Is dishwashing soap safe for bunnies??

[justlookingforhelp]

I am thinking about planting grass all around the house. It is quite a large area that will be more than enough to provide the rabbits with daily fresh grass as their primary source of food. As I cant find any farmers who sell timothy hay. They only sell berseem if you know about it. And I have 8 rabbits, so i cant a afford to buy them hay online. The thing is I live in a hot climate. Extremely hot and cant afford to water that huge area of grass. So I plan on using water from sinks and showers to water them. Now my question is, will that grass be safe for rabbits then??

[Bunny House]

Hi!
I think you might have titled this thread wrong? As long as you use clean water directly from the faucet you should be good. And make sure the grass you are growing is safe for them, but bunnies eat a lot so all the grass could be gone very fast haha.

[Wick & Fable]

I think kudou may be saying reusing water used from washung dishes and showering to water plants. Is this correct?

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Bam]

I think the grass will be safe. Don’t water it for a couple of days before you harvest. Try to water near the roots/earth rather than straight from above. Here it’s recommended that used dishwater is used to water plants (for people that has summer cabins or allotment gardens). Washing up liquid and shampoo are generally non toxic, but detergents used in dishwashers and washing machines are very strong and caustic and should not be ingested by anyone. But I think its so strong it would kill grass too, so its not a good idea to water plants with dishwasher/washing machine water anyway.

[LBJ10]

So-called grey water is generally OK. I would suggest using something non-toxic and biodegradable. And, as Bam said, it’s always a good idea to water the soil and not the “food”. There’s also nothing wrong with rinsing the cut grass before you feed it to your bunny. Just like you would veggies.

[justlookingforhelp]

I see. I was worried that the grass itself would be unsuitable for rabbits. Like maybe it has absorbed whatever is bad from the soap in the water.

[Bam]

Yes, I understand that was your main concern. But washing up liquid and shampoo/body soap are generally non toxic products, because you use it on your skin and there’s always a chance that you swallow some of it. So it wouldn’t make the grass poisonous.

The proper term for such water is grey water, as LBJ says. It’s ok to water with because it won’t hurt plants or wild animals. Where I live there are very strong rules regarding what you can and can’t pour out on the ground. You can’t wash a car in your garden here for environmental reasons. But you can water your garden with grey water.

[LBJ10]

As far as I know, there isn’t anything harmful in soapy water that would be incorporated into plant tissues. However, some ingredients may be harmful to the plants themselves (e.g. bleach, antibacterials, etc.). But other ingredients may actually act as a fertilizer. It depends on the plants too. Some are more sensitive than others. If I remember correctly, you’re supposed to mix the rinse water in there as well so the soap is more diluted. You’ll find mixed reviews of people’s experiences online.

ETA: This isn’t to say there couldn’t be an undesirable residue on the surface of the plants, depending on the kind of soap. That’s why I suggested non-toxic and washing the grass before use. I suppose with it being grass, it would be hard to water the soil and not the “food”. Unless you had a drip line system or something.

[Author]

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