Can bunnies eat sweet stuff?

[cookie627]

can bunnies eat sweet stuff that humans eat? And can they have bread?

[MooBunnay]

Hi!  No, as far as I know, bread is a bad idea…also, "sweet" stuff for a bunny is a banana, or apple or carrot, and you should only feed them those kinds of things in verrrrry small amounts or else they will get sick!  And also, definitely no "sweet" stuff when they are younger than 6 months

[BinkyBunny]

MooBunnay is absolutely right.  Bunnies should not have bread.

When they are older, sweet stuff like carrots, apples etc should be given sparingly.

The House Rabbit Society has a great information about diet requirements:

http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html

 Once you’re there, you can scroll down to see at what age you should feed what kinds of foods.

[dmh426]

Bread is very bad. For something “sweet”, I give Sophie banana, an apple slice, or a teeny tiny bit of jelly off the tip of my finger. I always get an immediate binky for a little strawberry jam. She also loves Quaker Oats.

[cookie627]

Thanks for the info but can they eat plain cereal?

[x liddo bunny x]

nope. read my post
https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/forumid/2/postid/5269/view/topic/Default.aspx

Subject: soft poo… HELP!!!

view the last one.

eh, ill copy and paste it here

Posted By xliddobunnyx on 04/06/2007 12:10 AM
really? i remember reading the bunny diet site (i think they have a link here) that says cheerios are better for a young bunny than introducing it to fresh greens too soon. because well when i got them they were 9 weeks old, now they are about 10 weeks old (12 weeks is when u should start introducing them to fresh greens a bit at a time) and they recommended plain cheerios (same case with some hamsters) am i truly wrong? i don’t want them to be introduced to greens too soon. i tried a week ago but they did not do so well with it. so i took it away. i do not want to give my bun something bad for them. however, it is doing well with them. the grape looking poo is close to none. giving them cheerios is helping me with training them as well. they are less scared when i pick them up to move them or clean the occasional crust on their eyes, brushing them or when i was clipping their nails. =)

please let me know so i can change their diet. =)

Fujoe is right about the cheerios. And you are also right about waiting to introduce greens until 12 weeks.

Here is an excerpt from a House Rabbit Society article that mentions to be careful feeding Cheerios:

“Do not feed grains such as oats, corn, wheat, crackers, Cheerios, bread, crackers, pasta, etc. There is research to suggest that high starch and low fiber diets may be two of the contributing factors to often fatal cases of enterotoxemia. Enterotoxemia can be caused by changes in cecal pH resulting in the overgrowth of certain bacteria that produce dangerous iota toxins that when absorbed into the body ultimately lead to death. I know the bunnies love this stuff and in small amounts, and in adult rabbits it wouldn’t normally be a problem, but often clients overdo and it may result in serious GIT disease.” SOURCE: http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/diet/rabbit_GI_physiology.html

So, if you are using them for training, you may need to be very careful about how much they are actually getting.

A better treat might be an alfalfa cube or you could cut the cubes to smaller bits, or use their own alfalfa pellets to train during the time when you think they would be the most hungry.

Out of curiosity, how is training going? What are you actually doing and how quickly are they catching on. I know baby bunnies can be much harder to train, but it looks like you are having some positive results, so share the details!

[Lucy]

no, they cannot. cereal is a type of bread.

[LillyBear]

I gave my bun ONE chocolate covered raisin once.. and one mini frosted wheat piece of cereal.. she flipped over it and looved it and was digging in the bags to try to get more!! however, those are rare rare treats.. because shes only gotten one of each in her lifetime.. the rest is fruits + yogurt drops.. for treats..

[Hedi]

I thought chocolate could kill a rabbit?

I have read a lot that yogurt drops are horrible d/t the high sugar content. My one bun luvs them and she only gets half of one every once in awhile.

Otherwise its raisins, dried apple pieces, dried papaya or dried pineapple for treats

[cookie627]

so are there types of fruit they can and can not have?

[Hedi]

Cookie if you go to the LINKS heading at the top there are websites that can answer most of your questions. Per the house rabbit society website(http://www.rabbit.org/care/fruits.html) this is their fruit list:

Apple (remove stem and seeds)
Blueberries
Melon
Orange (including peel)
Papaya
Peach
Pear
Pineapple
Plums
Raspberries
Strawberries

Sugary fruits such as bananas and grapes should be used only sparingly, as occasional treats. Bunnies have a sweet tooth and if left to their own devices will devour sugary foods to the exclusion of healthful ones.

[cookie627]

i though you had to peal the oranges befor you gave it to them?

[Hedi]

I copied that straight from their site. i have always heard that all citrus fruit was a no-no.

But I guess you can?

Personally I would stay away from it but your bun may not like it anyways..

[cookie627]

thanks

[BinkyBunny]

Fresh fruit like the ones Hedi posted are right on!  

 No chocolate and you also do have to becareful even with dried fruit – very very tiny bits as as the sugar (even though natural from the fruit) is highly concentrated and becomes too high in calories and carbs. 

 

[x liddo bunny x]

i know they they love cheerios but even if they do love them, they can be bad for them which is a good reason not to give it to them. its like giving candy to a child or anyother kind of junk food.

[cookie627]

oh…..ok

[Gravehearted]

Many rabbits have a sweet tooth, but sweetness means a high content of sugars. Excessive sugar is converted to fat, or will pass into the cecum where the bacteria will use it for energy and then rapidly overgrow, possibly leading to bacterial imbalance and gi stasis, which is very serious. The same can occur after feeding too much fruit. Avoid feeding your rabbit simple sugars and instead stick with nutritious treats such as vegetables and herbs; save the sweets for an occasional raisin or banana snack.

source rabbit.org

[x liddo bunny x]

couldnt have explained it any better. ^ ^ too bad my mom tried to bribe my mochi and emo with cheerios today. not good. but they didnt take it. for some reason they dont like her much. =P but they seem interested in my mellow dad that sits by them and watches tv all the time. hahahaha

[LillyBear]

oh geeze im never giving her chocolate again!! eep. before I read this I gave her another one.. she just loves them so much.. then I came on here and read this and omg i watched her like a hawk the rest of the night. shes fine though

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By xliddobunnyx on 04/16/2007 8:42 PM
couldnt have explained it any better. ^ ^ too bad my mom tried to bribe my mochi and emo with cheerios today. not good. but they didnt take it. for some reason they dont like her much. =P but they seem interested in my mellow dad that sits by them and watches tv all the time. hahahaha

That makes sense.  It’s amazing what animals pick up.  I know that when I was trying to bond them and I was an anxious mess, it didn’t go as well, as when I got myself in check and calmed down.

Also, bunnies display behavior that looks like they are ignoring each other to show each other that they are not a threat and they may be interested in being friends, so they could be thinking that your dad is relaying this message – "hey bunnies, I’m not a threat, I like ya, it’s okay to be friends with me."  So that’s why they come over to him. LOL!   All the while your dad has no idea about what they are perceiving about him, and he’s only thinking…’hmmm, I wonder what’s on the next channel, and the next…" LOL!    

Sometimes when a person, who a bunny doesn’t quite trust yet, comes over and approaches them right off the bat, the bunny will feel frightened or threatened or at least just cautious.  So if your mom is just trying to connect, you might give her a tip to keep her voice lower and calm, and not to approach too fast or stalking slow, just sort  of hang out for minute before  offering them anything (like a healthy treat) and have her just ignore them.

There certainly is nothing wrong with someone who has a more energenic spirit as there are wonderful things in all types of people, but when it comes to bunnies, as prey animals, they just need to know sometimes that there isn’t a threat, andcalm, ignoring type of behavior helps them trust.

I have also found that this forces me to calm down and that can be a real blessing!

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