posted by admin on Feb 15
If you want to give your rabbit or guinea pig (or other small animal) a natural treat - head outside!
There are plenty of foods that may well be growing on your garden that will make a tasty treat to your little fluffy pets! Alongside their normal complete foods - there is no harm in offering a small amount of certain plants that may well already be growing in your back garden - and if anything, they will actually do some good!
Don’t worry if your garden isn’t overflowing with the following plants, as you could easily grow them from seed yourself. Or read through the other relevant Quick Guides to find wild plants and fallen nuts to find other safe natural foods for your rodents and rabbits!
However, also check the Dangerous Plants Quick Guide for things to avoid - and if in doubt about whether you should feed a certain plant, seed, berry or nut you have found - say NO and pick something else instead. There will be plenty of nice things to pick out there so don’t risk it!
Tasty Garden Plants:
Most bunnies and piggies get the freedom of munching grasses and lawns through the summer, so will get a lot of these treats along the way, but there may be some that are on uneven ground or around the garden edges that they would love - but can’t reach!
Clovers - Commonly found on most lawns mixed in with the low grasses. In May to October you can spot their flowers - usually white, pinky or all pink with 3-part leaves across patches of lawn. The flower and leaves are super tasty!
Daisys - Easy to spot in the garden and flowering from May through the summer. Common daisys are quite small and low to the ground, but the Oxeye daisy is huge and can grow up to 60cm tall on garden edges and in taller grasses. Other daisy-looking plants (yellow centre with white leaves) may well be camomiles and are also very welcome!
Dandilion - Everyone’s favourite garden plant as they make the familiar ‘clocks’ when they disperse their seeds! Many meticulate gardeners call this juicy flower a ‘weed’ but your rabbits and pigs - as well as hamsters and gerbils - will wolf this down given half the chance! Both the leaves and flowers are edible - but don’t pick these from along the pavement as they may be contaminated. Stick to those flowering in your garden over the warmer months!
Plantain - These low leaves are around all year in quite a thick group and can be picked all year too - however the tall flowers only pop up in the summer when you can notice them towering above the grass with a heavy head on top. People usually pick them to tie in a knot and fire the ‘head’ off at a friend! But feeding them to bunny is better use of nature!
Nettles - Obviously a tricky customer, and not found in very tidy gardens - these plants will not sting you when they are young and can be picked without gloves, but better to be safe than sore! Your pets won’t feel the effects as much as we do - but other animals depend on flowering nettle plants (as with all other flowers) so don’t clear your garden in 1 sitting - just take a few springs at a time to allow the plant to recover!
Chickweed - These lovely white flowers spring up all over the bare patches in your flower beds and there will be plenty of them too! However, there are a lot of similar plants, like stitchworts that won’t be as tasty - so make sure you pick the right ones. Their leaves are large too and can fill a little pigs tummy nicely!
But remember - don’t give too much fresh food at a time. Too much will not only upset their tummy, but it will also stop them eating their complete foods with all the vitamins and minerals in!
They only have a small tummy too, so what ever they don’t eat that same day will die overnight and will be wasted - and that could have been eaten or used by wild animals instead - or picked by you at a later date.