Can Rabbits Eat Grapes?

Can Rabbits Eat Grapes?

Many animals enjoy eating grapes because they are so sweet and juicy! While grapes may be your family’s favorite (they sure are ours!), there are many questions to answer when it comes to offering them to your homestead or house rabbit. For example, Will eating grape seeds or the skin of the grape harm your rabbit? and, How many grapes can my rabbit eat?  

Fortunately, this post will answer these questions and explain all you need to know about feeding grapes to your rabbit! Technically, Yes, rabbits can eat grapes, including the skin of the grape, in moderation.  Conversely, grape seeds are not recommended for your rabbit.  Consider feeding a seedless grape or plucking the seeds out before feeding the grape to your rabbit.

It is very important to realize that grapes are a sugary and watery fruit. As such, fruits like grapes should be provided to rabbits only as an occasional treat, never as a core part of the rabbit diet. Rabbits have a very small and sensitive digestive system. Too much sugar or too much water is not healthy for them!

Can Rabbits Eat Grapes

Now that you know that rabbits can eat grapes, let’s address some of the specifics such as nutrition, how much to feed, how to feed grapes to your rabbit and why to not feed grape seeds to your rabbit.

The nutritional value of grapes, according to Healthline, is listed below. Not that grapes are about 92% water and contains good amounts of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, copper, and maganese. One cup (151 grams) of red or green grapes contains the following nutrients (1):

  • Calories: 104
  • Carbs: 27.3 grams
  • Protein: 1.1 grams
  • Fat: 0.2 grams
  • Fiber: 1.4 grams
  • Vitamin C: 27% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
  • Vitamin K: 28% of the RDI – Valuable for blood clotting and healthy bones
  • Thiamine: 7% of the RDI
  • Riboflavin: 6% of the RDI
  • Vitamin B6: 6% of the RDI
  • Potassium: 8% of the RDI – for healthy blood vessels and blood pressure
  • Copper: 10% of the RDI
  • Manganese: 5% of the RDI

Additionally, the Healthline article confirms that grapes also contain beta-carotene, quercetin, lutein, lycopene and ellagic acid.  These are all very beneficial antioxidants.  Antioxidants are contents that help repair damaged cells, and therefore help prevent or slow down major systemic disease. Further, grapes contain compounds that help promote healthy eyes, bones, and blood vessels while decreasing inflammation and fighting harmful bacteria and viruses.

Why Is Grape Good for Rabbits?

Without question, grapes are packed with some powerful nutrients that can greatly boost the overall health and happiness of your adult rabbits. In addition, the high water content in grapes can help increase a rabbit’s hydration in hot, dry climates. Plenty of water helps keep the rabbit’s immune system healthy, flushing out cell level wastes as well as toxins and other bodily wastes.

However, there is a delicate balance between hydrating for health and over hydrating which may cause diarrhea and other digestive system complications in rabbits.

And his WebMD source notes that some chemicals in grapes contribute to the health of eyes, like preventing cataracts and glaucoma, while the Mayo Clinic confirms that grapes are beneficial for healthy hearts.

Why Too Many Grapes May Be Harmful to Rabbits

We established that Grapes have many healthy compounds for our rabbits, but they are high in sugar and are mostly water. For this reason you must err on the side of caution when offering them to your rabbits.

Rabbits have very sensitive digestive systems and new or sugary foods that are not part of their regular healthy diet must be slowly introduced to the rabbit. Ingesting too much water or too much sugar may aggravate the rabbit’s digestive system, causing diarrhea, premature tooth decay, and other serious issues.

Our best recommendation: When starting to feed grapes to your adult rabbits, give them just a little over the first few days.  As their digestive system adjusts, you can work your way up to as much as 1 grape (cut in half) provided only 2 or 3 days a week.

Here is a short video that helps explain why adult rabbits may eat grapes, but only in moderation.

Can Baby Rabbits Eat Grapes? Can Bunnies Eat Grapes?

No, Baby rabbits, known as Kittens or Kits, should NOT eat grapes. 

Kits should only eat their mother’s milk.  A baby rabbit’s digestive system is still developing and is even more sensative to sugars and water than adult rabbits’. Baby rabbits should not eat grapes until they are almost fully weaned off their mother’s milk.  Kits will become very sick and perhaps die if they eat grapes before weaning!

How to Feed Grape to Your Rabbit

Before offering a grape to your bunny, wash it thoroughly to remove dirt and grime or residual pesticides.  Then cut the grapes in half.  It is easier to control and manage how much the rabbit eats when you use these smaller pieces of grape. Most importantly, be sure to pick out any seeds before giving the cut grapes to your rabbit.

Remember, when introducing any new food to your rabbits, please do so slowly!  Less is more, as they say.  If your rabbits seem to like and tolerate a very small amount of grape, then you may slowly increase to several small pieces of grape each week.

Rabbit Stretching For Grapes

Why Can Grape be Harmful or Risky to My Rabbit’s Health?

Weight loss, Poor Nutrition, Weakened Immune System

Eating too many grapes on a continued basis may lead to weight loss and kindling weaker kits for rabbits. This is because rabbits need plenty of fiber, a nutrient that grapes don’t offer. So filling up on grapes is never a good idea.

For example, if our bunny eats too many grape treats then she may eat less, or not enough, of her good nutritional food. Not eating enough grass and hay (which provides the fiber that keeps her digestive systems healthy) will put your bunny at risk for stomach and health issues. In addition, feeding lots of treats to rabbits puts them at risk of losing weight and does may have a harder time kindling. Finally, if rabbits do not eat a balanced diet then their immune system will be weaker and then they will be more prone to sickness and disease, despite the wonderful health benefits of the grapes.

Diarrhea

The high water conent in grapes can easily aggravate a rabbit’s delicate digestive system, as it is not used to the high-water content foods  This may cause diarrhea which may also lead to weight loss and a weaker immune system.

Lack of Fiber

While grapes may provide a sweet, unique texture for the rabbit to eat, they do not provide much fiber. Fiber is a key ingredient for rabbit health. Rour rabbits should eat a balanced diet of grasses and various leafy greens, some vegetables, and some fruits. These raw plant materials, especially hay, provide the neccesary fiber for rabbits’ health. Additionally, most manufactured rabbit pellets include a healthy and balanced nutrition package for your rabbits.

Indigestible Grape Seeds

We never recommend offering the grape seeds to rabbits.  Grape eeds are harder to digest and may cause irritation, or even a blockage, in the rabbit’s digestive tract. Always remove grape seeds before allowing your rabbit to snack on grapes.

Rabbits and Grapes

Green, Red, Black Grapes – Is there a difference?

This WebMD article notes that some varieties of black grapes contain more antioxidants than green or red grapes. But overall, you don’t have to worry about what color grape you offer your rabbits. All are non-toxic!

Final Thoughts On Can Rabbits Eat Grapes

This Can Rabbits Eat Grapes post is part of our larger post about What Can Rabbits Eat? Please click and give it a read! It is full of great information and I guarantee you will learn something valuable.

When it comes to offering grapes to your rabbits, just remember that rabbits may eat only a small amount of grapes each week. Overfeeding grape may lead to digestive issues such as diarrhea and may mean that your rabbit does not eat enough of its core diet, which can lead to unhealthy weight loss and a compromised immune system.

We hope you have learned all you need to know about feeding grapes to your rabbits. Always observe your rabbits and be sure to talk with your veterinarian about what and how much you are feeding your rabbits!

Want to know more about fruit for rabbits? You can click on this post:
Fruits Rabbits Can Eat  

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