The image of rabbits nibbling at the vegetables in your garden is a popular one — remember Peter Rabbit getting into trouble in Farmer MacGregor’s garden? But rabbits also love fresh fruits!
A varied diet ensures that your pet rabbit gets all the nutrients he needs. You should offer three different types of green vegetables daily, and at least one kind of fruit. Fruits are also a great way for your bun to get extra moisture into his system.
Remember that you should clean out uneaten fruit and vegetables on a daily basis and replace them with fresh fruit and vegetables. The leftovers can become moldy — making cage cleanup even more of a chore.
The list of fruits your rabbit can eat is a lot shorter than the vegetable list. When introducing a new fruit or vegetable to your bunny’s diet, make sure they have several old favorites available as well. If your rabbit starts to experience soft stool or diarrhea, remove the new fruit from their diet and try something else.
Our family rabbit, Bun-Bun, loved apples — even more than carrots! We made sure he had both on a daily basis. There’s no accounting for rabbit stereotypes, huh? Can you imagine Bugs Bunny chomping down on an apple instead of a carrot?
Fruits That Your Rabbit May Enjoy
- Apples (remove the seeds; they are dangerous to your rabbit!)
- Banana
- Grapes
- Oranges (peeled)
- Tomatoes (aren’t they technically a fruit?)
Do not give your rabbit apple seeds or tomato leaves. And I’m not sure if a rhubarb is a fruit or a vegetable, but don’t give your rabbit rhubarb or rhubarb leaves in any case.
You might want to argue that a rabbit in the wild wouldn’t have access to bananas or oranges. You would be right to say that! However, you are not raising a wild rabbit; you are raising a domesticated rabbit who depends on you to provide all the nutrients he needs to keep his little bunny body going strong for years and years. Our Bun-Bun lived more than ten years in his little outdoor bunny condo!