I once looked over at my garden and saw a rabbit nibbling on my radishes. I had never seen that before and wondered if the rabbit was eating the radish tops, radish stems or the whole radish plant? I then began to wonder, ‘Can bunnies eat radishes?’
Can Rabbits Eat Radishes and Radish Greens?
Yes, mature rabbits may eat radishes and radish greens in moderation. The radish bulb should be fed as a treat, not as a primary part of the rabbit’s daily diet! The radish tops, also known as radish greens, are also fine for your rabbit to eat as a supplement to the primary diet of hay and quality pellets.
Radishes offer a surprising number of good nutrients to your rabbits!
Will Rabbits Eat Radish Greens? Do Rabbits Eat Radishes? Do Bunnies Like Radishes?
Yes, typically Rabbits of all kinds will devour radishes of all kinds and their green tops. The problem is rabbits are not able to monitor or manage their intake of radishes. If a rabbit is provided with too many radishes or radish greens, at some point the rabbit will eat too many much and make himself sick.
Short of this, we must realize that if the rabbit eats several radishes in a day, then that rabbit will eat less of it’s primary diet of hay and grasses.
Are Radishes Good and Healthy for Rabbits?
Radishes are a vegetable in the brassica family, along with vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. As such, radishes are high in water content and have a well-rounded nutritional profile, making them a fairly healthy alternative when used as a treat or to augment the rabbit’s primary diet of hay and grasses.
Healthline shows that radishes contain helpful amounts of the following nutrients:
- potassium
- folate
- riboflavin
- niacin
- vitamin B-6
- vitamin K
- calcium
- magnesium
- zinc
- phosphorous
- copper
- manganese
- sodium
Additionally, this University of California publication showing that 1 cup of radishes and radish greens has about 28mg of calcium. We need to be aware of calcium content because rabbits absorb calcium differently than humans.
Although your rabbit will probably love eating radishes, radishes are high in starch. Rabbits do not need much starch in their diet. Further, some rabbits are more reactive to the high starch of radishes than other rabbits. Too much starch can cause problems in the rabbit’s digestive tract, such as indigestion or diarrhea.
Should I Wash Radishes and Radish Greens for My Rabbits?
Always wash raw foods, like radishes and radish greens, to remove pesticides, dirt and grime before feeding them to your rabbit. Pesticides and grime are not healthy rabbits. Similarly, over-ripe or rotting foods may irritate your rabbit’s digestive system and cause serious health problems.
Also, always inspect the raw food for parasites such as worms, beetles, or maggots. If a rabbit eats or ingests parasites, then those parasites may also infect and begin to live in your rabbit.
How To Feed Radishes and Radish Greens to Rabbits
Cut the ripe, raw, clean, radish into chunks about half the size of a cherry tomato. Eating the clean skin or peel of the radish is not a problem for rabbits. Feed only one or two of these pieces to adult rabbits in a feeder bowl.
Do not use canned or processed radishes. Too often preservative chemicals and sugars are added to canned or processed foods. Do not feed cooked radishes to your rabbit. Your rabbit’s digestive system is sensitive and is accustomed to raw food, not cooked food.
Always introduce new foods in moderation, meaning a small piece, a little bit at a time!
If the rabbit has not eaten radishes or radish greens, then after feeding the small radish pieces, observe your rabbit throughout the day to see if the rabbit is experiencing any problems, such as diarrhea, bloat, stomach pains, digestive tract blockage. Contact your veterinarian if you think your rabbit may be experiencing an adverse reaction to food or some other element of its environment.
How Much Radish Can a Rabbit Eat?
The radish should be cut into chunks about half the size of a cherry tomato. Cutting the radish into small chunks also makes it easier to determine how much radish you are feeding the rabbit. Again, feed only one or two small chunks of radish at a time.
How Much Radish Greens Can a Rabbit Eat?
The radish greens or tops may be fed in moderation. They contain oxalic acid, so too much is not good for your rabbit.
Radish greens may be rotated through your rabbit’s diet plan, and used in moderation. As always if you feed some radish greens and then see some runny poop or other issues with your rabbits, then do not feed any more radish greens.
What Kinds of Radishes Can A Rabbit Eat?
Radish bulbs, or globes, are most often red in the United States, but there are white, black and purple varieties of radishes. Overall, raw, healthy radishes of all kinds may be used as a treat for your rabbits.
What Part of A Radish Can A Rabbit Eat?
Rabbits may eat the radish bulb, also known as a globe, and the green tops of the radish. Radishes and Radish Greens should be fed in moderation.
How Often Can Bunnies Eat Radishes?
If their digestive system becomes accustomed to radishes and tolerates the starch, then bunnies may eat a small amount of radish every day. However, we do not recommend daily feeding of radishes! You may choose to augment your rabbit’s diet with a small radish or two, once or twice a week.
When feeding our rabbits we want to be careful to provide the best mix of nutrients to keep our rabbits healthy. We may think that we are being nice to our rabbits by providing many treats, such as radishes or fruits. However, treats are no longer treats when they displace primary foods and end up making our rabbits weaker and more prone to illness and disease.
Can Baby Rabbits Eat Radishes and Radish Greens?
No, Baby rabbits, known as Kittens or Kits, should NOT eat radishes or radish greens. Kits should only eat their mother’s milk. A baby rabbit’s digestive system is still developing and is not ready to process radishes or other vegetables.
Baby rabbits should not eat radishes or radish greens until they are almost fully weaned off their mother’s milk. Kits will become very sick and perhaps die if they eat radishes or radish greens before weaning.
Rabbits Eating Radishes
Here is a video of a large mother rabbit eating a radish. What a bonus to see the cute babies snuggling together behind their mother.
How many baby bunnies do you see in the video?
Here is a video of the cutest meat rabbits eating red radishes.
Final Thoughts
This post about rabbits eating radishes and radish greens is part of our larger guide to feeding rabbits, entitled 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.
Additionally, House Rabbit Society publishes a very helpful guide discussing suggested vegetables and fruits for rabbits. This guide is widely shared among rabbit owners and promotes feeding fruit at no more than 2 teaspoons per 2 pounds of body weight daily.
As we’ve discussed:
- Feeding your rabbits radishes and radish greens or radish tops is healthy if done in moderation. Treat the radishes and radish tops as treats, not as a primary part of their daily diet, and your rabbit should fine.
- Radishes have a good base of nutrition but are high in starch and rabbits do not need a high starch diet. Some rabbits will struggle to digest radishes because of the high starch content.
- Radish greens or radish tops are a dark leafy green food for rabbits and provide a good base of fiber for the rabbit but contain higher amounts of oxalic acid. Oxalic acid is not beneficial for rabbits and some rabbits are more sensitive to it than others. Oxalic acid can upset the rabbit’s digestive system.
- Always introduce new foods a little at a time and observe your rabbit for discomfort, diarrhea or other complications that the new foods may cause.
- And of course, if you have concerns about your rabbit, what it may have eaten or what you may feed your rabbit, then do not hesitate to contact your local veterinarian.
Want to know more about vegetables for rabbits and what vegetables can rabbits have daily?
Click on this link: Vegetables for Rabbits