Eating plants in garden

[anparkinson]

Our mini lop, Luna, has the run of our garden with her hutch always open for her to go in and out. She always has a bowl of food in there but prefers "eating out".

She completely ate a bed of Lily of the Valley last autumn and has started munching on the shoots now as they are coming up again. She is also munching her way through Bluebell leaves. There are some (not many) flowers she won't touch so is it just a matter of her knowing what she can and can't eat or should we stop her eating some things?

I did hear that Lily of the Valley wasn't good for rabbits but they didn't seem to do here any harm last year.

 

[Angie B]

Hi, any plant which grows from a bulb is toxic to rabbits. You have been very lucky so far that she hasn't been poisoned.

My advice to you would be to supervise her while she's out in the garden as a predator - cat, raptor - could easily snatch her if there is no human out there to protect her.

If you can't supervise then the best thing would be to get a run preferably attached to her shed, so that she can have a bigger space to roam in while in perfect safety.

Failing that, if you really want to risk it and leave her exposed in the garden then you will have to ensure that quite simply she cannot get to your plants. You'll either have to put some sort of fencing/chicken wire up so she can't get to them, or dig them up.

 

[elmoandfern]

i agree with angie b. domestic rabbits have largely lost the ability to differentiate between what is poisonous and what is not. also, some plants are toxic but have no noticeable short term effect (so may lead to kidney/liver problems etc in the future)

i would definitely restrict her access to anything potentially dangerous

 

[BattleKat]

Another vote for supervised access and an attached secure run for when you're not about.
Both lilly of the valley and bluebells are toxic to rabbit and although you may not see symptoms straight away, repeated exposure to these toxins is likely to do long term damage internally - a bit like heavy drinkers suffer liver damage over time.

On an aside, it's actually best not to offer commercial food all the time as hay and forage are much better for rabbits' teeth and digestive systems. It doesn't matter so much at the moment because she has tastier things to eat, but when you start restricting the access to the garden it's important that she doesn't fill up on commercial food.

 

[joey&boo]

Mine run free range & eat what they please (they are supervised but that's for predators rather than dietary monitoring). At the recent Lectures for rabbit owners, Dr Frances Harcourt-Brown felt rabbit were not at risk from eating toxic plants, they'd have immunity or wouldn't eat the plant. I can't imagine how many rabbits she will have seen but it must be a lot - the waiting room was always full of them when I went. She has never seen a rabbit poisoned by eating plants in the garden (house plants are a risk though).

And yes a run may be safer but it won't be anyone near as much fun. Its difficult getting the balance between enriching your bunnies life & protecting them

 

[MightyMax]

Mine run free range & eat what they please (they are supervised but that's for predators rather than dietary monitoring). At the recent Lectures for rabbit owners, Dr Frances Harcourt-Brown felt rabbit were not at risk from eating toxic plants, they'd have immunity or wouldn't eat the plant. I can't imagine how many rabbits she will have seen but it must be a lot - the waiting room was always full of them when I went. She has never seen a rabbit poisoned by eating plants in the garden (house plants are a risk though).

And yes a run may be safer but it won't be anyone near as much fun. Its difficult getting the balance between enriching your bunnies life & protecting them

Yes what FHB said is something I am still mulling on, because in the main I agree with her. However, if my buns relentlessly started eating bluebells and lily of the valley I would be concerned about long term liver/kidney damage. Not worth the risk there I feel.

I would (and have) put strong netting around plants I don't want my buns to eat. Doesn't look too good (though it comes in green :thumb: ) but much better than a poorly bunny.

Good luck xx

 

[BattleKat]

I know two people whose rabbits died after eating foxgloves so I wouldn't place much stock in that theory.
You'd think anyone in the medical industry should know that something isn't necessarily safe just because obvious symptoms don't immediately present themselves. The long term effects of toxicity are what concerns me.
How on earth would garden plants not be a risk but house plants are? Surely they either know what they can eat or they don't. :?

I know the woman is an expert in her field but it seems to me that she talks a fair amount of rubbish

 

[joey&boo]

I know two people whose rabbits died after eating foxgloves so I wouldn't place much stock in that theory.
You'd think anyone in the medical industry should know that something isn't necessarily safe just because obvious symptoms don't immediately present themselves. The long term effects of toxicity are what concerns me.
How on earth would garden plants not be a risk but house plants are? Surely they either know what they can eat or they don't. :?

I know the woman is an expert in her field but it seems to me that she talks a fair amount of rubbish

As I understood the scenario might involve a house bunny whose only access to anything green is a house plant is not in a position to select appropriate foods as it would free-range in a garden.

I'm very interested in the idea of kidney / liver impairment from plant consumption - I'm assuming this is going to be very difficult to ascertain given how congenital issues, medication, illness, diet etc can all negatively impact on rabbits organ health. Even kidney damage only shows up on tests Is this a "known" risk or "possible" risk ? Is it based on drawing parallels with humans? Or being cautious ?which I appreciate is no bad thing.

I've never heard FHB talk rubbish but of course you're entitled to your opinion. She certainly causes a stir by challenging some existing practices & opinion but I truly believe this will never be done without a lot of evidence, thought, study & obvious love of rabbit kind

 

[anparkinson]

OK, today I dug up the Lily of the Valley and Bluebells. We have others in the part of the garden she doesn't have access to. Our garden is quite walled in and she's locked away at night.

 

[joey&boo]

Incomplete sentence above , I'd meant to say even kidney function tests only show when damage quite advanced ..

 

[Angie B]

Have you replanted your plants elsewhere? It'd be a shame to just dispose of them as they are both very pretty plants and wild bluebells are protected too

 

[Bunny Buddy]

You'd think anyone in the medical industry should know that something isn't necessarily safe just because obvious symptoms don't immediately present themselves. The long term effects of toxicity are what concerns me.

If you take time to study Frances' extensive work you will realise that she is well aware that the issue with toxicity isn't just about immediate fatality but sometimes about long-term side-effects.

This piece of work being an example of her studies into toxicity:
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/case-of-the-month/mar-2015-heavy-metal-poisoning

I know the woman is an expert in her field but it seems to me that she talks a fair amount of rubbish

Is that statement based on the information about plant toxicity or do you disagree with quite a lot of what she says?

We could still be at the stage were vets won't routinely spay rabbits because 'rabbits are not a good risk under anaesthetic' if it wasn't for Frances' dedication to rabbits and ability to prove her theories. She might say things you don't agree with but to dismiss what she says as "a fair amount of rubbish" is rather harsh considering how much she has improved our understanding of rabbits and medical/surgical advancements. It wasn't the pet food industry that started to change the idea that we feed 8% fibre muesli to rabbits which left them lacking in fibre and calcium and ending up with the most horrendous dental/jaw and gut issues - it was Frances reporting her findings to them ... even then initially only Burgess were open to listening.

 

[BattleKat]

If you take time to study Frances' extensive work you will realise that she is well aware that the issue with toxicity isn't just about immediate fatality but sometimes about long-term side-effects.

This piece of work being an example of her studies into toxicity:
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/case-of-the-month/mar-2015-heavy-metal-poisoning

Excuse me for not doing my research, I was purely going on what was said about her never having seen a rabbit ill from eating garden plants seemingly her proof that it's not a problem. I was really making a point to joey and boo, not criticising FHB with that bit.

Is that statement based on the information about plant toxicity or do you disagree with quite a lot of what she says?

We could still be at the stage were vets won't routinely spay rabbits because 'rabbits are not a good risk under anaesthetic' if it wasn't for Frances' dedication to rabbits and ability to prove her theories. She might say things you don't agree with but to dismiss what she says as "a fair amount of rubbish" is rather harsh considering how much she has improved our understanding of rabbits and medical/surgical advancements. It wasn't the pet food industry that started to change the idea that we feed 8% fibre muesli to rabbits which left them lacking in fibre and calcium and ending up with the most horrendous dental/jaw and gut issues - it was Frances reporting her findings to them ... even then initially only Burgess were open to listening.

I'm not saying she hasn't made inroads, I'm not saying she isn't an excellent vet with valuable things to say, I'm just saying I won't trust everything she says because of that.
"A fair amount of rubbish" was an exaggeration, I was trying to make light of it really, but I've seen several things she's mentioned on here that I disagree with based on personal experience. To say that plants in the garden are of no risk is something I just can't agree with and that's what prompted my comment in this thread.

 

[MightyMax]

Excuse me for not doing my research, I was purely going on what was said about her never having seen a rabbit ill from eating garden plants seemingly her proof that it's not a problem. I was really making a point to joey and boo, not criticising FHB with that bit.



I'm not saying she hasn't made inroads, I'm not saying she isn't an excellent vet with valuable things to say, I'm just saying I won't trust everything she says because of that.
"A fair amount of rubbish" was an exaggeration, I was trying to make light of it really, but I've seen several things she's mentioned on here that I disagree with based on personal experience. To say that plants in the garden are of no risk is something I just can't agree with and that's what prompted my comment in this thread.

I believe there was an element of context here which was explained earlier by joey and boo. Rabbits left to choose will often - maybe almost always - choose the food that is good for them and leave the toxic plants. If there is no choice, they will eat what's around.

Bear with me here, it's just an example: I know you disagree with FHB feeding lettuce because you feel it has little nutrition and virtually no fibre. This is not true of Romaine lettuce - a light leafy variety. I felt it was good for FHB to challenge us to back up statements we make. That's what she does, after all. Holding a belief is not a researched fact (but of course even then facts can be disproven with further research! :lol: )

There are obviously other things you disagree with based on your own personal experience, but I think it's important to separate our long held beliefs (and those we keep reading here from others) from our own research and experiences.

I believe keeping an open mind and challenging what we read/hear is the key :thumb:

 

[BattleKat]

I believe there was an element of context here which was explained earlier by joey and boo. Rabbits left to choose will often - maybe almost always - choose the food that is good for them and leave the toxic plants. If there is no choice, they will eat what's around.

I do understand that, but even when given free run mine will choose to eat plants that I know are toxic. The rabbits in question that died could have eaten anything in the garden.

Bear with me here, it's just an example: I know you disagree with FHB feeding lettuce because you feel it has little nutrition and virtually no fibre. This is not true of Romaine lettuce - a light leafy variety. I felt it was good for FHB to challenge us to back up statements we make. That's what she does, after all. Holding a belief is not a researched fact (but of course even then facts can be disproven with further research! :lol: )

I don't disagree with feeding lettuce as a rule, I've fed romaine and other dark leafy varieties myself.

There are obviously other things you disagree with based on your own personal experience, but I think it's important to separate our long held beliefs (and those we keep reading here from others) from our own research and experiences.

I believe keeping an open mind and challenging what we read/hear is the key :thumb:

That's all I've ever said, it's important to do your own research and make your own mind up rather than take one source as gospel.

 

[joybell]

My giant bunnies are free range and have decimated what used to be called my garden. They eat every thing except daffodils, tulips, snowflakes and arum lilies. They seem to know what is good to eat and what isn't. Having said that, they eat a wide selection of wild grasses, plants , shrubs, hay and tree bark, so I think it would dilute the effects of any thing toxic. They have been free range for 2 years now and have 24hr access to their own garage (via dog flap). Out of interest, I've found that all the bunnies are outside during the night and choose to go to bed around 10am. In a way it is a shame that rabbits are locked away at their most active time of day.

 

[tulsi]

My giant bunnies are free range and have decimated what used to be called my garden. They eat every thing except daffodils, tulips, snowflakes and arum lilies. They seem to know what is good to eat and what isn't. Having said that, they eat a wide selection of wild grasses, plants , shrubs, hay and tree bark, so I think it would dilute the effects of any thing toxic. They have been free range for 2 years now and have 24hr access to their own garage (via dog flap). Out of interest, I've found that all the bunnies are outside during the night and choose to go to bed around 10am. In a way it is a shame that rabbits are locked away at their most active time of day.

Which is exactly why people are encouraged to let their rabbits have access to their runs 24/7.