In the search for nutritional snacks and dietary supplements for your homestead or pet rabbits, you may think about potatoes and wonder, Can Bunnies Have Potatoes?
Yes, rabbits can eat potatoes. But it is a great question to be asking because offering your rabbits this tuber vegetable comes with some serious risks and precautions.
Potatoes can be harmful to your rabbits,
so read on before offering your bunnies this tuber!
Are Potatoes Toxic To Rabbits
Right off the bat, potato tubers are NOT toxic to rabbits. They don’t contain any poisonous plant compounds that will cause a toxic reaction in bunnies.
The potato tubers are just naturally high in carbohydrates and starches, which are difficult for rabbits to digest.
However, the potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) is part of the nightshade plant family, well known for its toxic plant compound: solanine.
Due to solanine content, the actual potato plant, including leaves, stem, sprouts and all green parts is toxic to rabbits and must NEVER be offered to them.
In fact, greened potatoes also contain solanine and must never be ingested by you or your homestead animals!
Potatoes For Rabbits: Nutritional Contents
Potatoes are the nontoxic tubers (thickened, underground stem) of the potato plant.
As such, they are very high in carbohydrates and fibers.
In fact, potatoes have a notably high starch content, a carbohydrate that is very difficult for rabbits’ simple digestive systems to break down.
Essential nutrient contents of a serving of 100g of potatoes are as follows:
- 17.8g of Carbohydrates
- 2.27g of Proteins
- 78.6g of Water
- 0.36g of Fats
- 14.9g of Fibers
- 0.53g of Sugars
In addition, potatoes offer small amounts of a number of minerals and vitamins, including:
- Calcium
- Potassium
- Zinc
- Magnesium
- Niacin
- Copper
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin B-6
Remember that rabbits require zinc for growth and development, while copper is essential to rabbits in order to avoid bone marrow problems and to help maintain a strong cardiovascular system.
Finally, magnesium directly facilitates growth in maturing rabbits. Rabbits with magnesium deficiencies are prone to hyperexcitability and slow growth, amongst other health issues.
Without a doubt, potato tubers do provide essential and important nutrients for rabbits.
However, due to the sensitivity of the rabbits simple digestive system, one too many potatoes can result in serious digestive issues and a blow to rabbits’ immune system.
As such potatoes should not be offered often to your rabbits; it is best to regulate this food item as an infrequent treat for your bunnies.
However, like with most things, there are a few circumstances when feeding your bunnies some extra potatoes may be a good idea.
Why and When We Feed Our Bunnies Potato
We bring out more frequent servings of dense treats like potatoes and oatmeal for our rabbits if they are suffering from unhealthy underweight or recovering from an illness that robbed them of their normal weight.
For example, one of our doe rabbits Lily was having a hard time gaining weight after her first litter. To help her out, we supplemented her diet with a bit of potato tuber and oatmeal and she was able to start gaining weight again in no time!
However, once Lily reached a healthy weight again, we stopped offering her fattening potatoes and piled on the high fiber hay.
Remember, hay is a crucial and primary part of all rabbits’ diets!
How Much Potato Can Bunnies Have
Because it is a treat food, potatoes should not comprise more than 5% of your mature rabbit’s diet at any time.
The general rule is to feed no more than 1 teaspoon of treat food per 2lbs of your mature rabbit’s weight per day.
Remember, as an infrequent treat food potatoes are not bad for rabbits. The issues begin if you decide to offer these carbohydrate packed tubers to your bunnies often, who will then be at risk of a number of health issues.
Risky Side Effects of Potatoes for Rabbits:
- Obesity
- GI Stasis (which can be fatal)
- Inconsistent Defecation
- Bad Eating Habits
- Tooth Decay (due to high sugar)
Can Rabbits Eat Potatoes Raw
Yes, potatoes should only ever be offered raw to your bunnies.
Cooking, canning, baking and otherwise heating foods causes natural chemical reactions that change the nature of the foods nutrients and composition.
Rabbits are natural herbivores that require raw, unaltered plant foods. We never recommend feeding your bunnies cooked or otherwise heated foods!
How To Prepare Potato for Bunnies
- Thoroughly wash the sweet potato to remove dirt, grime and residual pesticides.
- Cut the sweet potato into small slices or cubes, about half inch by half inch.
Then, follow these steps to properly offer raw potato to your rabbit:
- Place a measured amount of washed and cut sweet potato into a clean bowl.
- Place this bowl in the hutch or house of your rabbit.
- Allow your rabbit to enjoy the treat.
- Be sure to remove the feeding bowl and any excess treat later in the day.
Do Bunnies Eat Potato Skin or Potatoe Peels
Yes, mature rabbits can eat potato skins (aka peels) as this part of the tuber vegetable is nontoxic.
Can Rabbits Eat Potato Plant (Leaves, Vine, Stem)
No, never allow your bunnies to nibble on any green part of the potato plant.
All green parts, leaves, vine, stem, and even greened potato tubers, contain the dangerous toxin solanine.
Solanine is toxic even in small amounts and must be avoided at all costs.
Can Baby Rabbits Eat Potatoes
No, baby rabbits cannot eat potato tubers.
Any rabbit that is younger than 12 weeks cannot digest potatoes because their digestive system has yet to fully develop and strengthen. Baby rabbit stomachs are even more finicky and sensitive than adult rabbits’!
If baby rabbits were to be given potatoes they would have an extremely hard time digesting them and could quickly develop fatal stomach and intestinal blockages.
Frequently Asked Questions Related To Can Rabbits Eat Potato
Can Rabbits Eat Sweet Potatoes?
Yes, just like regular potatoes sweet potatoes are a safe, albeit high carb, snack for mature rabbits.
Learn more about the sweet potato, and just why rabbits can eat sweet potato vines, in our post on Sweet Potatoes For Rabbits.
Can Rabbits Eat Potato Chips?
No, potato chips are not an appropriate nor healthy food item for your rabbits.
Read why we never offer our rabbits potato crisps in our post on Why Rabbits Shouldn’t Eat Potato Chips.
Learn more about the toxin solanine in this informational video about potatoes!
Final Thoughts on Can Rabbits Have Potatoes
The most important takeaways when it comes to potatoes for rabbits are:
- Potatoes are dense and high in starches, if eaten too often, they can lead to serious health issues for your rabbits.
- Potatoes can help underweight rabbits regain a healthy weight.
- Never offer the green parts of the potato plant, or greened potatoes, to your rabbits as they contain toxic solanine.
- Never feed potatoes to baby or immature rabbits less than 12 weeks.