Seaweed for bunnies

[LeahM]

I found this old thread about seaweed for bunnies and I’m just wondering if there’s any new information or experience out there.

I collect fresh seaweed and dry it.  I eat it myself and give it to my ducks as a supplement.  Most animals (and people) are severly lacking in minerals which seaweed is rich in!  I know the theory for people is that we used to have more contact with the soil and got lots of minerals that way.  I would imagine that same is true for bunnies, that is that they don’t have so much contact with the soil… being an indoor bunny and all. 

Interested to hear your ideas!!

[Lazee]

interesting, I would like to know more about the seaweed myself. is it salty? how do you eat it, mixed with something or streight out the bowl? do the bunnies like it a lot or a little?

[KytKattin]

Where do you collect fresh seaweed?!?

[LeahM]

I live on the coast in northern California. I didn’t know about all the edible seaweed we have until recently and it is amazing!!

And Lazee, I meant to respond earlier…
It really just tastes like the ocean, but not fishy at all. I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s not salty, just loaded with other minerals. Sometimes I munch on it dried. Sometimes I make seaweed salad (sesame oil, rice vinegar, etc…) and sometimes I just crumble it into soups or sprinkle it over eggs for flavor and nutrition.

I gave Frank Jr a taste of it and he nibbled it but didn’t go super crazy.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I would be cautious for a few things: Salt content, that it’s not ever been something they would eat in the wild, and environmental contaminants.

Certainly seaweed is the new wonder food…for people…until they decide it’s not (if they do, but these things tend to be roller coaster rides of ‘omg it’s awesome and so tasty and cures everything’ to ‘too much causes …etc’ ). Additionally you are harvesting it but not planting it or keeping it-so you can’t control any contaminants/pollutants etc that could be in the water, and perhaps couldn’t identify if there were other strains of non edible seaweed that look similar *shrugs* just musing here.

So I’m not saying ‘no’ or ‘don’t’ -maybe discuss with your vet? Maybe this is a question that Binkybunny can take to her vet, who is a renowned specialist. For me-I wouldn’t-just in case.

[KytKattin]

Seaweed has been used for horses for quite a while now, and been fed to livestock since about 600BC, though never as a main diet. While you do have to be careful because of the iodine content, it also has quite a few benefits. One of the benefits is, of course, iodine, especially for people raising livestock in places that don’t have this essential element(?). It also has tons of other vitamins and minerals. The main problem, especially for something that you dry yourself, is that you don’t know how much iodine is in your seaweed. Then there is the problem that you just don’t know what the dose is for a bunny.

I second maybe having BB ask her vet about this. I am really curious!

As an aside: I can probably have as much seaweed as I want, as not having a thyroid means my body absorbs very little iodine. I think… Haha. I honestly don’t know how that really works and no one has ever given me a straight answer. Though I image my body doesn’t absorb it any other way, otherwise the radioactive iodine I took would have killed that off as well.

[LeahM]

Posted By Kokaneeandkahlua on 02/08/2012 09:48 PM
I would be cautious for a few things: Salt content, that it’s not ever been something they would eat in the wild, and environmental contaminants.

Certainly seaweed is the new wonder food…for people…until they decide it’s not (if they do, but these things tend to be roller coaster rides of ‘omg it’s awesome and so tasty and cures everything’ to ‘too much causes …etc’ ). Additionally you are harvesting it but not planting it or keeping it-so you can’t control any contaminants/pollutants etc that could be in the water, and perhaps couldn’t identify if there were other strains of non edible seaweed that look similar *shrugs* just musing here.

So I’m not saying ‘no’ or ‘don’t’ -maybe discuss with your vet? Maybe this is a question that Binkybunny can take to her vet, who is a renowned specialist. For me-I wouldn’t-just in case.

Is there a reccomendation for how much salt (and other micro/macro nutrients) that bunnies should be getting per day?  Like an RDA for bunnies?  So there’s approx 87mg of sodium in 1/8 cup of dried wakame, which is A LOT of seaweed.  *I* eat one tablespoon at a time.  When I gave it to Frank Jr, he had maybe 1/4 teaspoon.

As for seaweed’s popularity, it is not something new or trendy.  Traditional societies have been trading seaweed for thousands and thousands of years, and sharing it with their animals.  Even inland and landlocked cultures understood the importance of seafoods (including plants) and have found ways to access them.

Foraging is something I do a lot.  And it isn’t unsafe just because I haven’t personally tended the plant.  Just like fishing, you have to know the quality of the water and you  have to be knowledgable about the food you are gathering.  There are environmental regulations that guide where it is safe to collect seaweed.  There are also laws about species that are allowed for collecting and how much you can take.  You can also have it tested for radiation and heavy metals, which friends of mine who collect seaweed have also done (and it came back clean in the areas we collect).  There aren’t any types of poisiounous seaweed that grow in this area anyway, some are just less tasty than others!  I also collect mushrooms and that’s a whole different story!

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