Having a pet animal in the house is both awesome and dedicated. When you have any pet animal around you, you must feel happy.
On the other hand, your pet animal’s health condition, growth, etc depends on you as you are their owner. So, you need to take care of many other things too to provide your pet animal a happy life.
If your pet animal is a rabbit, well if you are already reading this article then you might have rabbits in your house and you are thinking of can rabbits eat watermelon.
Here, we are gonna talk about this today.
Can Rabbits Eat Watermelon?
Yes, rabbits can eat watermelon. Watermelons are safe for rabbits if the rabbits are fed watermelon as an occasional treat. Moreover, as watermelon is sweet and has a lot of sugar, it can be harmful sometimes.
So, there are some steps to follow before feeding them watermelon. Let’s start the article to find out details.
Is Watermelon Safe for Rabbits?
Before discussing if a watermelon is safe for rabbits or not, let’s see what a watermelon contains inside of it.
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin C
- Potassium
- Manganese
- Magnesium
- Thiamine
- Pantothenic Acid
- Copper
These ingredients are never harmful to rabbits but also improve rabbits’ health in many ways. Let’s see what watermelon can do.
- Watermelon is full of antioxidants that help your rabbits to stay fit.
- It can offer your rabbits a lot of vitamins and minerals.
- If there is a risk of having kidney stones in your rabbit’s health, potassium in watermelon can reduce the risk.
So, can rabbits eat watermelon? Is watermelon safe for rabbits? Yes, they are. But there are some cons of watermelon too!
Stay with the article, you will know everything about watermelon. Now we will talk about some frequently asked questions regarding can rabbits eat watermelon.
Can Rabbits Eat Watermelon Leaves?
Watermelon leaves are safe for rabbits. They can eat the leaves too, though watermelon leaves are not as tasty as the flesh of it.
But still, if your rabbits like to chew watermelon leaves, then you can provide them the leaves. But as usual, watermelon leaves also should not be their daily food, more likely a treat.
Can Rabbits Eat Watermelon Seeds?
Watermelon seeds are way too smaller. Sometimes, rabbits might eat some seeds of watermelon accidentally, but if they eat a lot of seeds then it can create trouble.
Besides, seeds can create blockage in rabbits’ digestive tract. Moreover, watermelon seeds need pesticides while farming and those pesticides remain in the seeds and they become poisonous for rabbits’ health.
So, NO watermelon seeds for rabbits. But if you can manage seedless watermelon for your rabbits then it is so awesome.
Can Rabbits Eat Watermelon Rinds?
Well, this is hard to say that if rabbits can eat watermelon rinds or not. Because watermelon rinds are not as sweet and tasty as it’s flesh.
Some rabbits may hate the rind and some of them can find rind is good to taste. Watermelon rinds contain a lot of fiber, so if though any of rabbits like rinds still they can’t be fed large amount of watermelon rinds ever.
However, if you think you need to give rabbits watermelon rinds for chewing, you can give them some safe chewing toys from here.
Can Baby Rabbits Eat Watermelons?
This is a serious question. Baby rabbits are more sensitive than grown-up rabbits and their digestive tract needs time to get stronger enough to digest fruit like watermelon.
After passing seven months, your baby rabbits become ready to have some fruits along with their mother’s milk and grass.
So, if you want to feed baby rabbits watermelons, just wait to get them ready.
How to Feed Rabbits Watermelon?
Here are some steps to follow before feeding rabbits watermelon.
- Choose a medium-size fresh watermelon that is not overripened.
- Wash the watermelon weel and make sure it has no dust over the rind or on the skin.
- Cut the watermelon into pieces and small shapes. Round or cube shapes may be okay.
- Remove all the seeds you find inside the watermelon.
- If the watermelon is watery than usual, do not give it to your rabbits to eat.
- If you find any bad smell after cutting the watermelon, keep it away.
- If you find any parasite inside of the watermelon, it should be good if you keep away the whole watermelon.
These are the steps you should take before giving them watermelon and you also need to know how much watermelon your rabbits should have.
How Much Watermelon Rabbits Should Eat?
Remember, rabbits do not have a sense of controlling food eating. They can chew foods all the time if foods are available to them. As a result, they get themselves in big trouble.
Some of us don’t get it. Because there are many people out there who think that- as rabbits are eating watermelons and getting fond of it so we can feed them watermelon all the time.
This is an absolute mistake! No rabbits should be fed any fruit at all in a large amount. So how much watermelon should you give your rabbits?
Please give an eye on this table. Here we described the amount by the weight of rabbits.
| Rabbit’s Weight | Amount of Watermelon |
|---|---|
| 1.1-3.6 pounds | 1 teaspoon |
| 6 to 10 pounds | 1-2 tablespoon |
| 9 to 12 pounds or more | 2 to 4 tablespoon |
Is Watermelon Bad for Rabbits?
Yes, there are some cons of feeding rabbits watermelons too. Actually, I should say, overfeeding rabbits watermelons is totally bad. Let’s see why a watermelon is bad for your rabbits.
- Excessive Sugar: Watermelons have more sugar than some natural fruits. Too much sugar can create teeth decay. And rabbit tooth decay is a serious problem.
- Risk of Getting Fat: As watermelons are rich in sugar, so if you feed rabbits watermelons daily, they might get fat quickly and obesity can lead to rabbit’s GI stasis and myasthenia.
- Risk of Obsession: If rabbits get watermelons daily, they might start liking watermelons over their daily foods. Hay and grass along with fresh water should be their daily foods, not fruits like watermelon. But if rabbits find watermelon is so good, then they may lose appetite for other foods soon.
- Risk of Diarrhea: Rinds of watermelons have more fibers than their flesh and sometimes the flesh contains fibers too, and excessive fibers are bad for rabbits. This much bad that it can lead them to diarrhea.
So, we see that watermelon is not actually a problem if you do not overfeed them.
Alternative Fruits for Rabbits
There are some alternative fruits for rabbits to offer. They are safe but need to follow the same steps of feeding watermelons to rabbits.
These fruits can be fed without much thinking.
Things to Consider
Sometimes it is hard to find fully organic watermelons. But if you find any, it can be a great treat for your rabbits. But never make a fruit as their daily food or never keeps any food in their daily diet chart.
Fruits and vegetables are only for snacks or treat to rabbits. So does watermelon too.
If you have read the article well then you know the good and bad sides of the watermelon. Also, you know when you can accurately feed your rabbits watermelon.
Conclusion
So, watermelons have both pros and cons. There is a chance watermelons can do harm your rabbits, also there are some other ways to follow to feed rabbits watermelon in a correct way. We assume now you know the answer to the question- can rabbits eat watermelon?
Related Article: