You must have seen videos of people distracting their dogs with peanut butter while trimming their claws. It is a funny sight, especially when the human has a plastic sheet covered in peanut butter wrapped around their head. Hilarious.
It makes you wonder if you can teach your rabbit some tricks or train it using peanut butter. Before introducing any new food to your rabbit, you must research. So, can rabbits eat peanut butter?
Rabbits should avoid all things nutty. Feeding your bunny peanut butter is an unwise decision. Bunnies cannot digest complex foods with higher sugar, fats, and carbohydrates. Peanut butter is rich in these qualities. It is excellent for humans, not for rabbits.
All nuts have a high amount of energy and carbs, which is why people use them as instant power boosters and snacks in the middle of their day. A rabbit’s perfect diet consists of a balance between fiber, minerals, and sweets.
An imbalanced diet will create an unpleasant atmosphere for your bunny, filled with diseases, pain, and discomfort. Keep reading to learn how to keep your bunny happy and away from peanut butter.
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Why Are Peanuts Not Good For Your Rabbit?
Forget about peanut butter; feeding organic peanuts to your rabbit is not an excellent idea either. Mostly, processed food is a big no for your precious furry friend. However, when it comes to nuts, any form or shape, they are bad for your rabbit, and here is why:
- Peanuts contain aflatoxin that is harmful to your rabbit.
- This component in peanuts can cause your rabbit to suffer from lethargy, vomiting, and loss of appetite.
- Peanuts can be a choking hazard for your bunny. They are small in size and hard in texture. Your poor rabbit can try to swallow them whole and get in trouble.
- Peanuts carry good nutrients for your rabbit. However, harmful nutrients are more in number.
Now, think how harmful processed foods like peanut butter can be if organic peanuts can cause harm to your furry baby.
Nutritional Break Down of Peanut Butter
Peanut butter has many nutrients that are great for humans and animals. However, bunnies have sensitive digestive systems, and they cannot break down complex foods with high contents of sugar, fats, and carbohydrates. Let’s take a look at the nutritional value of peanut butter and see how it can harm your precious rabbit:
598 Kcal In 100g Of Peanut Butter
Peanut butter has a high level of calories. Rabbits do not have too much physical activity to utilize all of that. Yes, rabbits hop and zoom all the time, but it is not enough. Feeding peanut butter can result in an obese rabbit that can attract many other diseases.
High in Protein
A rabbit only needs 12 to 17 grams of protein in its daily diet of 100g. In contrast, peanut butter carries 22.2 grams of protein in 100g. A high protein level in a rabbit’s diet can cause intestinal problems that can be painful for your poor pet.
High-fat Food
Peanut butter has a high content of fat, 51.4g in 100 grams. Fatty foods can cause your rabbit to experience obesity, liver disease, and gut issues.
Low Fiber Content
Fiber is your bunny’s best friend. Your rabbit needs a tremendous amount of fiber for healthy bowel movements. Your bunny can experience blockage in its digestive system without a consistent fiber intake. Peanut butter lacks the optimal quantity of fiber needed by your furry friend.
Too Many Carbs
One hundred grams of peanut butter carries 22.3g of carbohydrates, which is too much for your rabbit. Carbs are complex elements and challenging for your rabbit to digest.
Low in Calcium
Peanut butter has low calcium, which is beneficial for your rabbit as too much calcium can cause your rabbit to develop kidney stones. However, if you compare other components, this one good thing is not enough to feed peanut butter to your bunny.
Too Much Sodium
Just as too much salt is bad for humans, it is the same for rabbits. One hundred grams of peanut butter contains 426g of sodium. Your bunny only needs 100mg of sodium.
Lack of Iron
Rabbits need sufficient iron, which peanut butter does not provide.
Adequate Phosphorus
Peanut butter provides optimal phosphorus for your rabbit but not enough to overshadow other unhealthy components.
Low Potassium
Rabbits require a lot of potassium that peanut butter does not contain.
Lack of Vitamins A, C, E, and D
Peanut butter has little to no vitamins mentioned above. Your bunny needs vitamins and minerals for a healthy and long life.
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Health Risks of Feeding Peanut Butter To Your Precious Pet
Feeding peanut butter to your rabbit cannot be a pretty sight. If not instantly, peanut butter causes severe harm to your precious furry friend gradually. Rabbits have a sensitive digestive system that can only digest certain foods and components. High fat, carbohydrates, and sugar do not fall on the list.
If you feed your bunny rabbit peanut butter, it will fall sick and experience discomfort, pain, and anxiety. Bunnies are emotional creatures and suffer from stress and anxiety when they get diseases.
Here are a few diseases peanut butter can induce in your poor furry bunny rabbit:
Diarrhea
Rabbits have fragile organs that get disrupted even by the slightest change in their diets. Peanut butter is a heavy food that can stress your poor rabbit’s stomach and intestines, causing diarrhea. If you notice your precious bunny passing runny or watery stool, your bunny has eaten something it is not supposed to.
GI Stasis
High-fat and high-carb foods can cause your rabbit’s gut flora to get disturbed. Peanut butter reacts with your rabbit’s healthy gut bacteria causing GI stasis and painful gas. Not treated or prevented can lead to organ failure and even death.
There are symptoms that you can keep an eye on before things worsen. Look out for depression, hunched posture, bruxism, and anorexia in your bunny to rule out GI stasis.
Uneaten Cecotropes
Rabbits produce fecal matter that carries the essential nutrients for their survival. Bunnies usually pass these when we are sleeping and eat them. If you notice softer fecal pellets around your rabbit, your precious furry friend is not eating its cecotropes, which means health issues.
If you notice your bunny experiencing any of the diseases mentioned above, contact your vet immediately. You might have fed your baby bunny some peanut butter hoping it would not react, but it has. Cease the supply of that delicious peanut butter and take your pet rabbit for a vet visit.
What If Your Rabbit Loves Peanut Butter?
Bunnies are helpless and voiceless creatures. They hardly know what is good and bad for their health. As a pet owner, you must research foods before introducing any to your pet rabbit. As grazing animals and lovers of chewing, rabbits eat anything they see.
Scrutinize and plan out the perfectly healthy diet for your precious rabbit after gaining plenty of knowledge about your bunny and its food habits. Ignore those big googly eyes and do whatever is best for your baby bunny rabbit.
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Other Unsafe Foods for Your Furry Friend
Apart from peanut butter, there are plenty of other foods that can cause severe harm to your precious bunny rabbit. Gather plenty of knowledge before feeding your pet rabbit anything new. Here is a list of foods that are bad for your bunny:
Seeds and Pips
Feeding seeds and pips to your bunny rabbit is a dangerous gamble. These foods can get stuck in your rabbit’s throat and cause a choking hazard.
Cereals and Dried Fruits
It is best to avoid foods that have high sugar and fat content. Keep your rabbit away from cereals, dried fruits, oatmeal, and crackers.
Avocados
Avocados contain persin, which can cause harm to your rabbit by inducing respiratory issues.
Pet Foods
Rabbits have a specific diet. You should feed no other pet food to a rabbit. Only feed hay, vegetables, and fruits to your precious bunny.
Iceberg Lettuce
Your rabbit can contract diarrhea and weakness from eating iceberg lettuce as it contains lactucarium.
Rhubarb
While eating rhubarb, your rabbit can develop tummy aches, lethargy, sore mouth, and bloatedness. That is because it hinders calcium absorption in your bunny’s body.
Chocolate
It is dangerous for your precious rabbit as it carries theobromine and caffeine that can cause diarrhea, heart failure, fever, and vomiting.
Potato Leaves
Potatoes as a vegetable are not toxic for your rabbit, but their leaves are poisonous. It is best to steer clear of any potato parts as they are high in starch.
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Final Word
Raising a rabbit is a big responsibility as they are voiceless and fragile creatures that require plenty of attention and care. It becomes easier to take care of your rabbit if you research foods before introducing them to your rabbit to avoid any unwanted diseases and vet visits.
Make sure your rabbit’s daily diet has 80-90% hay, 10-15% vegetable, and 5-10% fruits or flowers as a treat. You will be golden if you follow this pattern of meals!