Cauliflower is a veggie, so it'd be a perfect, healthy snack for your rabbit, right? Surprisingly, no. Although vegetables are an ideal addition to the high-fiber hay that bunny diets require, cauliflower causes rabbits to bloat and become gassy.
How Much Cauliflower Can My Rabbit Have? Your rabbit can have a handful of fresh vegetables each day – in total. This should be a mix of different foods, and not just one, so don't give it a whole handful of cauliflower florets. Instead, chop a couple of florets into the bowl, alongside other vegetables.
Flower buds are also rich in fiber so it would be good to feed your rabbit broccoli and cauliflower leaves and heads. However, it's best to stick to the cauliflower leaves because the stems and florets are not as healthy for rabbits.
Beyond leafy greens you can feed other vegetables such as root vegetables or “flowers” such as broccoli and cauliflower. These foods are often higher in starch or sugars and should be fed in lesser amounts than the leafy greens.
These foods are poisonous for your rabbit and could make her ill: Potatoes, daffodils, tulips, rhubarb, lillies, mushrooms, avocado, broad beans, sweet peas, buttercup, kidney beans, jasmine, foxglove and iceberg lettuce.
Can rabbits eat tomatoes as an occasional treat? Yes, but there are a couple things you should know first. Tomatoes do have some health benefits (they're a great source of vitamins A and C) — but they're also high in sugar. As a result, as with all fruits and vegetables, a small amount is key.
Cauliflower
Surprisingly, no. Although vegetables are an ideal addition to the high-fiber hay that bunny diets require, cauliflower causes rabbits to bloat and become gassy. If you want to give your rabbit some fresh veggies to snack on, consider green peppers, beets, or radishes.
Leafy greens daily
Rabbits must have an adult-sized handful of safe, washed leafy green vegetables, herbs and weeds daily.
Hay is the most important part of a rabbit's daily intake. Unlimited, high-quality grass hay, such as Timothy, orchard or brome, should make up the bulk of a rabbit's diet. Grass hay is high in fiber, which is critical to maintaining a rabbit's healthy digestive tract.
Do not give broccoli to rabbits. It will give them painful gas. Never give your rabbit kale or spinach. Kale and spinach can cause health problems over time, due to the high amount of oxalates and goitrogens.
Rabbits (herbivores)
ALWAYS – A source of fresh clean water, Hay, a portion of rabbit food, most leafy greens, fresh and dried herb mixes, dandelion leaves, carrot tops, wild plants as long as correctly identified. SOMETIMES – broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, celery, carrots, green beans.
Yes, it is safe for rabbits to eat cucumber! Most rabbits will love the fresh taste. Rabbits can also eat cucumber leaves. Before feeding cucumber to your rabbit, wash it in cold water to remove pesticides.
Reality: carrots shouldn't be a main source of food. Rabbits don't naturally eat root vegetables or fruit. Carrots and fruit are high in sugar and should only be fed in small amounts as occasional treats. Rabbits need mainly hay and/or grass, some leafy greens and a small, measured amount of pellets.
If you feed your rabbit too many carrots, it could suffer from a variety of issues. These include things like tooth decay, obesity, and digestive issues. Carrots are very high in carbohydrates, so if nothing else, they will cause your rabbit to pack on the pounds.
Rabbits can eat both raw and cooked broccoli. Raw food certainly is more nutritious than cooked ones. And the same logic applies to broccoli. According to USDA, 100 grams of raw broccoli includes 2.6 grams fiber and cooked broccoli of the same amount contains about 3.3 grams fiber.
Fresh food – an adult-sized handful of leafy greens, vegetables and herbs twice daily. Nuggets – just one tablespoon of rabbit nuggets once daily (or twice daily if your rabbits weigh over 3.5kg). Water – constant access to clean, fresh drinking water.
While it is largely assumed that rabbits need only carrots and lettuce to survive, this simply isn't true. As with any other animal, rabbits need a whole rounded diet that includes various nutrients, such as lettuce and carrots.
Do NOT feed the following: cereals, grains, nuts, seeds, corn, beans, peas, breads, biscuits, sweets, sugar, breakfast cereals, chocolate or any garden plants that are toxic to rabbits (see links below).
Fresh, raw bananas can be consumed safely, but only in moderation. While bananas are rich in water, potassium, vitamin B6 and antioxidants, they're also packed with starch and sugar. Too much sugar and starch in a rabbit's diet can lead to digestive problems, an upset stomach, gas and diarrhea.
Types of Cauliflower to Feed Your Rabbit
All varieties of cauliflower – white, green, purple, and Romanesco – are equally worthwhile to feed your rabbit. Possessing almost identical nutritional qualities, they are all safe for any rabbit that can digest them with ease.
Grapes aren't toxic to rabbits, and you can feed them to your rabbit occasionally. “Grapes contain a small amount of fiber, B vitamins and vitamin K, which may be beneficial to rabbits,” Dr. Burch told The Dodo. The fiber and water content of grapes can help your rabbit's digestion.
Fruit For Rabbits
As long as the you remove the peel, feeding oranges to your rabbits are healthy for them in moderation so you can give this to them as an occasional treat. Orange colored fruits have a lot of healthy benefits. Oranges contain the fiber pectin, which helps to eliminate any toxins in the colon.
So, can rabbits eat strawberries? Strawberries are non-toxic and fed in very small quantities are unlikely to cause harm. However, there are plenty of veggie treats that are a more suitable choice, so save the strawberries for yourself and reach for more bunny-friendly options for your pet's daily portion of fresh veg.