The short answer to can rabbits eat celery is YES. You can feed your precious pet rabbit some celery. But how much to feed and how to feed are important factors to take into account.
Let me tell you that rabbits cannot and should not eat the strings present in celery. As that might cause choking. In that case, let me tell you everything you need to know about rabbits eating celery.
A rabbit’s diet mainly consists of dried grass, which is hay. And you can supplement that with pellets and vegetables. But there’s more to this you might want to know.
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Can Rabbits Eat Celery? Is Celery Safe for Rabbits?
There’s no denying that celery is safe for bunnies to consume. So the answer to the question is YES. But you should keep from feeding the strings found inside the celery stalks. These strings consist of thick collenchyma tissue. The tissue is responsible for allowing the celery stalks to grow upright.
But the tough tissue tends to get lodged between the teeth. Even in the case of humans, when the string gets caught in the middle of the throat, it can lead to potential choking hazards. If not that, then discomfort is inevitable. So why create a scenario where your fuzzy little bunny might have to go through the same problem?
How Much Celery to Feed Rabbits?
A pet rabbit’s diet mainly consists of leafy vegetables like parsley, lettuce, and romaine. Celery doesn’t rank in the category of leafy vegetables. So it’s important for you to keep the consumption to a minimum. And by minimum, I mean not more than 15% of the rabbit’s daily vegetable intake.
Speaking of how much to feed, make sure your pet bunny’s daily salad quantity is half his/her size. Keeping that in mind, feed not more than 1/2 celery per day. This is the maximum amount.
A Healthy Rabbit’s Diet
When it comes to a healthy diet for your bunny, there’s absolutely no harm in including a variety of vegetables. In fact, the greater the variety of veggies, the healthier the rabbit will be. But that doesn’t mean overfeeding any particular vegetable. Overfeeding vegetables, on the contrary, is bad for the health of a rabbit.
Too many nutrients in the tummy of a rabbit cause it to stop functioning properly. Don’t think of your pet bunny as a little human. He or she isn’t that. This means their nutritional requirements are not the same as humans, even babies.
And no matter what, always keep one thing in mind. That hay constitutes 80 percent of the rabbit’s daily diet. Otherwise, the health of your rabbit can deteriorate.
Practice Caution with New Foods
The digestive system of animals is very fragile. And rabbits are even smaller. This means you’ve got to be extra careful when feeding any new food to your little bunny. If it doesn’t agree with the tummy, then the vegetable is only going to cause harm. And rabbits don’t express discomfort and pain that easily. So you might take a while to realize something’s wrong.
But don’t allow this to keep you from including safe vegetables like celery into your rabbit’s diet. As long as you’re feeding in small quantities. And not feeding the strings found inside the celery stalks. You can introduce the vegetable by giving a very tiny amount at first.
Now, wait to see how your bunny’s tummy reacts to it. If, after eating, your rabbit sits bundled up in a corner, then something is wrong. But does he/she do that often? The goal here is to look for any signs of unusual behavior.
13 Foods to Never Feed Rabbits
#1 Avocado
The fatty fruit may be super healthy for humans. But as it turns out, avocado is deadly when ingested by rabbits.
#2 Pasta, Cookies, Crackers, and Bread
What do all of these have in common? High carbohydrates and sugar. These make a delicious treat for humans. But not so much for the tummy of a bunny. Foods with artificial ingredients and high sugar cause enterotoxemia in rabbits.
#3 Yogurt Drops
The risk of enterotoxemia is high even in the case of feeding yogurt drops to your rabbit. Because even yogurt contains artificial ingredients and sugar. The condition creates a toxic bad bacteria overgrowth in the animal’s intestinal tract.
#4 Silverbeet
This particular vegetable can lead to bloating and colic. And these are not comfortable or pleasant conditions.
#5 Cereal
How about feeding muesli? Now let me tell you that cereals are processed foods. They contain flaked maize, pellets, seeds, grains, and peas. In short, ingredients that increase the chances of stomach and tooth problems.
#6 Iceberg Lettuce
Did you know that iceberg lettuce is mostly water? So there’s very little nutritional value you’re looking at here. On top of that, it contains lactucarium. This is a chemical considered to be extremely harmful to the health of your pet bunny.
#7 Walnuts and Peanut Butter
High-fat foods create uncomfortable indigestion. And walnuts and peanut butter fall in that category.
#8 Oatmeal and Hamster Food
What rabbits need is a healthy diet. This includes hearty greens, freshwater, and hay. Not oatmeal or hamster food that does absolutely nothing for boosting nutrition.
#9 Chocolate
Chocolate is a complete NO-NO for not only dogs but also rabbits. It’s a poisonous food and rabbits should never consume it.
#10 Potatoes
As you might already know, potatoes have a lot of carbohydrates as well as starch. And both cause problems in the digestive system of bunnies.
#11 Meat
Rabbits are not carnivores. They plant-eating herbivores, even wild bunnies.
#12 Rhubarb
Please note that raw rhubarbs might just kill your rabbit. It’s a very poisonous garden plant.
#13 Cauliflower
What cauliflower does is cause bloating and gas. Even in the case of humans.
Can Rabbits Eat Celery – The Final Take
The answer is yes. But feed in small quantities. And avoid the strings found inside the celery stalks. However, keep in mind that overfeeding this or any other vegetable is not healthy.
80 percent of a rabbit’s diet should consist of hay. And the remaining nutrition comes from leafy greens and pellets. In that case, celery is not a leafy green vegetable. So keep the consumption to a bare minimum.
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