It is common knowledge among rabbit owners that a house rabbit’s diet should mainly be composed of fresh hay and water. Vegetables and greens are an important addition, providing vitamins and minerals that might otherwise be missed out on. But what place do fruits have in your rabbit’s diet?
In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about whether you should include peaches in your rabbit’s diet. After looking at their nutritional values and toxicity, we will also share the best way to start feeding peaches to your rabbit – and what parts of a peach are safe for your rabbit to eat. By the time you are finished reading, you’ll have a clear picture of how peaches can affect your rabbit’s health and well-being
Yes! Rabbits Can Eat Peaches
We are happy to report that peaches a safe food to feed your rabbit! The skins and flesh of these sweet fruits are highly prized across the world, and a favorite food of spoiled rabbits everywhere.
Peaches Nutrition and Fun Facts
Originating in Northwest China, the venerable peach has found its way across the entire world. Able to grow within a wide variety of climatic conditions, they are a popular fruit crop. Relatives of the peach include nectarines, plums, cherries, and apricots.
Peaches’ nutritional value is skewed towards just one thing: Sugar! According to Nutritionvalue.org, peaches contain nearly 9 grams of pure sugar per 100 grams of fruit. This makes them one of the sweetest naturally occurring foods that you could choose to feed your rabbit.
Health Benefits of Peaches for Rabbits
Being scant in vitamins and minerals, peaches have no true physical health benefits for your rabbit. However, their value as a comfort food should not be underestimated! Especially for rabbits that are having a hard time adjusting to a new home or living situation, judicious servings of sweets can help them feel more comfortable and at ease in their new surroundings.
Can Peaches Be Bad for Rabbits?
As with any highly sugary food, peaches will be detrimental to your rabbit’s health in large doses. This comes mainly as a result of their negative effect on your rabbit’s delicate balance on gut bacteria. Feeding them too much sugar can prevent proper digestion, leading to potentially dangerous or fatal consequences.
How to Feed Peaches to Your Rabbits
While the skins and flesh of peaches are perfectly safe for rabbits to consume, peach pits contain a small amount of cyanide and should never be fed to your rabbit. For this reason, you should always remove peach pits before serving the flesh and skin to your rabbit.
How Much Peach Should I Feed My Rabbit?
Because peaches contain no nutrients essential to a rabbit’s nutrition and health, they should be kept as an occasional treat. Feed them to your rabbit no more than once per week. Aim to provide only a few mouthfuls, as any more than this can quickly cause gastrointestinal distress.
Types of Peaches to Feed Your Rabbit
For all produce that you’re selecting to feed your rabbit, look only for those that are organically grown. This will avoid the waxes and pesticides found on non-organic produce that can seriously harm your rabbit’s immune and digestive health.
In addition, you should only feed fresh foods to your rabbit. Their digestive systems are not capable of safely handling processed foods. This means avoiding canned, stewed, and frozen peaches.
Summary
Peaches are completely safe to feed to your rabbit, even though they may not provide any definite health benefit. Because of their high sugar content, we recommend feeding them to your rabbit only on special occasions. Always remove the pits, as these can be harmful or fatal to your rabbit if eaten.
Featured Image: Margo Lipa from Pixabay
