Rabbits are known for munching on greens, carrots, and hay. But what about fruit? Blackberries are a delicious summer treat, and when they’re in season, you might want to share. If you want to feed your rabbit blackberries, go ahead! Just make sure to keep them as an occasional treat. Blackberries are fine for your rabbit in moderation.
Blackberry Serving Size
Blackberry Serving SizeRabbits are herbivores that eat all sorts of plants, including fruits. Adding blackberries to your rabbit’s diet can be a great idea. They are a healthy treat that’s full of vitamins and minerals. However, you do want to be careful about feeding your rabbit too much. Rabbits aren’t built to handle too much sugar. Giving your rabbit too many berries might throw off digestive bacteria, cause weight gain, or affect your rabbit’s stool.
We recommend feeding your rabbit berries every few days at most. When you do give your rabbit berries, give a maximum of one tablespoon of berries for every two pounds of body weight. That’s about one large berry or two small berries. You can also feed your rabbit one or two berries as a special treat here and there, just to be safe.
What About Leaves and Stems?
Blackberry brambles are great for your rabbit. The leaves, stems, and bushes make delicious and healthy snacks. Many rabbits love to eat berry leaves, which are a healthy addition to your rabbit’s diet. Rabbits can even safely eat thorny stems! You can cut fresh leaves for your rabbit to eat, or you can let your rabbit out to graze if you have berry bushes in your yard.
There’s one big caveat, though. Many berry brambles are covered in pesticides! If you don’t know how a blackberry bush has been treated, or if you use pesticide in your garden, it’s better to be safe than sorry. You don’t want to get your rabbit sick by letting it eat plants grown using pesticides.
Do Wild Rabbits Eat Blackberries?
Blackberries grow wild in many places across North America, including the Northeastern United States and the Pacific Coast. There are also blackberry species native to Europe. It’s not surprising that many wild rabbits eat blackberries. In the wild, they’ll eat blackberry brambles in the spring, summer, and fall. It’s a great food source for most of the year. They might also eat some berries when they are ripe in the summer. Because they can only eat low-hanging berries and only for a few months of the year, most wild rabbits don’t get to eat too many blackberries. Even though it isn’t a big part of rabbit cuisine, berries are a natural food to give your bunny at home.
Other Berries to Feed Your Bunny
Along with blackberries, you can feed your bunny most types of berries. Just like blackberries, you want to keep servings small. You don’t want to feed your bunny berries every day. Rabbits can eat raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, along with blackberries.
Last Thoughts
As you can see, blackberries are a great source of vitamins and a delicious sweet treat that your rabbit will love! It is a fairly healthy treat in small amounts, but overfeeding blackberries isn’t ideal. They have too much sugar to be a healthy food for your bunny on a daily basis. If you do choose to feed your bunny blackberries, though, it is sure to enjoy them.
