# Clementine peel?!



## mouse_chalk (Jan 14, 2009)

Can rabbits eat clementines, and most importantly, the peel?

Steve went into the bedroom the other day innocently eating an orange. Dotty apparently went CRAZY trying to get the peel from him. She was interested in the actual fruit as well but most importantly the peel- Steve had the peel in one hand and the orange in the other and he said she nearly chewed his arm off!!

He didn't give her any, but is it safe to eat? I couldn't find it on the links that I looked at... but I might have missed some....

Thanks!


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## Maureen Las (Jan 14, 2009)

http://www.firstcoastrabbitrescue.com/rabbitcare.html
I had trouble finding oranges on any list but I did find it here and it says no peel...I would only feed the fruit in very small amounts because of the acidity and also the high sugar


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## Pipp (Jan 14, 2009)

I forget why orange peels aren't recommended, but they're not toxic or anything except maybe in large amounts.

Rabbits really do have a great capacity for digestion, and a lot of the 'toxic to rabbits' sites are overstating what really are minor issues, often just nutritional. 

In other words, don't make them part of their diets, but don't worry about it if they eat them. 

I had to laugh the other day when somebody sent me a post about a shelter volunteer going into the pen and picking out all the iceberg lettuce leafs from a big batch of vegetables donated by a produce company. 

:laughsmiley:

It's not recommended that you feed your kids McDonalds burgers, but you don't have to call the doctor if they eat one. Some people's interpretations are rather bizarre. 

sas


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## Bo B Bunny (Jan 14, 2009)

Yeah, they don't recommend doritos or french fries or pizza..... but someone around here has bunnieswho really like all of those things....:shock:

Bo is so picky! he doesn't like anything like that! Lexi sticks all sorts of things under his nose and he shakes and snorts like "EWWW YUCK!!!"


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## aurora369 (Jan 14, 2009)

I've fed my buns a few bits of orange peel before. They also love banana peel. It hasn't affected them in any way.

In moderation, I haven't seen any problems arise. The peel has all the vitamins anyways...

--Dawn


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## mouse_chalk (Jan 14, 2009)

Oh LOL!! You guys made me laugh!

I guess from now on I'll tell Steve to just eat his orange quietly in another room, just to be on the safe side, and to take in banana instead! From the way he described it, I don't think Dotty would settle for just an 'accidental' piece lol :shock:

I did wonder originally if it was because of possible pesticides, but then I realised that was silly because of all the other veg that doesn't have peel lol... :craziness


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## Maureen Las (Jan 14, 2009)

I just thoughtof something interesting..

we impose strict healthy diets on our pets because they have no ability to control their own diets. 

if people did they same things to themselves everyone would would probably live longer. 

we don't call posion control if westuff oursleveson candy or something ...

sort of interesting .........


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## Maureen Las (Jan 14, 2009)

OH I forgot we can :vomit:

and rabbits can't 

the big difference :biggrin2:


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## mouse_chalk (Jan 14, 2009)

LOL! I'm sure if i just ate hay and veggies all day I'd be the size 10 I've always dreamed of being lol... 

Of course as a bunny there is no chocolate, cheese or anything! :shock:


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## NorthernAutumn (Jan 14, 2009)

In my botany class, we learned that the peel of any hesperidium, like lime, lemon or orange species, contains essential oils, which perform protective measures against insects (toxic to some bugs). The oils are in the little pore like parts of the peel.
I would assume that there's concern about that property, but considering that we consume lemon and orange peel or zest readily, I think the bun would manage a bit of it...


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## kherrmann3 (Jan 14, 2009)

*mouse_chalk wrote: *


> LOL! I'm sure if i just ate hay and veggies all day I'd be the size 10 I've always dreamed of being lol...


Have fun "processing" that hay! :shock:


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Jan 15, 2009)

I knew this has come up before and i found the thread.. YAH for me.arty0002:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=41324&forum_id=48


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## Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears (Jan 15, 2009)

I let my 2 buns eat a few orange peels during Christmas and loved them.


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## Bo B Bunny (Jan 15, 2009)

*kherrmann3 wrote: *


> *mouse_chalk wrote: *
> 
> 
> > LOL! I'm sure if i just ate hay and veggies all day I'd be the size 10 I've always dreamed of being lol...
> ...



:roflmao:

We'd all have to have a BIG litterbox!


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## Maureen Las (Jan 15, 2009)

*:roflmao:Bo B Bunny wrote: *


> *kherrmann3 wrote: *
> 
> 
> > *mouse_chalk wrote: *
> ...


:roflmao:I am laughing at the response I just wrote to this post and then had to delete because it was "litterbox" humor and not appropriate for this forum


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## irishlops (Jan 15, 2009)

i remember reading that no citrus fruits. i dont know if its true..


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## Bijou (Jan 16, 2009)

*Pipp wrote: *


> I had to laugh the other day when somebody sent me a post about a shelter volunteer going into the pen and picking out all the iceberg lettuce leafs from a big batch of vegetables donated by a produce company.
> 
> :laughsmiley:
> 
> ...


I had a rabbit 30 year ago get HORRIBLE diarrhea and DIE because I fed it iceberg lettuce. It was horrible horrible horrible :cry1:! I would NEVER feed a rabbit that again as long as I live.


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## BlueGiants (Jan 16, 2009)

My rabbits occasionally get a fruit salad, with oranges, apples, banana, mango and pineapple. They generally eat it all, especially the oranges. Never had a problem. The only thing I remove are the seeds and the mango and pineapple peels. I do have a couple that won't eat the orange skin. And I have a few that won't TOUCH pineapple... but they are entitled their likes and dislikes...


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## mouse_chalk (Jan 16, 2009)

*BlueGiants wrote: *


> My rabbits occasionally get a fruit salad, with oranges, apples, banana, mango and pineapple. They generally eat it all, especially the oranges. Never had a problem. The only thing I remove are the seeds and the mango and pineapple peels. I do have a couple that won't eat the orange skin. And I have a few that won't TOUCH pineapple... but they are entitled their likes and dislikes...


Oooh including the orange peel? 

That sounds like a yummy fruit salad... wanna make some for me?! :biggrin2:


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## BlueGiants (Jan 16, 2009)

Yes, I leave the peels on... just cut them up and pop out the seeds.

Would be happy to make you a fruit salad! For you, I'd even remove the peels! LOL!

The salad changes according to what I can get at the market. They like strawberries when they are in season, and peaches from my tree when they come in too.


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## Maureen Las (Jan 17, 2009)

Iceberg lettuce is not necessarily a "POISON"

I think that any rabbit could eat small amounts now and then..
it would depend upon the amount fed and the regularity of it...........


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## Bijou (Jan 17, 2009)

After what I've experienced, I would not risk it.Â  Why risk it?????Â  You are playing with fire if you ask me.


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## Pipp (Jan 17, 2009)

So sorry, Bijou.  

You do bring up a good point -- at some level, iceberg lettuce can cause diarrhea and that can be deadly. 

Can I ask how much the bunny was fed and for how long? 

My point was only as AngieLuv said, it's not poisonous, leaves of iceberg included in a large heap of veggies didn't need to be picked out, but I should have qualified that at some point it is unsafe, thus it isn't recommended. 

Thanks for the caution. 

sas


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## Bijou (Jan 17, 2009)

Oh. My goodness. That was 28 years ago. I'm sure it was a good amount of iceberg. Knowing me and my effort to please my sweet bun bun. I'm sure it was WAY too much to feed a sweet little baby bun. So heartbreaking. That I will say. It's really not worth the risk.


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## Hazel-Mom (Jan 17, 2009)

*Bijou wrote: *


> Oh. My goodness. That was 28 years ago. I'm sure it was a good amount of iceberg. Knowing me and my effort to please my sweet bun bun. I'm sure it was WAY too much to feed a sweet little baby bun. So heartbreaking. That I will say. It's really not worth the risk.



Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience, Bijou. But if the rabbit was a baby, that could have happened with ANY vegetable, especially if it wasn't used to getting veggies in large quantities. That doesn't necesarily mean vegetables are poison, it just means you have to feed in moderation, and be carefull when just introducing new vegetables, and fruits too.


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## Maureen Las (Jan 17, 2009)

Any lettuce that is whitish in color and not greenhas a high water content and can have the same effects on a rabbit as iceberg so feed the green parts of lettuces not the white...doesn't matter what the bag is labelled


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## Bijou (Jan 17, 2009)

If I only knew then what I know now. I'm so darn paranoid with this bun!

Back then, 1980, there was basically no way to research anything! Get a pet from the pet store, nobody tell you anything because they don't KNOW anything. Now, all we have to do is sit at our computer chair and put in a few words and voila'! Anything you want know about your pet is at your fingertips! Some days I wonder how ANYTHING survived before the information age :shock:.


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## kherrmann3 (Jan 17, 2009)

*angieluv wrote: *


> Any lettuce that is whitish in color and not greenhas a high water content and can have the same effects on a rabbit as iceberg so feed the green parts of lettuces not the white...doesn't matter what the bag is labelled


What about the centers of romaine lettuce heads? The stalks get very white and such. Are those OK? The buns don't eat them as quick as the rest of the lettuce, but they never seem to have mushy poops.


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## Pet_Bunny (Jan 17, 2009)

My bunnies get the white part of the orange peel. They even eat the banana peels if I let them.


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## Pet_Bunny (Jan 17, 2009)

*kherrmann3 wrote: *


> What about the centers of romaine lettuce heads?


Pebbles would eat the green leafy part of the romaine and leave the middle white stalk out.


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## Maureen Las (Jan 17, 2009)

I don't feed the white inner tiny leaves but that's just me ..to me it would seem like ice berg but if you feed it and your rabbits don't get loose poops then it's fine
a few of mine cannot even eat a lot of romaine without getting runny


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## mouse_chalk (Jan 17, 2009)

I feed all of the romaine and I've never had any problems.... although I do think that the buns prefer the big green leafy leaves, lol...

I can relate to the younger bunny getting veg for the first time thing. I remember when we first got Mouse and Chalk, at 8 weeks old, I hadn't found this forum yet, and I had done tons of research, but you know how the internet is, such conflicting information everywhere. I'd read that it was ok to give such and such veg, and gave them a little bit of brocoli each. Mouse had terrible diarrea and I was so scared. I called some vets helpline (we'd had them for literally a day so hadn't registered with a vets yet) who told me to watch her and keep her hydrated. She was ok within a few hours but I was terrified. Needless to say they didn't get any veg for a good few weeks longer! 

I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience Bijou :hug:

I personally wouldn't feed iceberg lettuce either- it has no nurtitional content, too much water, and I can get romaine or cos very easily for my buns so there's no need to go there. I personally hate it myself to eat so I never buy it anyway lol! But saying that, I am sure that as they are so well adjusted to vegetables, and lettuce as well, that it wouldn't overly harm my buns if they were to eat a piece at all (now that they are all grown up and handle veg very well). I wont be doing it, because I have no need to try lol 


Anyway, where there is a will there is a way with a bunny, and Dotty stole a piece of orange peel yesterday from Steve while he was in the office.... She gobbled it down whole apparently!! It was only a little piece... but she loved it lol... Oh dear, what has he done?! :shock:


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## Pipp (Jan 18, 2009)

Hazel-Mom wrote:


> Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience, Bijou. But if the rabbit was a baby, that could have happened with ANY vegetable, especially if it wasn't used to getting veggies in large quantities. That doesn't necesarily mean vegetables are poison, it just means you have to feed in moderation, and be carefull when just introducing new vegetables, and fruits too.




:yeahthat:

And young bunnies are prone to enteritis, it may not have been the veggies at all. 

sas :sosad


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## Pipp (Jan 18, 2009)

mouse_chalk wrote:


> I feed all of the romaine and I've never had any problems.... although I do think that the buns prefer the big green leafy leaves, lol...
> ---
> I personally wouldn't feed iceberg lettuce either- it has no nutitional content, too much water, and I can get romaine or cos very easily for my buns so there's no need to go there.



None of my guys like iceberg or butterleaf much at all -- they barely like the lettuce -- but Pipp is okay with red leaf, Dill would only eat green leaf and Sherry only eats romaine. 

Luckily I have a bunny lover at the produce store to meet their demands.  


sas


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