Is it bad for rabbits to eat lettuce?

Question

my friends sister told me once that if you give your rabbit lettuce its deadly but before that i had given him lettuce so i dont know wheter so continue dont giveing it to him or feeding him it because it was one of his favorite foods.

Answer 1

Lettuce is good for rabbits. Iceburg lettuce is less nutritious but certainly not poison. Get dark green leafy lettuce, it has more nutrients.

Answer 2

Rabbit Eating Lettuce

Answer 3

This idea has been going around for years. I have a rabbit now and use to have a guniea pig. My guniea pig lived to be a grand old 8 year old before he died and was very healthy all his very long life. He had a big variety of dry and fresh food including lettuce and lots of it. I was told that back then but like you had been doing it for ages so ignored it and kept on going. Not that many guniea pigs live to be 8 so you work that out. Now I have a bunny and hearing the same thing so I still give her lettuce and other things but I do give a bit less now. I think it's the amount rather than that you can't give it to them so maybe just a small amount a couple of times a day rather than heaps. Our bunny also loves the tops of celery, apple, carrot and cucumber.

Answer 4

A few small pieces are fine. Larger amounts, YES can be deadly. It can cause digestive upset and set things in motion that the rabbit dies. Iceberg lettuce especially can cause major problems. Breeder lists are visited regularly by people who lost or are losing rabbits after feeding large amounts of lettuce. Many do it and get away with it - but many do die from getting too much also.

Answer 5

Lettuce is not poisonous - some poisonous plants will kill a rabbit if they eat them just once - lettuce is not poisonous like this. But lettuce is not good for rabbits either. Lettuce can cause diarrhoea or gas or bloat in rabbits, all of which can kill them. If you have ever seen signs of diarrhoea or bloat in your bunn, it could well be the lettuce that's causing it -
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyfood#lettuce
It's up to you, though ... if you want to continue giving lettuce, only give romaine and dark leafed lettuces, because iceberg and cos are the worst.

Before six months, bunnies' main diet should be hay, water, and lucerne pellets. Some say you can begin introducing vegetables at four months, some say not until six months of age. Most importantly, when you begin to introduce vegies, you must do it VERY slowly and gradually - begin with just one slice or one very small piece of your chosen vegie or fruit, and make sure it doesn't give her diarrhoea over the next 24 hours before giving any more. Please see my website, where I've written articles on this, at
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyfood

And please check out my site at
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyfood#safe&poisonous
for lists of safe and dangerous foods for bunnies older than six months of age, reproduced from the excellent "Rabbitlopaedia" by Meg Brown and Virginia Richardson.

Have a read of these great detailed rabbit sites too -
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/rabbits/a/?once=true&
http://www.tagyerit.com/hopline/cold.htm
http://www.rabbit.org/
http://www.muridae.com/rabbits/rabbittalk.html
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/
http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyhouserabbits.html - http://au.geocities.com/leaswebsite/bunnyfood.html - my own site - please have a browse and enjoy!

Answer 6

It's not deadly for them to eat it. If it were I would have many dead rabbits every year in my yard from them eating all the lettuce I try to grow in my garden. The little turds eat it all...heads and leaf lettuce, last year they even ate the cabbage. If it were deadly for them I'd have a hundred dead bunnies in my yard!!

Answer 7

RE:
Is it bad for rabbits to eat lettuce?
my friends sister told me once that if you give your rabbit lettuce its deadly but before that i had given him lettuce so i dont know wheter so continue dont giveing it to him or feeding him it because it was one of his favorite foods.

Answer 8

It depends on the lettuce. Do NOT feed them head lettuce, because it will make them gassy. It's okay to give them some in small amounts, but not too much.

Answer 9

Course its not deadly i used to give my show rabbits lettuce all the time they loved it and it helped them alot

Answer 10

Lettuce can be OK to give them in small amounts. If you give it to them in large amounts it can give them diahrrea, which can possibly kill them.

Have raised and shown rabbits for 24 years and studied animal nutrition in college. Animal nutrition basically covers how to develop animal feeds, what vitamins and nutrients an animal needs, etc.