What Vegetables Can Rabbit Eat?

Hello bunny lovers, I hope you’re doing very well. Today, I am going to go into all the details about what vegetables rabbits can eat and what they should not eat. I will also share my bunny’s daily salad items. There are also articles about what to feed a baby bunny and what vegetables and fruits you should avoid. You can check these out by clicking on those links.

Why Do We Feed Rabbits Greens?

So first off, why do we feed rabbits greens? Well, they get a ton of nutrients and fiber from their hay, but greens really provide those extra nutrients to round out their diet. A healthy adult rabbit should be having one cup of greens for every two pounds of body weight. So My bunny, she is four pounds, I feed her two cups per day. Now it’s up to you if you want to split that feeding into two feedings or just do one. Because My bunny’s little, I just do one big feeding in the morning and that’s like her big morning salad, but you could also split it half in the morning, half at night. It’s really up to you.

What Vegetables Can Rabbits Eat?

Now we are going to talk all about what vegetables can rabbits eat and how I build My bunny’s morning salad. But before we do that, I want to touch on a few things about greens and what they do for your bunny’s health. Two things that you want to look out for in your bunny’s diet are calcium and oxalic acid. Calcium, we’ve discussed before with our hay, specifically alfalfa hay. You will find it above link.  Now oxalic acid, what the heck is that? Oxalic acids are mild toxins that protect some plants in the wild. In little amounts, they are harmless and do not hurt people or animals, but too much can cause health issues. Basically, too much oxalic acid over time can cause damage to your rabbit’s kidneys and overall gut health. So how do you know if your veggies contain oxalic acid? Most greens hardly have any but,

• Parsley
• Spinach
• Mustard Greens
• Beet Greens
• Swiss Chard
• Radish Tops
• Sprouts

these are high in oxalic acid. These are things that you want to feed more sparingly. I’m not saying cut them out completely, but if you do feed them, I would recommend feeding them like once or twice a week supplemented with other greens.

Greens and Herbs for Rabbits

Here are some herbs that are moderate in oxalic acid.

• Basil
• Meant
• Thyme

So again, don’t feed these everyday, but you could feed these maybe three times a week in conjunction with other greens. And here’s a list of greens that are high in calcium.

• Collard Greens
• Spinach
• Turnip Greens
• Kale
• Mustard Greens
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Arugula

I like to avoid things that are high in calcium because, like we talked about with alfalfa hay, it’s just not great for your bunny over time. Now that you’ve seen some greens that are higher in oxalic acid, let’s talk about my favorite greens to feed My bunny, which are low in calcium and low in oxalic acid, aka perfect for daily feeding:

• romaine,
• green leaf lettuce,
• red leaf lettuce,
• dill,
• cilantro,
• and watercress.

Other Vegetables for Rabbits

So those are leafy greens, but what about other vegetables? Other vegetables like peppers, carrots, cucumbers are okay in small amounts, but they can be higher in sugar. I recommend feeding about one tablespoon for every two pounds of weight. So again, My bunny is four pounds, so I would feed her two tablespoons of things like carrots, dried flowers, celery, bell pepper, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, summer squash, and cabbage. So overall, things that are low in calcium, low in oxalic acid, you can feed those every single day and those should be your base. Things that are higher in oxalic acid, I would rotate those, maybe feed them once or twice a week. For non-leafy greens, feed them in small amounts, one tablespoon for every two pounds of weight, and rotate those.

What Not to Feed Your Rabbit

Now one last thing I want to talk about is what not to feed your rabbit. Here is a list of things that are unsafe for your bunny due to their chemical content or high-fat content.

• Artichoke
• Avocado
• Corn
• Currants
• Dates
• Edamame
• Figs
• Garlic
• Green Onions
• Hot Peppers
• Iceberg Lettuce
• Kelp
• Leeks
• Olives
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Tomato Leaves
• Rhubarb

Avoid these from your bunny’s diet. One of those that might surprise you is iceberg lettuce.

Lettuce contains a chemical called lactucarium. If you feed this over time, it can be really bad for their GI systems and cause GI stasis and other issues. So, avoid feeding iceberg lettuce to your rabbit.

Building My bunny’s Salad

So every day I start with a base of a leafy lettuce. Usually, I do either romaine, red leaf, or green leaf lettuce because those are super healthy and super safe. From there, you want to add in something different because if you feed them the same thing every day, they’re just going to get bored. I like to top my bunny’s salad with some type of herb, so if I’m being lazy, I’ll use dill or cilantro because I can feed those every single day due to their low calcium and low oxalic acid, and lucky for me, My bunny loves them. But if I wanted to add something in like mint, basil, or parsley, those things that are a little bit higher in oxalic acid, I would add maybe parsley one day and then the next day add a little bit of basil, and then for the next couple of days add something like dill and cilantro since those are lower in the chemical and it can balance out her diet. I don’t want things like oxalic acids and calcium to cloud your judgment and make you wary of feeding them. Overall, it’s totally fine, just don’t feed it every single day.

Now on top of their salad, you can add maybe a tiny bit of cucumber, a little bite of pepper, maybe sprinkle some dried flowers on. But where I like to feed these other veggies instead of with her salad is in treat form. A lot of times I’ll sprinkle dried flowers onto her feeding mat.

If I gave her dried flowers one day, maybe the next day I’ll give her a little bit of carrot, the next day for a treat give her a little bit of pepper, and so on. Remember, the amount for that is much smaller than leafy greens, being one tablespoon for every two pounds.

Introducing New Vegetables

Remember, bunnies have super sensitive guts, so anytime you introduce something new to your rabbit, you want to do it slowly. You can check out last week’s article for how to safely introduce a vegetable to your bunny.

Okay, have I overwhelmed you too much? Hopefully not. It really is just about learning what vegetables can rabbits eat, what greens are okay but not super great, and what greens you need to stay away from. Remember, I am not a vet, so please consult with your vet before starting any new diet changes for your rabbit. If you have questions about a certain green that I may not have talked about in this article, just ask your rabbit-savvy vet. They will have all the nutrition information you need.