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Safe or Un-safe for rabbits

Denny

Mama Doe
Following on from sort of from Elves topic's:lol: :lol: I was going to post this anyway but will probably mingle with some of the items that Elve has mention in her topic's but, how do we really know what is safe and un-safe for rabbits:? Who is it that actually found/has the evidence to say that certain plants are poisonous to rabbits

Even on the safe and un-safe lists in the rabbit reference section, there is stuff on there that my rabbits eat to no ill effect. Take for instance wisteria, I confess, my buns love it and have eaten it for the past two years, the only thing I dont allow them to have are the pods. My previous bunny used to eat it too along with the lobelia but he certainly didn't die from them as both were not in season when he died so had not been munching on them for 6 months:?

Yoghurt drops - dairy not good for rabbits and yet we have yoghurt drops on the market:lol:

corn on the cob - I used to feed these to my previous bun, again they did not come out whole in his poo and many do feed it. We also have the baked corn on the cob treats in the pet shops:? if they are a no-no how do they get away with selling them:?

The naturals range - contain egg but no reported deaths from the natural ranges:lol: :lol: :lol:

How many of us can confess to our buns eating wall paper, painted wall paper, settee's, shoes etc that probably contain more chemicals in them that should theoretically have killed our rabbits:lol:

In this months rabbiting on magazine, there is an article about beetroot, now one of my books say it can be fed but within moderation and yet the article is saying beetroot is very beneficial for rabbits:? On the same article a memeber has written that she feeds leeks, now I was told leeks are a no-no as they are part of the onion family which is a big no-no for rabbits and yet this persons rabbit is alive despite feeding leeks:lol: :lol: :lol:

I bet if we all held our hands up, there are plenty of plants that the buns have had a good old munch on to no ill effect soooooooooo - not saying that we shouldn't check first that the plant is safe or un-safe but how do we know that rabbits dont already have the instinct to know for themselves what is safe or not:?

what is truely un-safe for rabbits and what evidence was produced to prove that they really are poisonous to rabbits?

Anther funny thing that baffles me is, heather is on the safe list on some listings and yet our park is full of the stuff, would of thought this would of been the first thing that the wild bunnies would of eaten but it seems they ignore it:lol: :lol:
 
Good points :lol:

Im sure Buu did eat a few unsafe plants before I joined here and saw the list, Im terrible with plants so my mum sorted the plants in the garden out for me :lol: Just a few weeks I had a scare with Beau eating a houseplant that someone had given us and we didnt know what it was :shock: He was fine though :D

I am careful with things round the house like cables and shoes and stuff though, but have caught them chewing the table before which is probably coated in something that isnt animal friendly so that has been moved :lol:
 
I always wondered how people know these things. o_o; I came to the conclusion it must be through trial and experience... Like, someone's bunny hopped across and ate a poppy and er, passed away.

My first rabbit found her way to the shady patch of our garden where the rhubarb lives. She took a nice, long strip from one of the leaves and never seemed any the worse for it... but everything I read told me it was poisonous. I had a rabbit who devoured cardboard, and it never clogged her up - she pooh'ed a lot alllll the time. And she ate a teddy bear I put in her hutch with her the first week I had her. There were bits left. I was horrified. My current two rabbits keep trying to eat the carpet, every rabbit I've had has crept behind a chair and attacked the wallpaper.

I really didn't know much when I had my first rabbit. :oops: Despite reading every book I could get my grubby little mits on, they weren't very helpful. I fed her all manner of small animal treats containing God knows what.
 
I know the feeling, sometimes il stand there with my mum in P@H and say 'oh no mumd ont buy them that i saw on my bunny ofurmt hat it harsm then' and she always says to me 'well how are they allowed to sell it then?' Peanut butter used to get a corn on cob treat every now and then, jelly didnt like them, and this was before i had domino and pebbles. But everyone said it was bad so dont give it to him anymore...yet i think how are they allowed to sell it?
 
Ah! Cables! :shock:

Barney bit through the phone cable. I left the room for five minutes at most, and told both my parents - who were in the room - to watch him closely. They were all, 'yeah, yeah'.. and I told them I was serious. I came back and they told me off for him biting through the phone cable. And threatened to make me pay for a new one. I mean, yeah, he's my rabbit - and I had money ready to give them, but they'd told me to go and change his water and food and they'd watch him - wasn't my fault they didn't.

He's also nibbled the bottom off all the kitchen cupboards... I couldn't work out what the weird brown specks on the floor were, until on closer inspection (with Barney accompanying me to show me what a clever boy he was) I saw how they looked nibbled.
 
Ah! Cables! :shock:

Barney bit through the phone cable. I left the room for five minutes at most, and told both my parents - who were in the room - to watch him closely. They were all, 'yeah, yeah'.. and I told them I was serious. I came back and they told me off for him biting through the phone cable. And threatened to make me pay for a new one. I mean, yeah, he's my rabbit - and I had money ready to give them, but they'd told me to go and change his water and food and they'd watch him - wasn't my fault they didn't.

When Trip was free range in my room last year it was completely bunny proofed. Then my sister came round, used my straightners and left them on the floor :shock: :evil: And he chewed the cable up while I was at work :( She was like oh I will replace them (which she didnt :roll: ) I was like no I want you to tell me how you would replace Trip if anything had happened to him :? She had no idea what the big deal was, I really was so close to slapping her :oops:
 
I got all my info from the mattocks site - and the links there are from all over, mostly universities and research depts. Trouble is the poisonous plant list is for cats! Not much use for bunnies as they are 2 different species. One thing I read did mention that 'poisonous' is anything from 'gives a sore mouth' to 'kills stone dead' - and all ranges of in between. Mostly poisons are stored in the liver though - it's cumulative over time, so if your rabbit eats something 'poisonous' once, that's probably fine, but if it eats it frequently eventually the liver will be overloaded with toxins - it's a bit like alcohol poisoning and human livers - alcohol is a poison but we can deal with it in small amounts - too much kills us stone dead.
 
I have to say that all my rabbits (over the last 25 years) have had free range to well stocked and varied gardens.
They graze continually on the plants/bushes/trees they like (you can tell which ones they eat as there's no foliage for the first 3ft of stem :lol: ) and they leave lots of them that they don't like(the ones that are flourishing!!)
Rabbits are a very successful species in the wild (aside from predators such as man and foxes etc) so I guess that Mother Nature has given them some sense as to what they can eat.
I think it makes sense to avoid having harmful plants in your garden to minimise the risk, but I think we need to give a bit more credit to the rabbits survival instincts :)
 
I think the thing is, there isn't research into every plants effect on a rabbit at different quantities.

For example take wisteria, we know that to humans, the seeds are poisonous if ingested in quantity. There probably hasn't been any research in this specifically on rabbits and quantities so as a precaution it goes on the 'don't feed' list.

Likewise apple pips, we know large quantities in humans can be poisonous so that's logically downsized to small quantities are poisonous to rabbits. Whether that's actually the case or not, who knows?

We know rabbits don't naturally eat diary and their stomachs are designed for large quantities of roughage there for diary/egg is frowned on. Realistically unless your bun is very sensitive the odd yoghurt drop is probably not going to do any harm. The same as the odd chocolate bar doesn't do us any harm.

We do know though that the healthiest and most natural foods for rabbits are grass, weeds, greens etc. all the treats are a human desire to spoil a bunny cos we like sweets. As far as I can tell my rabbits get just as excited about a dandelion leaf :lol:

I don't think it's going to do much harm if you want to feed your rabbits those things (in moderation) but I'd personally rather pick the free dandelions out the garden ;)
 
I think this is a really good subject to consider! As already mentioned the problem is there is no exact definition of how much of something is dangerous, and exactly how dangerous it it (and in what way). Also as mentioned somethings have a cumulative effect that won't be noticed until it's too late (if at all).

Also we need to know/understand why it is considered dangerous, after all somethings are poisonous, others can cause gas/bloat, or tummy upsets, others are high in sugar or starch or fat.

If we know what it is about the "food" in particular we can work out if it is to be totally avoided or possibly fed in moderation.

I think it's sensible to avoid the "bad" stuff where possible to be on the safe side, and if you know your bunny has been prone to digestive problems. Also it's obviously better to stick to stuff as near to their natural diet as possible.
 
Does anyone elses bun have a penchant for envelope glue? We have discovered that ours along with quite a few other love to eat it and I have found a few stary envelopes with the glue strip chewed off :oops:
 
Mostly poisons are stored in the liver though - it's cumulative over time, so if your rabbit eats something 'poisonous' once, that's probably fine, but if it eats it frequently eventually the liver will be overloaded with toxins
That's what it must be, makes a lot of sense.
I got all my info from the mattocks site .. Trouble is the poisonous plant list is for cats!
The medirabbit site, which I think is one of the top sites on bunny care, lists all the plants poisonous specifically to bunnies and has pictures, but I have no idea where they get their info.
 
Does anyone elses bun have a penchant for envelope glue?

yup, and Blue tack, if he finds any, it's gone, same with rubber, I guess they must have similar chemical make-up.

Interesting thread this, Bertie dosen't eat what he dosen't want and seems to avoid most of the dangerous stuff naturally, which is quite something as (as far as we know) he didn't spend a lot of time with his mum, so I'm inclined to agree with BB mommy, and give them credit for their survival instincts, whilst keeping an eye on it as well.
 
Worst thing I ever bought for my rabbits was a hidey box with a felted roof - Pepsi nibbled the roofing felt and I didn't think it would hurt but obviously it's not like paper or fabric - it's very very sticky when you rip it apart as it's made of tar :( He died 4 months after I got him, from a blockage :cry: I've ripped all the roofing felt off the box now, but it's a bit late :roll:
 
Worst thing I ever bought for my rabbits was a hidey box with a felted roof - Pepsi nibbled the roofing felt and I didn't think it would hurt but obviously it's not like paper or fabric - it's very very sticky when you rip it apart as it's made of tar :( He died 4 months after I got him, from a blockage :cry: I've ripped all the roofing felt off the box now, but it's a bit late :roll:
That's really sad Elve, was it advertised as a bunny toy?
 
I dont think you should blame yourself there Elve, there are plenty of us that have bunnies stripping the wall paper off and I dont think I have ever seen a household paint that has the pet friendly label on the tin;) . How do you know it wasn't a fur blockage or did you have a pm?
 
One of my old bunns Hann ate an Ivy leaf once, which is always on poisnous food lists.

When that happened I look on the net and it seems the bad type is actually called Poison Ivy which doesn't grow in the UK apparently, so our bog standard UK Ivy I think is not a massive problem- anyone else heard this?
 
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