emily13hsiao
Member
Is it ok for my rabbit to be eating grass in the yard? When I put her outside literally the only thing she does is eat grass all day. Is this gonna be unhealthy??
can rabbits eat grass outside
- Thread starter emily13hsiao
- Start date
Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:
The answer is both potentially yes and no.
Firstly, a rabbit that is not used to eating grass all day may have stomach upsets as a result which could lead to gut stasis. If however you were feeding grass before letting her out all day and she was used to it, it should be fine. However slow introductions starting from 5-10 minutes at a time, once a day leading up to several hours over a couple of weeks would be the way to go.
Secondly, it's important to know what your grass is. Most backyard grasses are perfectly safe, however there can be certain weeds in lawns/gardens (plus common garden plants) that are fatal if ingested by a rabbit. Before I first let Bandit out in my yard, I did a lot of research on the plants in the garden and the weeds in my lawn before just letting him go at it. It took a lot of online research, double-checking of resources for rabbit-safe plants before I was confident to let him out there. In addition to this, if any pesticides or herbicides are used on the lawn, this could also have a bad effect on your rabbit.
The third factor which should also seriously be considered, is if you're letting your rabbit out for the whole day largely unsupervised, you need to be aware that there's a risk of predators taking your rabbit, whether it be a bird, cat, fox or other depending on your location.
While I certainly encourage people to have their rabbits exercise outside and feed on lawn in such a way, just take care in the way that it's done. If you've only just started letting your rabbit out on the lawn, it's likely why she is gorging herself because it's a new amazing food that she wants to eat as much of as possible before she gets shut away again. If you make the trips outdoors regular, it's possible that she won't immediately resort to eating as much as she can as quickly as she can.
Firstly, a rabbit that is not used to eating grass all day may have stomach upsets as a result which could lead to gut stasis. If however you were feeding grass before letting her out all day and she was used to it, it should be fine. However slow introductions starting from 5-10 minutes at a time, once a day leading up to several hours over a couple of weeks would be the way to go.
Secondly, it's important to know what your grass is. Most backyard grasses are perfectly safe, however there can be certain weeds in lawns/gardens (plus common garden plants) that are fatal if ingested by a rabbit. Before I first let Bandit out in my yard, I did a lot of research on the plants in the garden and the weeds in my lawn before just letting him go at it. It took a lot of online research, double-checking of resources for rabbit-safe plants before I was confident to let him out there. In addition to this, if any pesticides or herbicides are used on the lawn, this could also have a bad effect on your rabbit.
The third factor which should also seriously be considered, is if you're letting your rabbit out for the whole day largely unsupervised, you need to be aware that there's a risk of predators taking your rabbit, whether it be a bird, cat, fox or other depending on your location.
While I certainly encourage people to have their rabbits exercise outside and feed on lawn in such a way, just take care in the way that it's done. If you've only just started letting your rabbit out on the lawn, it's likely why she is gorging herself because it's a new amazing food that she wants to eat as much of as possible before she gets shut away again. If you make the trips outdoors regular, it's possible that she won't immediately resort to eating as much as she can as quickly as she can.
emily13hsiao
Member
Thanks for info! Very helpful.
