# Vegetables



## naturestee (May 25, 2006)

Also see:
Feeding Your Rabbit
QUICK LIST: Rabbit-Safe Foods
QUICK LIST: International Rabbit-safe Food
QUICK LIST: Gardening for your Bunny

Rabbit Safe Vegetables
Alfalfa Sprouts
Artichoke Leaves
Arugula
Asparagus
Baby Sweetcorns (like in stirfry.. NO REGULAR CORN!)
Beet Greens
Beetroot
Bell Peppers (green, yellow, red, orange...)
Bok Choy
Carrot Greens (tops)
Carrot (limited amount, due to high sugar content)
Celeriac
Celery (cut into small pieces to limit choking on strings)
Cucumber
Chard
Chicory Greens
Clover (WHITE only)
Collard Greens (be cautious, may cause bladder sludge (Kathy Smith))
Dandelion Greens (no pesticides)
Eggplant (purple fruit only; leaves toxic)
Endive 
Escarole
Grass (if cut from your own chemical/fertilizer/poisonfree back yard)
Kale
Lettuce (Dark Green/Red Leaf, Butter, Boston, Bibb, or Romaine - NO ICEBERG [no nutritional value, may cause diarrhea])
Mustard Spinach
Nappa/Chinese Cabbage
Okra Leaves
Pumpkin
Radicchio
Radish tops (Limited amounts: can cause gas)
Raspberry Leaves
Rhubarb (RED STALKS ONLY â POISONOUS LEAF)
Squash: Yellow, Butternut, Pumpkin, Zucchini
Swiss Chard
Turnip Greens
Watercress
Wheat Grass
*
SAFE IN MODERATION: *

Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Kale
Mustard Greens
Spinach



*Moderator note:* Many of us feed veggies to our rabbits, either as treats or as part of their daily diet.There are several facts that are important to remember when feeding our rabbits veggies:

- Start slowly. Only give a small piece of any new vegetable,once a day for several days before you increase the amount.Even rabbits that are fine with other vegetables may get problems such as gas or diarrhea from certain veggies. Not all rabbits will be able to tolerate vegetables either. Each rabbit has different dietary needs. 

- Be especially careful with rabbits under the age of six months, as diarrhea in young rabbits can quickly become fatal. Many owners wait until their rabbits are older before they start introducing vegetables.

- Just because we can eat it doesn't mean a rabbit can or should. Print off one of the many safe vegetable lists available (such as The Rabbit Menu) and use it to help you shop. When in doubt, don't feed it!

- If you are feeding veggies as large part of the daily diet, try to feed at least three types of leafy greens a day. If you can, rotate some of the vegetables so they're not eating the same few things week in and week out. Don't make big changes, just small ones such as switching one veggie at a time.

- Carrots are high in sugar, so feed them sparingly and more as a treat.

- Some veggies have high calcium levels. Although the amount of calcium in fresh vegetables is much lower than in dried foods such as alfalfa, these vegetables may not be appropriate for rabbits with bladder sludge/calcium sensitivity problems. 

*Articles

Safe Plants Lists and Other Info
*Listings on Rabbit References: Lists of Recommended Safe Foods
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#lists

Listings on Rabbit References: Nutrient Info
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#nutrient

Listings on Rabbit References: Vegetable Identifiers
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#vegid

Listings on Rabbit References: Calcium, Phosphorus, Oxalates
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#calcium

The Carrot Cafe (diet info and lists)
http://www.carrotcafe.com/

Vegetables
http://www.ontariorabbits.org/diet/dietinfo3.html

The Perfect Salad
http://www.lagomorphs.com/salad.pdf

Fruits and Vegetables Suitable for Rabbits
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/safefoods.htm

Safe/Unsafe Foods for Rabbits
http://earthhome.tripod.com/saferab.html

Feeding (Includes safe plants list)
http://www.greenwichrabbitrescue.com/feeding.htm

Vegetables
http://www.mahouserabbit.org/dietguide.asp#vegs

The Rabbit Menu (safe/unsafe lists of veggies, leaves, twigs, and flowers)
http://www.mckellier.com/archives/images/2006/RabbitMenu.pdf

*Unsafe Plants Lists
*Listings on Rabbit References: Food Warnings
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#foodwarnings

Listings on Rabbit References: Toxic Plants
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabhaz.html#toxplants

Toxic Plants (with pictures!)
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/Food/Toxic_plants_en.pdf

Safe/Unsafe Foods for Rabbits
http://earthhome.tripod.com/saferab.html

The Rabbit Menu (safe/unsafe lists of veggies, leaves, twigs, and flowers)
http://www.mckellier.com/archives/images/2006/RabbitMenu.pdf

*RO Threads
*Storage Suggestion for Greens
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=4852&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=veggie

Veggies?
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=4220&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=vegetable

True or False
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=13231&amp;forum_id=1

Eating Lettuce
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=903&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=vegetable

Vegetable Nutrition Info
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=10562&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=vegetable

At What Age to Reduce Pellets, Increase Veggies?
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11264&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=vegetable

Hay and Veggies?
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12816&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=veggie

Re-Introducing Greens?
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11557&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=veggie

What is the Best "First" Veggie to Try?
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=6020&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=veggie

Greens
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=10079&amp;forum_id=1&amp;highlight=veggie


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## naturestee (Jun 12, 2006)

Some of you may have noticed warnings about oxalates in rabbit vegetables, particularly from the House Rabbit Society safe veggie list:
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html

Supposedly they are toxic if fed too often or too much. Because of this, many people choose not to feed, or to feed very little of, high-oxalate veggies such as kale. This comes up in the email list Etherbun every once in a while, and one person recently linked back to this older post from 2003. It shows that oxalates from veggies generally aren't absorbed into the body at all, and so would not be toxic.

Dana is Dana Krempels, Ph.D, who owns the Etherbun list and is quite the rabbit expert herself. She gave me permission to post this on RO. Susan Smith, Ph.D., is an expert in rabbit nutrition who also works a lot with the Wisconsin House Rabbit Society (now if only I could drive that far to see her speak!). Many of you have probably already read health articles from both of them, as they tend to be staples for rabbit care.

Anyway, on to the email!

___________________________________________________________________

Mary Cotter remembered something about dietary calcium oxalates not being
biologically available, and mostly excreted via the stool. I didn't
remember this, so thought to ask our favorite professional nutritionist,
Susan Smith, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin) about this. Her answer,
which she has given me permission to forward to EB appears below.

I think a lot of kale-loving bunnies are going to be very happy about
this! 

Dana

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 16:23:23 -0600
From: Susan M. Smith
To: Dana Krempels <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [hrsed] Calcium oxalates?

>A post recently appeared on EB asking about oxalates, and someone
>responded by saying that brassicaceous vegetables (i.e., broccoli,
>cabbage, cauliflower, etc.) should be avoided because they're all high in
>calcium oxalates.

Not true. Oxalate values in brassicas are quite low.

>I wrote back to mention that the concentration of calcium salts (including
>oxalates) in plant tissues varies with cultivar and with growing
>conditions (soil composition, etc.). But Mary then reminded me that she'd
>heard somewhere that in the form of calcium oxalate salts, oxalate isn't
>even biologically available, and might not even pass out of the intestine
>and be a problem for the kidneys.

True. And true. Most plants bearing oxalates also contain lots of calcium
and magnesium, and these tie up the oxalate and block its absorption into
the body. It's largely a non-issue.

Most of the oxalate reaching the kidney is from metabolism of vitamin C
(esp if one takes those whopping supplements) and metabolism of
the nonessential amino acid glycine. Indeed, about 1/3 of the oxalate
in normal kidney comes from metabolism of vitamin C.

Susan S.
WI - HRS, sorry to be back in frigid Wisconsin


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## naturestee (Dec 17, 2006)

*Safe Asian Bunny Veggies (go check out your local Asian grocery store!)*

RosyBunny Safe Chinese Veggie List
http://www.rosybunny.com/veggielist_eng.htm

HRS Singapore Diet FAQ and Safe Veggie List
http://www.hrss.net/aar/care/care_diet_faq.html#veggies


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## naturestee (Jul 28, 2007)

Rabbit Safe Veggies Grouped By Plant Family
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=26541&forum_id=48


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