Yes! Rabbits can eat cherries, but only as an occasional treat.
Cherries are a good, nutritious food treat for rabbits. Rabbits always like to eat sweet, juicy fruits and vegetables.
When introducing fruits, such as cherries, to rabbits, you need to start with a small amount so that their stomachs have time to adjust.
Steps for feeding cherries to rabbits
- Buy high-quality cherries for your rabbits.
- Carefully wash it to clean the dirt and pesticides.
- Remove the pit and the little stalk. They are poisonous to rabbits.
- Give a small amount of cherries.
Do Rabbits like to eat cherries?
Cherries are mainly categorized as sweet cherries and sour cherries. All of them are rich in nutritional value.
But sweet cherries are higher in sugar content than sour cherries. It is best to give a smaller number of sugary cherries to rabbits.
Cherries are rich in carbohydrates, sugars, dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium, iron, magnesium, and manganese.
The problem is that rabbits like sweet foods and will end up overeating them. Cherries contain a high sugar content. Overfeeding them can cause serious health issues.
Overfeeding Cherries to your rabbits can have risks
- Gastrointestinal Stasis: Overfeeding cherry to rabbits instead of hay could induce Gastrointestinal Stasis from a lack of fiber.
- Diarrhea: Diarrhea is also possible when rabbit owners overfeed large amounts of cherries to their rabbits too fast. Always introduce any new diet to your rabbits slowly.
- Dental problems: Due to the sugar content of cherries, feeding your rabbits large amounts of them could lead to dental problems.
- Obesity: Overfeeding cherries to older rabbits, whose metabolism is slower, could lead to obesity due to the high sugar content of cherries.
Only give cherries 1-2 times per week in small amounts.
Rabbits that are less than 7 months old should not be given sugary treats like cherries to avoid triggering any digestive problems.
Feeding dried cherries to your rabbit will hurt your rabbit’s digestive system
Before giving cherries to your rabbits, make sure to remove the seeds because they’re poisonous to rabbits due to their cyanide content.
Cherry stems, pits, and leaves have poisonous compounds like cyanide. We must take all precautions to remove those before feeding the rabbits.
Cherries are a safe, good-healthy, nutritious fruit for rabbits, as long as we provide cherries as an occasional treat.
