Homemade Rabbits Treats for your Bunny
Rabbit treats found in supermarkets are usually pretty unhealthy and contain ingredients that can cause your rabbit to get sick, for example yogurt drops. Many other treats you find in a shop that may be healthier likely still contain high traces of sugar, corn or seeds, all of which should be avoided.
However, the ultimate solution for this is to simply remove any trace of unhealthy treat and make your own rabbit treats! Not only is this cheaper and healthier but you can make exactly what your rabbit loves!
What can I put in my DIY Rabbit treats?
When making your homemade rabbit treats, you want to use fresh or dried fruits and vegetables with a combination of their favorite type of hay. Our recommendation is Timothy Hay as it “Fuzzy Parts” which most rabbits love (These are in-fact seed heads).
Vegetables your rabbit can eat
- Bell peppers
- Bok choy
- Brussels sprouts
- Celery
- Carrot tops
- Cucumber
- Endive
- Escarole
- Fennel
- Herbs: basil, cilantro, dill, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme
- Lettuces: romaine, green leaf, red leaf, Boston bibb, arugula, butter
- Okra leaves
- Radicchio
- Radish tops
- Watercress
- Wheatgrass
- Zucchini
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Chard
- Clover
- Collard greens
- Dandelion greens (pesticide-free)
- Flowers: English daisy, hibiscus, honeysuckle, marigold, nasturtium, pansy, rose
- Kale
- Spinach
- Asparagus
- Cabbage (Can cause gas so small portions only)
- Curly Kale
- Fennel
- Pumpkin
- Squash
- Spring Greens
- Peas
- Swede
Note: Do NOT give your rabbit Iceberg Lettuce or Light coloured lead Lettuce. Also chop your vegetables into chunks but not small enough for your rabbit to choke. Chopping or dicing them into cubes is perfect.
What your rabbit should NOT eat
- Amaryllis
- Arum lily
- Bindweed
- Bracken
- Bryony
- Buttercup
- Convolvulus
- Deadly nightshade
- Delphinium
- Elder
- Fools parsley
- Foxglove
- Hellebores
- Hemlock
- Henbane
- Lily of the valley
- Lupin
- Laburnum
- Most evergreens
- Oak leaves
- Poppies
- Potato tops
- Privet
- Ragwort
- Rhubarb leaves
- Scarlet runnertoadflax
- Woody nightshade
- Yew
How many homemade treats can I give my rabbit a day?
This has a multitude of factors such as the type of fruit / veg and how big they are. However, even with healthier treats the quantity should be kept to a minimum to allow your rabbit to stick to their recommended dietary plan. As such, you should only keep your rabbits treat size at a maximum of 1 Tablespoon worth per day.
Precautions: Before we start
Before we go into the videos and text guides on types of treats you can make for your bunny, we should take the following considerations:
- Wash all fruits and vegetables – Unless you’re using home grown vegetables and fruits without the use of chemicals and pesticides, it’s highly recommended to remove any dirt or pesticides. As rabbit stomachs are extremely vulnerable, this is a critical step.
- Store these homemade treats in the fridge or freezer – These treats can be left in an airtight space and shelved for about a week, however, to keep them fresh you shouldn’t do this for longer than a week and refrigerating them is a better option.
- Pestle & Mortar or Blender – A big part of these treats is pellets and oatmeal (Porridge Oats), the easiest way to create these treats is with a blender however a Pestle & Mortar works well too!
Banana Skewers
These fantastic treats aren’t as simple as just putting banana slices through a skewer and calling it a day. This recipe will go through mixing hay with banana slices & pellets. If your rabbit commonly gets GI Stasis, this is a great option to add some gut stimulant to.
Step 1: Preparation
All you’ll need for this is 1 Banana, A cup of Pellets & your rabbits favorite hay. If possible, cut the hay down as fine as possible or blend it. In the picture I’ve provided, I haven’t blended the hay yet, but it’s a small pinch of Timothy Hay.
Step 2: Crush & Mash
Now you will want to break down the pellets, banana and if possible chop up, blend or cut down the hay. If you can get this as fine as possible, the better. This will allow the pellet powder and hay to stick to and inside the banana better.
Step 3: Mix everything together
This is the fun part, you get to mix everything together as much as possible. Feel like it’s too dry? Simply add a few more slices of banana and that will make everything moister and I’m sure your bunny will love it!
Step 4: Time to create the pocket!
Scoop out the banana mixture and put this into a layer of Plastic wrap / Cling Film and pop this in the fridge for about an hour.
