Radishes?

[yramnot]

I was wondering if it's safe to give rabbits whole radishes instead of just the greens. I've got a parrot, and I encourage her to eat radishes because of the calcium content. Obviously, though, the bird doesn't need a whole radish. I usually give her a single leaf and a few 1-cubic-inch blocks. As a result, I'm left with a lot of spare radish that I don't much care to eat personally. I may have a radish from time to time, but I don't like them enough to eat what my bird won't.

So, I've taken to giving the leftover radishes to my rabbits, taproot and all. I only give them every other day, and although the rabbits seem to prefer the tops, they will eat the taproots once everything else is gone. I haven't observed any problems so far, but that doesn't necessarily mean something's not going on that I can't see. So, is there a reason why I shouldn't give them the whole radish?

 

[MikeScone]

Quite a few food lists for rabbits say that only the tops are good, but I couldn't find much information on why. One said that radishes give them gas. Other references said the roots are fine. None said they were actually toxic.

I suspect that like most veggies, the reaction depends on the rabbit. Try small quantities and see.

 

[treasuresandstuff]

I have fed raddishes to a dutch I had a long time ago and she had no issues at all, I did have issues with them being fed to guinea pigs though. (shrug)