What are the precautions for feeding vegetables to rabbits?

The water content of vegetables is about 85%, and their crude fiber content is low, giving them good palatability. Rabbits tend to overeat them. Feeding vegetable leaves to young rabbits within 90 days of age will cause diarrhea in the young rabbits within just a few days. If rabbits develop diarrhea after eating vegetables, stop feeding vegetables, increase the feeding of green hay and dry leaves, and mix 2% charcoal powder or 2% medicinal charcoal into the mixed feed or compound feed for treatment.

When the soil where vegetables are grown has been heavily fertilized with nitrogen, treated with herbicides, or when the vegetables are affected by pests, drought, or insufficient sunlight and turn red, their nitrate content increases. Rabbits overeat vegetable leaves and thus take in more nitrate, which irritates the gastric mucosa and causes gastroenteritis. After vegetables are affected by pests, trampled, frosted, piled up, and transported, especially in a damp and stuffy environment, the nitrate they contain can easily turn into the more toxic nitrite. A rabbit can be poisoned just by eating 100 grams of such vegetables, so these vegetable leaves should be fed with caution.

Cruciferous vegetables such as mustard greens, rapeseed, and radishes contain glucosinolates. Under the action of myrosinase, they can produce toxins such as nitriles, which can damage the rabbit's liver and kidneys. Therefore, cruciferous vegetables should be fed as little as possible. Feeding rabbits vegetables damaged by aphids and cabbage caterpillars can cause conjunctivitis, stomatitis, gastroenteritis, rhinitis, vaginitis, abdominal pain, and diarrhea in rabbits. While correctly feeding rabbits with vegetables, they should also be fed some feed with low water content (bran, etc.) and feed with high crude fiber content (dry leaves, etc.). The vegetables fed to rabbits should be fresh and free of dew.