What Treats Can Rabbits Eat?
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Treats for a rabbit are small pieces of herbs, leafy greens and the odd bit of fruit, given on top of a diet that is mostly hay. A treat is an extra, and the size of the piece matters more than the item.
Hay comes first
The Merck Veterinary Manual and VCA Hospitals both describe grass hay as the base of a rabbit's diet, and every treat sits well above it. A rabbit with a full rack of hay will still take a treat, so enthusiasm is no guide to the right amount. Look at the rack instead: if the hay is still sitting there by evening because treats came first, the balance has tipped.
Pick up a handful of the hay itself. Good hay smells like cut grass and runs from green to gold; hay that is dusty, damp or gray should go in the compost, not the rack. The hay is the food, and everything else on this page is decoration on top of it.
This is why the first question about a treat is how much it displaces. A rabbit that fills up on a dried apple ring has less room for the stalks that do the daily work.
Herbs, flowers and leafy greens
The treats that cost nothing are the best place to begin. A pot of cilantro or basil on the windowsill gives a rabbit a few leaves a day, and the smell is half the reward. Dandelion leaves and flowers from a yard that has never been sprayed with anything work the same way. Rinse them, shake them dry and hand them over; wet leaves go limp in a hutch.
Merck Veterinary Manual and VCA Hospitals both include fresh vegetables in a rabbit's daily diet, so greens are less a treat than a second food group. VCA lists parsley and dandelion greens among the ones to feed in limited amounts, so keep those to a few leaves and vary the herbs for the pleasure of it. Offer one new leaf at a time, a few days apart, so you know which one the rabbit likes.
A sprig as long as your hand, or three or four leaves, is plenty for a handful of seconds of attention. Hand it over before you put the rest in the bowl, because a rabbit learns quickly who brings the leaves and starts to wait at the front of the hutch when you come into the room.
Dried fruit and how small a piece is
Fruit is where treats go wrong, because rabbits love it. USDA FoodData Central lists raw apple with skin at about 10.4 grams of sugars per 100 grams and raw banana at about 12.2 grams. Drying removes the water and leaves the sugar behind, so a dried piece carries more per gram than the fresh slice it came from.
Size the piece against your own hand. A dried apple ring torn to the size of a thumbnail is a treat, and a whole ring is a lot. Offer fruit by hand and after the hay has been eaten from, not before. Rabbits will take a bigger piece every time it is offered, and that is the trade off: the rabbit sets the pace and you set the portion.
Merck Veterinary Manual and VCA Hospitals both place fruit in the occasional category. This page gives a size and leaves the frequency to you and the people who care for your rabbit, since rabbits differ and a fixed schedule would be our invention.
Store bought rabbit treats
Read a bag of rabbit treats like any other bag: ingredient line first, picture last. The shortest line is a dried herb, a dried flower or hay pressed into a shape, and it is the closest match to what a rabbit already eats. Treats built from seeds, grains and sweeteners say nothing about hay. Bright colored pieces tell you about the buyer's eye, and the ingredient line tells you about the rabbit.
Check the animal named on the pack as well. A treat made for another small pet is built around that animal, and a hamster mix is not a rabbit mix.
The rabbit treats collection on this site sorts what is on offer. The range is small today and grows as makers join, so check back.
Sniff and Shift, which owns this site, makes freeze dried and air dried treats for dogs and cats only, so nothing from the house line is suggested for a rabbit. A household with a dog as well will find those in the Sniff and Shift treats collection.
Foods to leave out
Chocolate, bread, crackers, cereal bars and anything sweetened for people stay out of the hutch. VCA Hospitals says cookies, nuts, seeds, grains and bread should never be fed to rabbits, and Merck Veterinary Manual names chocolate and high salt or high fat treats among the foods to keep from them; each keeps a fuller list than this page can, so read them before you offer something that is not on a rabbit shop's shelf.
A short written list on the fridge helps in a house with guests, because a visitor who loves the rabbit will want to share a cracker. Put the answer where they can read it.
When a food is not on either list and you do not recognize it, leave it out and ask a licensed professional who cares for your rabbit. A guinea pig in the house changes some of the answers: what treats can guinea pigs eat covers it, and treats for small pets sorts every small animal at once.
Common questions
Can rabbits eat carrots as a treat?
Many rabbits take carrot, but VCA Hospitals says it is high in carbohydrates and should be fed sparingly. Offer a thin slice and keep it occasional.
How big should a rabbit treat be?
About the size of your thumbnail for dried fruit, and a few leaves at a time for fresh herbs. When in doubt, go smaller and offer a second piece later.
Can rabbits eat bread or crackers?
They stay out of the hutch. Bread and crackers are made for people, and VCA Hospitals says bread and grains should never be fed to rabbits. A leaf of cilantro does the same job as a treat.
Why does my rabbit ignore hay when treats are around?
A sweet treat is more interesting than a stalk, so the rabbit waits for it. Offer treats after the hay is half gone, and cut the piece smaller. Hay stays full and fresh all day.
