Rabbit Tea?

[Kateb]

I was makeing some homemade bunny toys and such and i was letting the timothy hay sit in hot water and i thought maybe the bunny would like to drink this stuff, then i realized it would be tea. If it’s way way watered down do you think it could be safe if i let the bunny have some?

Hehe I’m new at this….

[Sarita]

Welcome. Not sure but timothy hay is perfectly safe for rabbits so I don’t see why not. However I think that just plain fresh water would be the most beneficial.

Also, I don’t think that really the tea would be beneficial since the whole idea of the hay is for the fiber which I don’t think tea would provide.

[Beka27]

Welcome here! I don’t think it would be harmful… and like Sarita said, not the most beneficial either. How does the hay breakdown in the hot water, does it turn green? I wonder if your bun would drink it? Lots of our rabbits with water crocks end up with hay in there anyways, but it’s not heated up… just wet.

[bunnycutie]

sound yummy. but keep it just as a treat because the bunnies digestive systems probably arent used to it. give them dry hay every day

[jerseygirl]

That’s interesting, I wonder if it would encourage them drinking more if the water was tim hay flavoured. Only thing I would be concerned about it how quickly it would perish. Like veggie juices on cutting boards can actually perish quicly and harbour bacteria and toxins. I had wondered if I served up brussel sprout water whether my buns would go for it (yuck right?) They just love brussel sprouts!

I’m interested – what kind of toys were you making?

[Quantum]

(puts pedant hat on) Technically, it’d be a tisane not a tea since it contains no plant material from the Camellia sinensis plant.  (shoves pedant hat back under the bed)  I don’t know how good it would be for a bun, but I would think that any nutritive value would oxidize out very quickly.  Add to that that the oxidization may also cause some “off” flavors or aromas that may keep your bun from drinking as much as they should and, as was pointed out, dissolved plant material encourages some pretty nasty bacterial growth.  To use an actual tea example, green tea brewed at the proper temp and for the proper length of time often has a pleasant, grassy aroma.  Let it sit for an hour or so and it starts to smell (and taste!) like a compost pile. 

All that rambling aside, I think as an occasional treat, with plain fresh water always available, it probably wouldn’t do them any harm.

[Author]

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