Eating herb plants!

[loppybun]

Hello.
So since I've last been on I've changed my bunnies names to Peter and Snoopy. They live outside in a shed and this winter their coats have grown extremely fluffy and thick. Anyway, today I let them out for the first time in a while because it was warmer today. Peter stayed inside eating Nd snoopy came out and stared eating loads of plants, including a tiny nibble of ivy which I hope he didn't swallow. Do they know what they're meant to eat? He won't eat the grass even though it has no pesticides or anything bad on It. Why is that?

 

[Aki]

No, they don't know what's good for them. Our rabbits haven't lived in the wild nor did their direct ancestors and they have no clue about what's poisonous (wild rabbits also know only about the things which can be found in their territory, if you introduce new plants they won't know if they are dangerous...). You have to watch them carefully when they are outside for this reason - years ago one of my guinea pigs poisoned himself eating a plant I hadn't noticed in the garden and died from it. I'm paranoid now and my rabbits only go in very controlled places (a playpen on the grass) when they are outside the house. It also depends on your rabbits : one of mine is as paranoid as I am and won't ever eat something she doesn't know even if I'm the one giving it to her (she waits till I've given the thing several times before touching it), whereas her husbunny is a complete idiot and will eat anything as long as it's close by. Men...

I can't tell you why your rabbit won't eat the grass. He probably doesn't like it much - some rabbits are picky eaters, and they have things they like more (mine love parsnip to death) and things they don't like much (mine don't like chard). I noticed that mine like things with a strong taste more, I guess grass is a bit bland ^^.

 

[Blue eyes]

Yup, you'll need to keep a close eye on what plants they have access to, including leaves blowing in from other areas. Ivy is toxic. Leaves from tomato vines are also.
Here is a list of safe and unsafe plants:
http://www.raising-rabbits.com/pet-safe-plants.html