For all rabbit owners, whether you are on a homestead,in a rural neighborhood, or have house bunnies, providing your bunnies with a balanced, nutrient rich diet is key to their long term health and happiness.
As strict plant eaters, you may feel that you are limited with what foods you can offer your bunny, but it isn’t so!
Many unprocessed and raw plant foods are a potential source of nutrients for your rabbit.
This includes bell peppers! That’s right, mature rabbits can eat bell peppers.
Bell peppers are tasty, crunchy (and most importantly) rabbit-safe fruits of the bell pepper plant.
But before you go offering a bell pepper a day to your bunny, read up on some of the precautions of feeding your rabbit bell peppers, as too much can end in disaster!
Bell Pepper For Rabbits: Nutritional Facts
Although many people think of bell peppers as veggies, they are technically fruits, so we will address them as such when thinking about bell peppers and rabbits.
The bell pepper fruit is from the Capsicum annuum plant, a mild and sweet variation within the Capsicum genus, which is well known for its spicy peppers.
There are four different colors of mild bell peppers: green, orange, red, and yellow.
Green bell peppers are the most ‘unripe’ of the lot, picked before maturity, while the warmer colored peppers are those that have reached maturity on the vine.
| Nutritional Contents of Bell Peppers per 100g | ||||
| Green | Orange | Red | Yellow | |
| Protein | 0.72g | 0.88g | 0.9g | 0.82g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0.9g | 1g | 1.2g | 1.1g |
| Water Content | 94.1g | 91.9 | 91.9 | 92.1 |
| Sugar | 4.78g | 6.7g | 6.65g | 6.6g |
All colors of bell peppers also contain a number of vitamins and minerals, including:
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Vitamin C
- Phosphorus
- Niacin
- Potassium
Remember that magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium is essential for healthy growth and development in rabbits, and that a diet deficient in niacin will result in serious weight loss and potential death.
So without doubt, any color of bell pepper is a great addition and supplement to your mature rabbit’s diet.
Rabbit Diet: Bunnies Eating Bell Peppers
While bell peppers do offer rabbits essential nutrients, the very low fiber content and higher sugar and water content across all bell peppers means that an excess of bell peppers in your rabbits diet can result in serious health issues.
What kind of health issues can too many bell peppers cause your bunnies?
- A disrupted digestive system that can result in diarrhea, and at the worst, GI Stasis.
- Development of bad eating habits
- Weight loss and lethargy
Feeding Rabbits Wisely
Due to their biology and unique digestive system, rabbits require a large amount of foods that are high in fiber and low in sugar content.
This is why orchard hay, timothy hay or another high quality hay should make up 75-80% of your bunny’s daily diet.
Another 10-15% of your rabbit’s diet can be premium rabbit pellets, which offer unique nutrients and proteins.
Finally, we recommend all fruit, veggie and leafy green treats and supplements as only 5-10% of your rabbit’s diet.
This affords a diverse, tasty mix for your bunnies without putting them at risk of an unbalanced diet or health issues.
Check it out, grapes are another rabbit safe fruit!
Can Rabbits Eat Bell Peppers Everyday
We do not recommend offering your bunny bell peppers everyday, especially not orange bell peppers as they contain the most sugars of all.
Instead, opt for a balanced practice of 1-2 slices of bell pepper every other, or third, day.
We have done this with our rabbits for years, and it has allowed us to offer them a wide range of rabbit-safe fruits while ensuring they continue with a fiber-focused diet.
What Can Bunnies Eat: Bell Pepper For Rabbits
Can Rabbits Eat Bell Pepper Stems
Yes, the green stems of the bell pepper fruit can be eaten by your rabbit. Simply note that the stem is more fibrous and may be more difficult for your rabbit to digest.
We don’t suggest offering the bell pepper stem to your rabbits with very sensitive stomachs.
Can Rabbits Eat Bell Pepper Seeds
Yes, bell pepper seeds are harmless to rabbits and will pass through their digestive system without issues.
Although washing the bell pepper is a great idea before offering it to your rabbit, you do not need to remove the seeds.
Can Rabbits Eat Pepper Plants
Don’t worry if your rabbit got into the garden and ate a few leaves, rabbits can safely nibble on the leaves of bell pepper plants.
However, the stem is more fibrous and not as tasty, so your rabbits will most likely leave it alone. And for this reason, we do not recommend offering the stem to your bunnies.
Can Rabbits Eat Sweet Mini Peppers
While sweet mini peppers are not toxic to rabbits, we do not recommend offering them to your rabbits because of their high sugar content, better to stick to big bell peppers instead!
Can Rabbits Eat Spicy Peppers
Offering rabbits spicy peppers is a big NO.
The capsaicin (spicy, acidic compound) within spicy peppers will cause havoc on the sensitive digestive system of your rabbit, unbalancing gut bacteria and stomach pH.
Never offer spicy peppers to your bunnies!
Can Baby Rabbits Eat Bell Peppers
Baby rabbits younger than 12 weeks have incredibly sensitive digestive systems and should not eat bell peppers or any part of the pepper plant.
Instead, wait until your baby rabbit matures (reaches 12 weeks of age) and then slowly introduce this fruit treat to them.
Even then, begin by offering just 1-2 cubes of bell pepper with lots of observations to see what their reaction is to this new food.
If they seem to like it and don’t exhibit negative effects within 24hrs, you can slowly add bell peppers as part of their diet’s 5-10% fruit and veggie component.
And as always, slow food introduction is the best way to diversify your rabbit’s diet safely.
Frequently Asked Questions Related To Can Rabbits Eat Bell Peppers
Can Rabbits Eat Peppers And Tomatoes?
Peppers and tomatoes are from the same Nightshade plant family.
It is true that some of the fruits in this family are poisonous, however, both peppers and tomatoes are rabbit-safe fruits that can be fed to mature rabbits.
Can Rabbits Eat Sweet Peppers?
All sweet peppers are non-toxic for rabbits.
However, as a responsible owner, you must limit the amount of sweet peppers your rabbits ingest due to their high water and sugar content.
To learn more about the nutritional benefits of bell peppers, check out this video!
Final Thoughts On Can Bunnies Eat Bell Peppers
Bell peppers are a great fruit treat and dietary supplement for mature rabbits, so feel free to mix in these colorful mild peppers into the weekly fruit, veggie and leafy green supplements offered to your bunnies.
Just remember, any spicy or hot pepper is a big no-go for rabbits, and baby rabbits should only be ingesting mothers milk, some hay, and appropriate rabbit pellets until they reach full maturity!