If you are bringing your rabbit snacks from the garden, you may be wondering whether you can feed petunias to your bunny, or if this is a dangerous option. Although many garden plants are safe for rabbits, it’s crucial to know what you can and cannot give them, because feeding them the wrong things could be very dangerous.
Fortunately, petunias are a totally safe food for rabbits, and most rabbits absolutely love them and will eat them by the handful. Rabbits tend to be keen on eating flowers, so if you let your bunny roam free in your garden, be aware that it is likely to nibble at least a few of the pretty petals.
Are Petunias Good For Rabbits?
Yes, many wild rabbits eat petunias, and these are a standard part of a bunny’s diet, especially when they are in flower. They will provide valuable nutrients and vitamins, and rabbits can eat them in reasonable quantities without any risk, as they are fibrous. They are also low in sugar, carbohydrates, and starches (all things that are bad for rabbits).
If you are going to let your rabbit loose in your garden, it’s good to know in advance that it will eat the leaves, the stems, and the flowers of any petunia plant that it can reach. Bunnies like tender plants in particular, so they are especially likely to munch the flowers, but they can eat the rest of the plant too.
If your rabbit is hungry, it may do quite a bit of damage to your petunias, so make sure you keep an eye on it, and protect your plants if necessary.
Do Rabbits Like Petunias?
Most rabbits love petunias, yes, and the different varieties all tend to prove popular with them. However, rabbits do have quite varied tastes, and some may show little interest in these flowers, especially if they get a lot of food from other places. If you aren’t sure whether your rabbit will eat petunias or not, try offering it a couple.
It is possible for a rabbit to dislike petunias. This is unusual, but rabbits seem to enjoy quite different things, and what one rabbit goes crazy for, others will ignore. This is normal.
If your rabbit doesn’t seem interested in the flowers, don’t worry about it. As long as it eats plenty of other greenery and its fill of hay or grass, it will be perfectly healthy. While petunias are a good snack option, they aren’t crucial to a rabbit’s diet, and your bunny will do fine without them. Offer it other safe garden plants instead.
Should I Pick Petunias For My Rabbit?
Unless your rabbit free ranges in the garden, it probably won’t get many opportunities to eat petunias, so you might want to occasionally pick some of them for its food bowl. It can be fun to make a salad from the safe plants that grow in your garden and offer it to your rabbit.
If you can safely allow your bunny out to forage, it will enjoy hopping about, but if this isn’t possible, simply picking it a selection of foods will enrich its diet.
Which Part Of The Petunia Will My Rabbit Eat?
Your rabbit will eat any part of the petunia except for the roots, but most prefer the flowerheads and will happily nip all of these off before they go for the stems or the leaves. However, if they find young plants that are still very tender, they are likely to eat the whole thing.
Although rabbits need plenty of fiber in their diets, they do have a strong preference for young plants that they can eat and digest easily, so be aware of this before letting your rabbit roam in your flower beds!
Is There Anything I Need To Be Careful About When Feeding My Rabbit Petunias?
Although these plants are safe for rabbits to eat, there are two things that you need to bear in mind before you go and pick a whole handful for your rabbit. The first is that rabbits should be eating mostly grass or hay, and not things like flowers, so petunias should not be fed in vast quantities.
Adding a few of these to your rabbit’s salad bowl several days a week is absolutely fine, and unlike many of the treats you might offer (such as fruit or certain vegetables), petunias are low in sugar and carbohydrates, so they aren’t a dangerous treat even if your rabbit eats them frequently.
However, the rabbit does still need to get the bulk of its diet from hay or from grass. Around ninety percent should come from this source, and not from other greenery, even if the greenery is healthy. Don’t feed your rabbit so many petunias that it won’t eat enough hay.
The second consideration is whether the petunias have been sprayed with any dangerous chemicals. A flower might only have trace amounts of pesticides or insecticides on it, but bear in mind that your rabbit is a very small creature, and ingesting even a little amount of certain chemicals could do serious damage to its organs.
Just washing the flowers may not be enough to remove the pesticides, either, although it should help. If you use any chemical sprays in your garden, it is better not to give the plants or any parts of them to your rabbit, no matter how much it enjoys them. Equally, you should not let your rabbit forage in the garden.
Don’t depend on rain to have washed away the chemicals. Either fence off the areas that you have used the pesticides in, or do not let your rabbit roam freely. It is much better to find natural pest control options for your garden if you can.
Conclusion
Petunias are a great snack for rabbits and totally free if you grow them yourself. Pick a few of these for your rabbit’s food dish and watch it munch them happily, or allow your bunny to go wild in the flowerbed and select its snacks for itself.
