bunnies and popcorn?

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Lover_Of_Lopz

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My bunn Summer loves popcorn!!! but can she have it?well she already eats it but is it good for her?its the extra light butter and fat kind here is a pick of her in heaven:p



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----LOL:apollo:

 
Well.........I wouldn't put a bowl that size in front of her!! My Scooter loves popcorn too (Sparky spit hers out). When daddy fixes a bowl for himself, she gets one piece as a treat.
 
That is so cute and hillarious! However, I don't think it would be very good for her to have much at all. I know unpopped kernels can be irritating in the gut, and the high starch/carb content of popcorn isn't good for the rabbit's digestive tract. Because a rabbit evolved to survive off grass, small shrubs, etc, it's not equipped to digest carbohydrates. The high carb content of many things slows the gut down so that it stops moving things through as quickly, which could lead to stasis. Also, large amounts of carbs can cause an imbalance of the beneficial GI bacteria, leading to diarrhea.

So, I would put popcorn in the same category as cereal, bread crusts, Cheez-its (my guys will maul your face for them!), and other carb-y treats. Give very rarely and in small amounts to avoid GI upset. Bunnies love these things, but they are just like potato chips are to us. I let my guys have 1-2 pieces of these high carb treats a week (not toast, though. maybe a nibble of the crust). You can try lots of healthier treats, like dried and fresh fruit. My guys love apple, banana, papaya, mango, and cranberries. Some bunnies also go nuts for veggies which are a very good treat because they're very healthy. My guys love broccoli so much it's like a treat to them.
 
Lover_Of_Lopz wrote:
My bunn Summer loves popcorn!!! but can she have it?well she already eats it but is it good for her?its the extra light butter and fat kind here is a pick of her in heaven:p



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----LOL:apollo:

This a bIg NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The picture is not cute to me but frightening
very bad fora rabbit.....



 
As you can see, many folks are worried about your bun's health...

Sadly, corn is not a very good "vegetable" for rabbits, as it is a grain. Rabbits don't digest really starchy grains like corn very well. Popcorn is what you get when the starch in a corn kernal is heated.. the starch explodes.
I know she's interested, but it could really hurt her tummy (enough to wind up at the vet). Rabbits should also not be digesting butter (dairy, and high fat aren't good for buns).

A better treat for her would be a few Cheerios, dried cranberries, apple peels...
Here are lists of rabbit safe foods from the House Rabbit Society to help you choose good treats for your buns:
http://www.rabbit.org/care/veggies.html
http://www.rabbit.org/care/fruits.html

I hope you can choose a bunny-healthy snack more easily now :)
 
I didn't mean to be mean :X Lover of Lopz .... so I'm sorry that I was so harsh .....

please don't take it personally

it's just that the image of a bunny in front of a bowl of popcorn is such an unhealthy one
I will confess that 15 yrs ago I used to feed my first rabbit Sheba little pieces of what ever I was eating which included popcorn, cake, cookies etc.
but since then I've learned so much about the their GI tracts that I would never feed that stuff again.

SoI guess thatIshould just have said that it's not a healthy treat ...
andI hope that you forgive me for being a snappy witch :biggrin2:
 
It's really cute that she loves it and I would let my bun have a bit too, but just a bit. It's not the greatest for them, so, in moderation(Minor moderation;))should be ok.;)
 
angieluv wrote:
I didn't mean to be mean :X Lover of Lopz .... so I'm sorry that I was so harsh .....

please don't take it personally

it's just that the image of a bunny in front of a bowl of popcorn is such an unhealthy one
I will confess that 15 yrs ago I used to feed my first rabbit Sheba little pieces of what ever I was eating which included popcorn, cake, cookies etc.
but since then I've learned so much about the their GI tracts that I would never feed that stuff again.

SoI guess thatIshould just have said that it's not a healthy treat ...
andI hope that you forgive me for being a snappy witch :biggrin2:

No its ok ,now I know that I should not feed this to my bunn :pyou were not harsh you just told the truth:biggrin2:
 
I know it's bad for buns, but whenever I make popcorn, I always give each bun a little bit of it. I always pick around for the least greasy, white bit that I can find.
 
Use an air popcorn popper, and that way, there's no butter on the popcorn (if you are absolutely focused on giving the bun a bit of popcorn).
You can probably find one at the goodwill store, or at a yard sale this spring.
Healthier for YOU too :)
 
I wouldn't give microwave popcorn...that's probably not a good idea (ok..full disclosure...I have given in and given a very small piece...ONE)

but air popped pocorn is a whole different matter!

Lola LOVES popcorn...while the bowl you have used is a tad large...a handful is a little more appropriate

as soon as Lola hears the popper (it's kinda hard to miss!) she's right at her bowl and if you don't cough it up she's turns into Devil Bunny!

no salt, no butter..and just a handful!

Lola is now almost two and has popcorn as often as we do...usually two/three times a week.
 
I know it's already been said, but popcorn is dangerous... About 10 years ago, a friend of our family's bunny died suddenly on Christmas of all days. The devastated owners took their bunny to the vet to have a necropsy, and her tummy was full of popcorn kernels. Of course they hadn't fed her unpopped popcorn, but there's always those little hard pieces in the center and the bunny didn't digest them well, they just accumulated and eventually killed her. The owners didn't feed her popcorn all the time or anything either. This rabbit may have been an exception, but it seems so risky. I wouldn't feed popcorn, butter and salt or not.
 
My bunn Summer loves popcorn!!! but can she have it?well she already eats it but is it good for her?its the extra light butter and fat kind here is a pick of her in heaven:p



zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz375.jpg



zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz376.jpg




----LOL:apollo:
I laughed out loud when I read that response. Thank you, I needed that.
 
I know it's already been said, but popcorn is dangerous... About 10 years ago, a friend of our family's bunny died suddenly on Christmas of all days. The devastated owners took their bunny to the vet to have a necropsy, and her tummy was full of popcorn kernels. Of course they hadn't fed her unpopped popcorn, but there's always those little hard pieces in the center and the bunny didn't digest them well, they just accumulated and eventually killed her. The owners didn't feed her popcorn all the time or anything either. This rabbit may have been an exception, but it seems so risky. I wouldn't feed popcorn, butter and salt or not.

Listen to this person! They know what they are talking about!
 

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