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Wouldn't rabbit know if something was good for them or not?

Julia25

Alpha Buck
I've always wondered how wild rabbits cope with eating plants that we would case as poisonous to our buns.

Wouldn't rabbit know if something was bad for them?
Just always been curious...
 
Mmmmm...interesting & controversial. I'm personally a bit undecided - erring on the yes they'd know generally but what if a bunny had lost too many of its natural instincts & made poor choices (special needs bunny). I'd worry about the foxglove family with any rabbit. Do they "know" by taste & smell? I've noticed differences in how my bunnies are with new foods. Boo storms in & eats anything edible, Joey has a "taste". House plants can be toxic to house rabbits so they dont know not to eat them. Maybe they will eat safely when they have choice & access to a range of forage as they do in the wild? A few times I've found a stray unidentified leaf on the floor when a huge pile of forage has been scoffed which leads me to think mine "know". When I got my forage ID all wrong they also left the buttercups I thought was something else . Clever rabbits!
 
Mmmmm...interesting & controversial. I'm personally a bit undecided - erring on the yes they'd know generally but what if a bunny had lost too many of its natural instincts & made poor choices (special needs bunny). I'd worry about the foxglove family with any rabbit. Do they "know" by taste & smell? I've noticed differences in how my bunnies are with new foods. Boo storms in & eats anything edible, Joey has a "taste". House plants can be toxic to house rabbits so they dont know not to eat them. Maybe they will eat safely when they have choice & access to a range of forage as they do in the wild? A few times I've found a stray unidentified leaf on the floor when a huge pile of forage has been scoffed which leads me to think mine "know". When I got my forage ID all wrong they also left the buttercups I thought was something else . Clever rabbits!

years ago one of my rabbit ate a rhubarb leaf whilst free ranging at that time i didn't know it wasn't good for them but he seemed fine nonetheless. I guess it depends on the rabbit ..
 
Can't trust them to eat the right things only. They're like toddlers, enthusiastic rather than cautious.
 
depends on the rabbit i think. bisc is very cautious of anything new whereas matt would eat first and think later!
 
I currently have a semi-feral baby bunny living under my house who is chowing down on pretty much anything he comes across. Some of these I know would be bad for a dog or cat if they ate it, but bunny seems to find them completely acceptable and he hasn't presented with any illness yet that I can see. As he's not a full wildie, I would think forage could conceivably cause him some harm.

But yes, caution should be exercised. I only give my bunnies dandelions, plantain or strawberry leaves from my yard and only because I know there's no pesticides. I don't even give them grass stalks for fear they will bloat. :( How a wild rabbit can live on some of the foliage that runs rampant here, I have no idea...most of it looks totally unappetizing, much less whether it's poisonous or not! :shock:
 
I found my rabbit munching on chalk once. The kind you buy for kids to draw on the pavements/walls. :roll:

He was ok, but I'm not sure he shoulda been doing that :lol:
 
I've always wondered how wild rabbits cope with eating plants that we would case as poisonous to our buns.

Wouldn't rabbit know if something was bad for them?
Just always been curious...

Wild rabbits have the choice to nibble and move on.

I have known domestic rabbits eat poisonous plants until they died :(
 
I think there is probably a huge difference in the amount of intelligence (in the sense of survival skills) of wild vs domestic animals.
 
I think there is probably a huge difference in the amount of intelligence (in the sense of survival skills) of wild vs domestic animals.

Yes I think you may be right.

Our pets are of necessity confined to some degree or another, so from the point of view of accessible items to nibble, they are restricted. Boredom can lead them to unnatural behaviours and eating things they would normally ignore.
 
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