Managing foods for rabbits is not so hard. Because rabbits can eat almost every food we have in our daily life.
Grass and hay are enough for them to live on. But the problem is, rabbits need other foods. Because they feel bored if they need to eat similar food day by day.
So, we need to give rabbits fruits and vegetables along with grass and hay. And as cucumbers are easy to find, we need to know can rabbits eat cucumbers or not.
Yes, my friend, we will talk about cucumbers today in this article.
Can Rabbits Eat Cucumbers?
Yes, rabbits can eat cucumbers. Cucumbers are safe for rabbits as cucumbers provide them to have fibers, minerals, and vitamins. But cucumbers can be harmful sometimes if rabbits eat too much of them.
So, this article is gonna help you to understand when and how many cucumbers you should feed your rabbits. Stay with the article.
Are Cucumbers Safe for Rabbits?
We, humans, use cucumbers a lot for making the salad or eat cucumbers to stay hydrated. It is almost an alternative to water.
But let’s see which ingredients a cucumber can offer to our rabbits.
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin E
- Copper
- Crude Fiber
- Starch
- Zinc
- Mineral
So these are the ingredients a cucumber contains. And we can see none of them is harmful to rabbit’s health.
But a cucumber is almost 95% of water as it contains so much mineral and other nutrients are in lower level.
Can Rabbits Eat Cucumber Leaves?
Cucumber leaves can be a tasty treat for rabbits. If you mix two or three vegetables before feed your rabbits, then it is good.
You can try giving rabbits cucumber leaves. But make sure those leaves are out of chemicals or pesticides. Also, give one or two leaves at first, because many rabbits do not like new leaves at first.
Can Rabbits Eat Cucumber Seeds?
Yes, cucumber seeds are not bad for rabbits unlike they are from ripe cucumbers. Like cucumber leaves, cucumber seeds also need to be chemical-free.
After cutting into pieces, you should wash the pieces of cucumber to make the seeds clean.
Can Rabbits Cucumber Peels?
Cucumber peels are the best part of the cucumber. Peels contain almost 15% of crude fiber.
On the other hand, cucumber peels protect the flesh of it, so you need to wash the peels well before giving them to your rabbits.
Can Rabbits Eat Cucumber Plants?
So, if cucumbers are safe for rabbits, can rabbits eat cucumber plants? The answer is yes. They can eat cucumber plants.
However, if you want to give your rabbits greens besides rabbit’s daily foods- grass and hay, then cucumber plants can be a good option to offer.
Can Rabbits Eat Processed Cucumbers?
Some of us try to feed the same food we eat. But rabbits’ digestive tracts are totally different from ours.
So when you think if you can give them processed or cooked cucumbers or not, just do not think twice.
Processed foods lose their actual nutrients. So, it is better if you give rabbits raw foods.
And following that, never give your rabbits cooked or processed cucumbers. Just give them raw and fresh cucumbers.
Can Baby Rabbits Eat Cucumbers?
Unfortunately, you can not give your baby rabbits cucumbers until they cross 12 weeks of their age.
Their stomach is not strong enough. The digestive tract of them needs time to grow and get stronger. So just wait before you want to feed baby rabbits cucumbers.
However, we will talk about when age baby rabbits become able to eat cucumbers just a bit later.
How to Feed Rabbits Cucumbers
Feeding rabbits cucumbers is not hard. It’s as easy as feeding them strawberries. Let’s see how to feed them cucumbers:
- Take a medium-size cucumber that is not hard or not so soft.
- The cucumber must not be overripened.
- Wash the cucumber well to make sure it is out of dust or any pesticide.
- Cut the cucumber into pieces. If you cut into a round shape then it is better for rabbits to bite.
- If you smell any unusual scent after cutting the cucumber, then you should keep the cucumber away and take a different one.
That is all. You just need to follow these so simple steps to feed your rabbits cucumbers.
How Much Cucumber Can Rabbits Eat?
Here is a table for you to understand at what age your rabbits are able to eat cucumbers and how much cucumbers you should give them.
| Rabbit’s Age | Amount of Cucumbers |
|---|---|
| From 7 weeks to 7 months | —— |
| 7 months to 1 year | Not more than 1 or 2 oz |
| 1 year to 5 years | Not more than 2 to 3 oz |
| More than 5 years | Only 3 |
Are Cucumbers Harmful to Rabbits?
At some points, cucumbers become harmful to rabbits. As cucumbers contain much water, overfeeding cucumbers is really risky.
- Diarrhea: Overfeeding cucumbers can be a cause of diarrhea because cucumbers contain too much water. And too much water is harmful to rabbits.
If your rabbits produce watery poops after eating cucumbers, then it is diarrhea. Stop giving cucumbers right now. - Acidity: Some cucumbers contain hard seeds than others. These seeds are hard for rabbits to digest. And as a result, they get gas. Gas is risky for them. Sometimes acidity can lead them to death.
- Uneaten Cecotropes: Uneaten cecotropes happen if rabbits eat too many cucumbers. This can create loose cecotropes as cucumbers do contain not enough fibers.
Things to Consider
Cucumbers are not harmful to rabbits. But a large number of cucumbers are risky for rabbits as cucumber contains a lot of water but not that many fibers.
So we need to maintain a limit to give rabbits cucumbers. Your pet rabbits’ diet plan and health progress depend on you actually. It is your own duty to take their health progress toward not backward.
If you want to give your rabbits cucumber then follow the steps which are described in this article.
Conclusion
The answer is YES to the question- can rabbits eat cucumber? But there are some facts you needed to know about cucumbers.
If you’ve come this far then we can guess that you’ve read the article well. We hope you will take steps as the article says.
