Are carrots good for rabbits? Debunking Myths

Growing up I heard that carrots were a rabbits primary diet and only food, however, this could not be further from the truth. Don’t be fooled by click-bait titles that tell you that carrots are good for rabbits, the science behind it says otherwise!

Are carrots good for rabbits?

It really depends, carrots are not good for your rabbit on a daily basis or as a majority of their diet. Carrots should be considered a healthy treat that you provide a few times a week at maximum along with other vegetables.

Carrots are extremely high in fiber, calcium and Vitamin A. So they can be a great healthy snack, as such it’s all about finding the right balance in their diet.

Can I feed my rabbit carrots everyday?

No. You should not feed your rabbit carrots every day due to the extremely high natural sugar content. At most you should give your rabbit very small quantities of carrot at most a few times a week.

If your rabbit appears in good health, you may find that they’re completely fine to have a small nibble on some carrot every day, but given how fragile rabbits are it’s best not to risk it.

Fresh premium dust-extracted hay70-80%
Fruits & vegetables5-15%
Alfalfa Pellets5%
Breakdown of a rabbits diet [Source]

Can rabbits eat carrot tops?

Yes! Carrot tops are EXTREMELY healthy and really good for your rabbit. If you’ve got some carrot tops that don’t have any greens on them, simply pop them in some soil and leave them for a few days and you’ll find the top sprouts new greens!

But aren’t carrot tops poisonous?

No, the rumor that carrot tops are poisonous is completely untrue and can be ignored! This rumor stems from carrot tops containing high amounts of alkaloids that plenty of plants that grow in the ground contains. But they are perfectly safe and extremely nutritional.

My rabbit had carrot and got diarrhea!

Unfortunately when you give your rabbit carrots it’s always going to be susceptible to either soft stool or diarrhea, this is due to a carrots sugar contents being extremely high. If you pair this with other fruits and vegetables they have throughout the day it can cause issues with their gut and potentially cause GI Stasis.

Why do rabbits like carrot so much?

Rabbit licking lips for carrot
Link loves carrot! Look at that little tongue!

Bugs Bunny was wrong for loving carrots so much, rabbits are absolute monsters for eating sugary vegetable treats and with good reason! Many wild rabbits don’t come along carrots often unless they are human-grown and with how much sugar they contain it’s no wonder they get a rush when smelling them!

Unfortunately, due to the high amount of carrot intake some owners give their rabbits the RSPCA issued a notice that 11% of all rabbits have tooth decay. (Source – unfortunately a pay2view newspaper)

Nutritional value of Carrots

Whilst you should only give small portions of carrot to your rabbit, they do contain extremely good nutritional value per 100g of carrot.

Nutritional value of carrots per 100g

In terms of vitamins and minerals, Carrots are extremely high in Vitamin A, K1, B6, Potassium & Biotin. Carrots in general are extremely high in “Beta Carotene” which they convert into Vitamin A. Vitamin A is crucial for your rabbits growth and immune system.