two very what is good for them?
In the wild, rabbits learn by mimicry with their mother and avoid certain plants thanks to their smell and bitter taste. However, a domestic rabbit lost part of this instinct. In addition, industrial selection makes certain toxic foods very appetizing for them (such as bread or sweet treats), which pushes them to consume them despite the danger.
Why do we sell seed mixtures if it’s bad?
It’s a historical marketing problem. For a long time, the breeding rabbits were fed with cereals to make them grow quickly. These habits were wrongly transposed to pet rabbits. Today, veterinarians agree that the pellets must be homogeneous (extruded) to avoid sorting, and compounds only of compressed grasses.
My rabbit has been eating bread for years and is fine, why stop?
You have been very lucky so far. The accumulation of starch slowly changes the pH of the digestive system and weakens the body. A transit stop or a liver problem can be triggered suddenly overnight because of this chronic weakening. It is best to change your habits today for your future well-being.