Rabbits love to eat wheatgrass as it is sweet, crunchy, and delicious in taste. The routine diet of these pets should be hay and water, however, you can give your rabbit some fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens to make the diets of our furry friend more delicious and tasty. There are different varieties of wheatgrass seeds available in the market. You can also grow wheat plants in your own garden. This article is about rabbits and wheatgrass whether you can feed your rabbits wheatgrass or not.
However, can rabbits eat wheatgrass? Yes, rabbits can eat wheatgrass as a treat. Wheatgrass is a rich source of nutrients and minerals as well as water. You can start feeding wheatgrass to your bunnies with a 15 grams quantity once or twice a week. Always feed fresh wheatgrass instead of dry and never feed wheat grains to them.
Table of Contents
- How To Introduce Wheatgrass In A Rabbit’s Diet
- Nutritional Facts
- Do Rabbits Like Eating Wheat Grass
- Benefits Of Wheatgrass For Rabbits
- Risks Of Overfeeding Wheatgrass To Rabbits
- How Often Can Rabbits Eat Wheatgrass?
- When Should You Not Feed Wheatgrass To Rabbits?
- How Much Wheatgrass Can A Rabbit Eat?
- FAQ
- Conclusion
How To Introduce Wheatgrass In A Rabbit’s Diet
You can add wheatgrass into the diet of your bunnies in the following given ways
Start with a small amount
Always start feeding wheatgrass to your bunnies in small amounts starting from 15 grams twice a week is fine in order to check whether it suits the stomach of your bunny or not.
Gradual increase in the amount
Later you can increase the amount to 15 grams two times in a week.
Feed Fresh
Make sure that you are feeding fresh wheatgrass instead of dry because dry wheatgrass loses its nutritional value and can also cause choking issues.
Avoid feeding baby bunnies
Do not feed wheatgrass to baby bunnies because their digestive system is not well developed to digest it.
Washing
If you have bought wheat grass from the market, always wash it before feeding it to your bunny because it may have harmful chemicals from different types of sprays.
Avoid any kind of spray
If you are growing wheatgrass for your bunnies in your own garden, avoid doing any kind of spray on the wheatgrass because the chemicals in the spray are very toxic for your rabbits.
Mix with hay and other greens
If you are feeding wheat grass for the first time to your bunnies, you can make a good mixture of hay and other greens so that your rabbit may easily adapt to eating this.
Avoid from overfeeding
Don’t overfeed wheatgrass to your bunnies because overfeeding may lead to gas, bloating and diarrhea.
Nutritional Facts
| Nutrients | Amount |
| Energy | 25 calories |
| Protein | 1 gram |
| Carbohydrates | 6 grams |
| Fiber | 4 grams |
| Calcium | 24 milligrams |
| Iron | 1 milligram |
| Vitamins | 86 micrograms |
Do Rabbits Like Eating Wheat Grass
Wheatgrass is a sweet and crunchy leafy vegetable and rabbits love to eat them. It gives them a variety of essential vitamins like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, dietary fibers, calcium, and magnesium that help keep your rabbit healthy. Wheatgrass is low in calories so it won’t cause weight gain. Dietary fibers maintain healthy gut motility and digestion in them. When feeding your rabbit wheatgrass, be sure to only give small amounts at first because eating more can cause an upset stomach. You can also serve it with good quality hay and other parts of the fresh plants including some safe fruits. It would be best to keep your rabbit away from cooked foods like noodles or pasta because it is very unhealthy for the health of your bunnies.
Benefits Of Wheatgrass For Rabbits
Wheatgrass has the following benefits for the health of your bunny such as;
Source of vitamin C
Vitamin C is very beneficial for your bunny to protect them from chronic diseases like cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Source of vitamin E
Vitamin E is very good for the skin and eyes of your rabbit, it also supports the immune system of rabbits.
Source of antioxidants
Antioxidants present in the wheatgrass protect your bunny from various types of infections.
Low in cholesterol
Wheatgrass has low amounts of fat and cholesterol and prevents your bunny from weight gain and obesity.
Risks Of Overfeeding Wheatgrass To Rabbits
There are some health risks of overfeeding wheatgrass to your bunnies such as
- Bloating
- Lethargy
- Anorexia
- Diarrhea
- Stomach Block
- GI stasis
- Cecotropes
In order to check if your rabbit can eat wheatgrass, always start with a small amount. After 1 day of feeding wheatgrass, you should check their behavior if they have left eating even daily food or shows symptoms like diarrhea, you should immediately consult your vet. Read complete article “Can Rabbits Eat Honey“, it will help you to understand whether it is safe for our bunnies or not.
How Often Can Rabbits Eat Wheatgrass?
You can feed wheatgrass to your bunnies twice a week. Although wheatgrass is very healthy and nutritious and you may want to feed them daily, it is not good for the health of your bunny. We have to understand that if our bunny loves to eat food that is delicious it does not mean it is also healthy for your bunnies to give them daily.
Except hay we can give other foods as an occasional treat because it may cause indigestion and show symptoms like diarrhea and bloating. The fiber content in wheatgrass is not enough to fulfill the daily need of fibers for your rabbit.
You should not feed wheatgrass under 12 months because at this age his digestive system is not able to digest solid foods. When your rabbit is mature enough to digest solid foods you can start feeding him with 15 grams twice a week and keep them under observation for 24 hours
When Should You Not Feed Wheatgrass To Rabbits?
You should not feed wheatgrass if the digestive system of a rabbit is weak because they may develop diarrhea due to indigestion or any other sign of stomach issues after eating too much wheatgrass. Additionally, feed this treat to a rabbit who is at least 12 weeks old because younger rabbits can’t digest the fibrous texture of the grass and this leads to indigestion.
The mature rabbits should also avoid eating too much wheatgrass as their digestive systems are also delicate and they may not be able to digest extra fibers in their diets. However, feeding a moderate amount of wheatgrass is safe for rabbits.
How Much Wheatgrass Can A Rabbit Eat?
Feeding the right amount of wheatgrass to your bunnies depends upon their weight, age, and health such as;
- If your rabbit’s weight is about 3.5 pounds you can feed 128 grams of wheatgrass twice a week.
- If your bunny’s weight is around 10 pounds you can serve 640 grams of wheatgrass two times a week
- If the weight of your loving rabbit is 12 pounds or around you can give 760 grams of wheatgrass twice a week.
However, always start with small amounts like 15 grams twice a week of wheatgrass in order to check how they react after eating. The digestive system of some rabbits is so sensitive that their stomach can get upset upon the new addition of foods into their diets. If your bunny is already facing some digestive issues you must avoid serving them with wheatgrass.
FAQ
Can Rabbits Eat Wheatgrass Daily?
No rabbits cannot eat wheatgrass every day because it contains calcium, protein, and some digestive enzymes which are not beneficial for rabbits due to their sensitive digestive systems. Therefore, it is very important to feed the wheatgrass to your bunnies as an occasional treat, not as part of a daily balanced diet.
It will be good if you mix wheatgrass with hay and other green leaves which will add more vitamins and minerals to the diet of your bunny. It would be very unsafe for the health of your bunny if you only feed wheatgrass to your bunnies every day.
Can Rabbits Eat Dry Wheatgrass?
It will be unhealthy if you feed dry wheat grass to your bunnies because the dry foods lose much of their nutrients and water content while drying. Moreover, your rabbit can not digest the dry foods properly and they may develop dehydration after eating too much dry wheat grass.
The nutritional value for the same amount of fresh and dry wheatgrass does not remain the same, dry wheatgrass loses about half of its nutrients that do not make it a healthy option for your rabbits.
Can Baby Rabbits Eat Wheatgrass?
No, baby rabbits cannot eat wheatgrass because they have very delicate and sensitive digestive systems. You must not give wheatgrass to bunnies until three months, however, after 3 months you can start to add 15 grams two times a week of wheatgrass into the diet of your bunny and observe their health closely.
If they show symptoms of indigestion like gas and diarrhea, you should stop giving them. But if they behave normally after eating wheatgrass you can give them occasionally and always feed fresh wheatgrass to them.
Conclusion
Rabbits can enjoy wheatgrass as an occasional treat because overfeeding can lead to gas and diarrhea. Wheatgrass is an excellent source of many types of nutrients and minerals which makes it a healthy addition to the meal of your rabbit.
You can feed wheatgrass to your bunnies twice a week, always feed fresh wheatgrass instead of dry because it does not suit the digestive system of your rabbit. Never serve the wheatgrass to the bunnies who are younger than 12 weeks because of their sensitive stomachs.
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