Can rabbits eat nettle? 🐰🌿

Can rabbits eat nettle, and why?

Dried or wilted nettle is a nutritious forage for rabbits.

Rabbits are herbivores: roughly 85% of their diet should be good-quality hay or grass, plus a daily handful of leafy greens, with only small amounts of other veg and tiny occasional fruit. They have a sensitive hindgut that depends on constant fibre — sudden changes, sugar or starch can trigger dangerous gut stasis and bloat.

How to feed nettle to rabbits

• •How much: A small handful of dried or well-wilted nettle; never fresh and stinging.
• •How often: An occasional treat, not a daily food. Sugary or starchy foods (including most fruit) should be a rare, thumbnail-sized treat, never a daily food.
• •Young pets: Baby rabbits (kits) have especially fragile digestion — new foods should only be introduced slowly as they grow, with vet guidance.
• •Preparation: Always wash fresh produce, remove any pips, stones, seeds, peel or tough skin where relevant, and serve it plain — never with salt, sugar, oil, butter or seasoning.

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Make treat time better

Handy kit for feeding rabbits well:

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