Safe to eat corn cob?

[senatcha93]

I ate a corn cob yesterday and forgot the rest of the cob on my desk. My bunny found it and keeps eating it. Not the corn – it doesn’t have corn on it anymore, it is just the hard inside that is left. He doesn’t like to eat corn anyway but it really surprise me that he like the hard “tube”. Actually he is chewing it right now. Is he allowed to or should I take it away?

[Bam]

You should actually take it away. Corn cobs are considered unsuitable for rabbits due to the risk of GI blockage. It might be that your bun is chewing carefully and can handle it, but better safe than sorry I’d say.

[Deleted User]

Yep, take it away. Not safe for rabbits. Corn is indigestible by humans and if I’m not mistaken the same is true for rabbits. I understand that it’s the cob, but it still isn’t suitable for a rabbit to eat.

[joea64]

Posted By BunNoob<3 on 8/09/2017 12:52 PM

Yep, take it away. Not safe for rabbits. Corn is indigestible by humans and if I’m not mistaken the same is true for rabbits. I understand that it’s the cob, but it still isn’t suitable for a rabbit to eat.

In point of fact, corn is digestible by humans, though with kernel corn, you have to chew it thoroughly, and I do mean thoroughly, or it’ll *ahem* come out the other end still in kernel form. Ground corn, as in cornbread, tortillas, etc., seems to be perfectly digestible. According to the link below, interestingly enough, corn, especially in kernel form, has a high level of fiber, specifically insoluble fiber.

All that having been said, though, corn is people food, not rabbit food. Keep the corn on the cob for yourself and give your bun extra hay.

5 Myths About Corn You Should Stop Believing

[Deleted User]

I was referring to kernel corn, since the topic here was corn on the cob. If you eat kernel corn, it’s coming back out the same way. Even if you chewed it up, still gonna have some bright yellow “accents” in the toilet.

[joea64]

Posted By BunNoob<3 on 8/09/2017 1:04 PM

I was referring to kernel corn, since the topic here was corn on the cob. If you eat kernel corn, it’s coming back out the same way.

Yes, that’s what I meant. One needs to emulate their buns and chew their kernel corn thoroughly the same way they chew their hay, or else it’s all going to go to waste and come out in recognizable form.

[Bam]

I’m not 100% that corn cobs are unsafe -it might be a case of confusions, since vets so often warn about giving corn cobs to dogs and dogs so often need surgery to get the corn cob out from where it’s got stuck in the intestines. Rabbits are very different than dogs though, because rabbits chew stuff meticulously, wheras dogs happily swallow whole big chunks of things. Slippers, stockings and whatnot.

But since I don’t know if it’s a myth that rabbits shouldn’t have corn cobs, I’m thinking “when in doubt, don’t”. When a bun has swallowed sth, it must go all the way through, because they can’t vomit.

[Author]

Messages