Ingested a considerable amount of chocolate

[Buns]

Earlier this morning I got a free box of thin mints from my friend’s girl scout troop. Since I don’t have to go do anything tomorrow because it’s President’s Day, I decided to stay up ultra late and enjoy my thin mints thoroughly. I don’t currently have a table in the basement, so I was forced to out them on the floor where my bunnies were roaming free. (I have 2)

I sadly made the mistake of leaving them alone for a few minutes, forgetting that I had left the thin mints on the floor. About half the roll was gone originally, and when I came back a mere 2 were left. Both of them together had shared half a roll of thin mints.

I know there are many different topics on this website about rabbits ingesting chocolate, but none that I’ve seen have had this much so I had to create my own topic.

These are some things you should take into account:

Thin mints aren’t made of completely chocolate, just the shell.

They are about as big as you putting your thumb and pointer finger together in a circle.

Both of them ate it so the amount they ate is split.

One of them has a low tolerance for treats.

They’ve been through similar events.

They seem to be fine as of now (been 30 mins)

I just replenished their food supply and have watched their behavior. All seems fine for now.

[Bam]

I think you should call your vet. They might want to give your rabbits activated charcoal to prevent absorption of the toxic component in chocolate, theobromin.
If you could try and make an estimate of the weight of the chocolate ingested and the weight of your buns, that would be very helpful for the vet, since they calculate toxicity per body weight. Dark chocooate has more of the poison than milk chocolate, but I’m assuming this was dark chocolate. There are varying amounts of cacao in dark chocolate in general ranging from 40% up to 85%. Sometimes the percentage of cacao in the chocolate is stated on the package – if it isn’t, it’s probably in the lower range (high cacao content makes for a higher quality chocolate so manufacturers want to “brag” about that).

Theobromin affects the heart and can cause seizures and hyper-activity, breathing-problems and problems with body-temp. If your vet says this is an emergency, take them in. If your vet says to monitor you do that and try to make them eat hay.

Sensitivity to sweets is another matter, that bun is likely to have a bout of sticky poop for the next few days. Hay is good for that.

[Buns]

I did some math and they both shared about 5 thin mints. It isn’t as bad as I thought originally, but I’ll still take them into the vet as it has been a while.

[Bam]

If your buns are normal size like 4-5 lbs, it doesn’t seem like an overwhelming amount of chocolate. But it’s of course a good idea to get a vet-check =) Call ahead so they know what to expect. And give your buns lots of hay over the next few days so their tummies don’t flip out from the sugar.

We’d be happy for updates. Rabbits are infamous for eating stuff they shouldn’t.

[Sr. Melangell]

My Olly knows Chocolates are not for him, he will stamp his foot, maybe he had an experience, I don’t know, like Bam says Bunnies are infamous for eating things they shouldn’t, I left Olly in my other room once and my dinner tray was on the floor, he looked at it but never touched it, he has never begged for food.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Let us know how it goes at the vet. Timing is really important with eating anything that’s not good for them.

[Azerane]

Sending well wishes, hope they’re both doing ok.

[Author]

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