If you are thinking about getting a rabbit, the first question on your mind would be what to feed it. Your pet rabbit’s health depends heavily on its nutrition and environment. Many rabbit diseases are related to their diet, so you may be wondering if pet rabbits can eat celery.
You may have a vague idea about a bunny’s diet. Rabbits are herbivores and can eat quite a variety of plants, fruits, and vegetables. They can eat all types of grasses, bark, sprouts, and twigs. However, you may not want to feed your rabbit these wild goodies. You may want to utilize what you have in your refrigerator or what you can easily get at your local market. One of the popular vegetables for bunnies is celery.
Celery is widely available and it is a favorite with many rabbit owners. Additionally, celery also contains compounds that are considered phytochemicals. Research has indicated that these compounds are excellent for cancer prevention and maintaining a healthy blood pressure. As such celery is counted among the superfoods. You may have quite a few questions about it. Here we will attempt to answer the questions you may have on how good celery is for pet bunnies.
How healthy is celery for your bunny?
Celery is a pretty healthy vegetable. It is long and light green in color, and it it is also low in calories and carbohydrate content. It comes naturally full of vitamins and minerals that are good for your rabbit. Celery has vitamin C, Manganese, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Folate, and Phosphorous. It has a very high water content. So your bunny gets some extra hydration from celery. It is fat-free, so if your bunny consumes it, you don’t have to worry about any extra weight gain. The real MVP in celery is Phosphorous. Phosphorous is essential for strong bones in rabbits. If rabbits do not get phosphorous, calcium and vitamin D they develop a bone disease called rickets. Rickets is a disease caused by a weakening of the bones. Calcification does not happen properly in the bones resulting in the increased likelihood of bone-related injury. So celery is a good dietary choice for your rabbit.
Is celery safe for your rabbit?
In order to accurately answer this question, you have to dissect the celery as it were. The celery plant consists of the leaves, the stalk, and the roots.
The leaves as you would expect are easy for a rabbit to chew and does not present any kind of choking hazard. So if you strip off the leaves and feed it to your bunny, you can rest easy.
Stalks are a bit more tricky. Yes, your rabbit can eat celery stalks. However, a bit of preparation is needed first. It is advised that you cut the talks into small manageable bite-size pieces.
The roots of the celery plant are also an edible option for rabbits. They are soft and easy for the rabbit to eat although it is not as tasty as the leaves and stalk.
How much celery should I give my rabbit?
Rabbits should have a pretty diverse diet so that they can get the vitamins and minerals that they require for optimum health.
A rabbit’s diet can be divided into 4 categories.
- Hay and grasses
- Green leafy salads
- Supplements
- Treats
The rule is that about 85 percent of a rabbits diet should be grasses and hay. So celery falls into the green leafy salad category. So while you can feed your rabbit celery, you are encouraged not to overdo it. Your rabbit can have small amounts of celery every day. However, some pet owners prefer to give their rabbit celery every other day.
How should I introduce celery into my rabbit’s diet
If you are planning to introduce celery to your rabbit, it’s advised that you do slowly and in very quantities. You may try them with a little bit of leaves at first. Your rabbit may do a lot of smelling and little nibbles. You can also offer them little bits of the roots. Your rabbit may or may not like celery. Not all rabbits like celery, so I guess it comes down to a matter of personal taste.
However, if you introduce celery to your bunny’s rabbit, you should carefully monitor how your pet responds. Look out for signs of gastric distress like loose stool. If diarrhea persists, your rabbit may be having an allergic reaction. So you should stop feeding him or her celery. However, if your rabbit has an episode or two of loose stool and then their bowel movements regularize. It is safe to keep it in your bunny’s diet.
Is celery safe for baby rabbits?
If you are the grandparent of baby rabbits, you may be concerned about what to feed them. Accordingly, if you are feeding your adult rabbits celery, you may wonder if it is safe for the kittens. Yes, baby rabbits are called kits or kittens. Who knew right? The answer is simple. No, celery is not safe for your baby rabbit. Baby rabbits drink their mother until their 7th week of life. After that, you can try them with some pellets, grasses, and hay. Always monitoring how their digestive track deals with their new diet.
What are the different ways you can feed celery to your rabbit?
You may be thinking that there is only one way to serve your rabbit celery, but this is not true. You can give them their celery treats in a few different ways.
- Mix fresh celery in with hay – As you mentioned before most of a rabbits diet is suppose to consist of hay and grasses. However, you can improve the flavor by adding celery to the hay, creating a flavored mix that your pet rabbit will enjoy.
- Dried celery – Of course rabbits like dry grass or hay, so it is no surprise that your pet bunny may enjoy dried celery leaves as well.
If you are interested in drying celery leaves for your bunnies, here are some methods that you can use.
- Firstly, cut the leaves from the stalk.
- Wash the leaves and allow to air dry, then place on a clean rack or dish. Here arrange the leaves so that they are not touching each other.
- After approximately 5 days, the leaves should be dry and ready for your rabbit’s consumption.
Or
You can speed up the process by using a dehydrator or an oven to speed up the process of drying. You will have to pay attention to temperature settings so that you do not burn your celery leaves.
- Small chunks of fresh celery – You can cut the stalk into small one inch pieces and feed your rabbit. This length is pretty safe.
How do I remove pesticides from celery?
Pesticides can be very harmful to rabbits. So, if your celery is not organically grown, you will want to know how to remove pesticides from the celery. You can follow these steps.
- Procure a large bowl and fill it with water.
- Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to the water and mix well.
- Place your celery into the bowl and allow it to soak for 2 minutes.
- Use a vegetable scrubbing brush and give the celery a gentle scrub.
- Rinse the celery thoroughly under the tap.
What can I do if my rabbit is choking on a celery stalk?
Despite your best efforts, your poor bunny may choke on a celery stalk. Celery stalks tend to have strings that may become choking hazards for rabbits.
So if this happens to your rabbit, you need to know what to do and act quickly.
So, firstly, you will need to be able to recognize the signs of a choking rabbit.
Here are the signs that may indicate that your rabbit is choking:
- Heavy gaspy breathing
- A gurgling at the back of the rabbit’s throat
- Mouth pawing coupled with a chewing motion
- Blue gums due to lack of oxygen
So my first suggestion is to get your animal to a veterinary clinic as quickly as you can. If you do not live close to a vet, it may be in your best interest to learn how to do the rabbit Heimlich maneuver.
Now bear in mind that your rabbit may be panicking. You need to get a firm grip of your rabbit.
- Hold your bunny so that his leg straddles your arm, hold him firmly, hold his head and pin your rabbit with your arm, applying pressure to his back
- Lift him above your head and swing him quickly in a downward motion.
It is important that you master this technique before trying it on your rabbit. If performed incorrectly, it can do more harm than good. Here is a three minute youtube video that shows in great detail how to perform this technique on a rabbit.
So, what remains clear that celery can be consumed by adult rabbits and has great nutritional value. They can eat it both dry and fresh for variety. However, small quantities are recommended since grass and hay are the main staples in a bunny’s diet. A balanced diet is essential for your rabbit’s good health and celery can certainly be a part of it.