Finding the perfect snack for your rabbit can be difficult, especially when our furry friends love to munch on just about anything they can find! Finding the healthiest option for your rabbit is a little tricky, and many rabbit owners want to know if it’s healthy for their rabbit to eat marshmallows.
No, you should not feed your rabbit marshmallows or any other high-sugar treats. This can lead to nutritional imbalances as well as obesity.
What Can My Rabbit Eat?
Even though you shouldn’t feed your rabbit marshmallows, there are still plenty of healthy snack options for you to try out with your rabbit. They tend to do best with vegetarian diets that are either organic or natural and high in fiber. Here are a few to choose from.
- Herbs: Fresh herbs, such as basil, are a favorite treat for many rabbits. Not only is it tasty and fun to munch on, but it provides key nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin K, and calcium
- Dandelions: These naturally growing weeds are a great snack for rabbits, and you can even toss some in their hay for them to poke around in. Dandelions provide many different vitamins, minerals, and proteins that help keep your rabbit healthy and their coat shiny.
- Pineapple: If you are going to feed your rabbit pineapple, it’s important to do so in small quantities only as it does have a high sugar quantity. Pineapple is an excellent snack to feed your rabbit during molting as it can help break up pesky fur balls.
What Should My Rabbit Avoid?
While many pet shops do sell refined sugary treats to appeal to human owners, these are never advised by a veterinarian and can cause health issues in your rabbit. Unfortunately, this includes marshmallows as well. Here are a few other foods that you should avoid feeding your rabbit.
- Avocado: Even though rabbits love their fruits veggies, avocado should be avoided completely. It has been found that avocado can be linked to death in rabbits.
- Iceberg Lettuce: Aside from the very minimal nutritional value and high water content found in iceberg lettuce, it also contains lactucarium which is harmful to rabbits.
- Peanut Butter: Peanut butter can seem fun for rabbits to snack on, but it has a high-fat content and should be avoided. In addition to creating a nutritional imbalance, peanut butter can also give your rabbit quite the tummy ache.
