Rabbits are adorable, furry companions that bring joy to households worldwide. As responsible bunny owners, ensuring their well-being involves providing a balanced and nutritious diet. For all rabbit owners, whether you are on a homestead, in a rural neighborhood, or have house bunnies, providing your bunnies with a balanced, nutrient-rich diet is crucial to their long-term health and happiness. As strict plant eaters, you may feel limited about what foods you can offer your bunny, but it isn’t so! Many unprocessed and raw plant foods are potential sources of nutrients for your rabbit. This includes bell peppers! That’s right, mature rabbits can eat bell peppers.
One common question that arises is, “Can rabbits eat bell peppers?” Here, we will discuss the nutritional aspects of bell peppers for rabbits, the benefits, potential risks, and tips for incorporating this colorful vegetable into their diet.
Facts and Nutrition about Bell Peppers
Although many people think of bell peppers as veggies, they are technically fruits, so we will treat them as such when discussing bell peppers and rabbits. The bell pepper fruit is from the Capsicum annuum plant, a mild and sweet variety of the Capsicum genus. This plant is known for its spicy peppers. There are four colors of mild bell peppers: green, orange, red, and yellow.
Nutritional Contents of Bell Peppers per 100g
| Bell Peppers Colour | Protein | Dietary | Water Content | Sugar |
| Green | 0.72g | 0.9g | 94.1g | 4.78g |
| Orange | 0.88g | 1g | 91.9g | 6.7g |
| Red | 0.9g | 1.2g | 91.9g | 6.65g |
| Yellow | 0.82g | 1.1g | 92.1g | 6.6g |
Charming Rabbits Indulging in Bell Pepper Treats
While bell peppers offer rabbits essential nutrients, the very low fiber content and high sugar and water content across all bell peppers mean that an excess of bell peppers in your rabbit’s diet can result in serious health issues due to their biology and unique digestive system. Rabbits require a large number of foods that are high in fiber and low in sugar content. Orchard hay, Timothy hay, or other high-quality hay should comprise 75-80% of your bunny’s daily diet.
Another 10-15% of your rabbit’s diet can be premium rabbit pellets offering unique nutrients and proteins. Finally, we recommend all fruit, veggie, and leafy green treats and supplements as only 5-10% of your rabbit’s diet. This affords a diverse, tasty mix for your bunnies without putting them at risk of an unbalanced diet or health issues.
What you think Can Rabbits Eat Bell Peppers Everyday?
We do not recommend offering your bunny bell peppers daily, especially orange ones, as they contain the most sugar. Instead, opt for a balanced practice of 1-2 bell pepper slices every other or third day. We have done this with our rabbits for years, allowing us to offer them a wide range of rabbit-safe fruits while ensuring they continue with a fiber-focused diet.
Additional Considerations
1. Can Rabbits Eat Bell Pepper Stems
Yes, your rabbit can eat the green stems of bell pepper fruit. Note that the stem is more fibrous and may be more difficult for your rabbit to digest. We don’t suggest offering the bell pepper stem to rabbits with sensitive stomachs.
2. Can Rabbits Eat Bell Pepper Seeds
Yes, bell pepper seeds are harmless to rabbits and pass through their digestive system without issues. Although washing the bell pepper is a great idea before offering it to your rabbit, you do not need to remove the seeds.
3. Can Rabbits Eat Pepper Plants
Don’t worry if your rabbit got into the garden and ate a few leaves. Rabbits can safely nibble on the leaves of bell pepper plants. However, the stem is more fibrous and not as tasty, so your rabbits will most likely leave it alone. And for this reason, we do not recommend offering the stem to your bunnies.
4. Can Rabbits Eat Sweet Mini & Spicy Peppers
While sweet mini peppers are not toxic to rabbits, we do not recommend offering them to your rabbits because of their high sugar content. It’s better to stick to big bell peppers instead.
Offering rabbits spicy peppers is a big NO. The capsaicin (spicy, acidic compound) within spicy peppers will cause havoc on the sensitive digestive system of your rabbit, unbalancing gut bacteria and stomach pH. Never offer spicy peppers to your bunnies!
Things to Consider for Baby Bunnies
Baby Bunnies younger than 12 weeks have incredibly sensitive digestive systems and should not eat bell peppers or any part of the pepper plant. Instead, wait until your baby rabbit matures (reaches 12 weeks of age) and then slowly introduce this fruit treat to them. Start by offering only 1-2 cubes of bell pepper and observe their reaction to this new food.
If they seem to like it and don’t exhibit negative effects within 24 hours, you can slowly add bell peppers as part of their diet’s 5-10% fruit and veggie component. And as always, slow food introduction is the best way for rabbits to be introduced to fresh foods safely.
Frequently Asked Question
Can Rabbits Eat Peppers And Tomatoes?
Peppers and tomatoes are from the same Nightshade plant family. It is true that some of the fruits in this family are poisonous, however, both peppers and tomatoes are rabbit-safe fruits that can be fed to mature rabbits.
Can Rabbits Eat Sweet Peppers?
All sweet peppers are non-toxic for rabbits. However, as a responsible owner, you must limit the amount of sweet peppers your rabbits ingest due to their high water and sugar content.
Wrap Up
Bell peppers are a great fruit treat and dietary supplement for mature rabbits. Feel free to mix these colorful mild peppers into the weekly fruit, veggie, and leafy green supplements offered to your bunnies. Just remember, any spicy or hot pepper is a big no-go for rabbits, and baby rabbits should only be ingesting mother’s milk, some hay, and appropriate rabbit pellets until they reach full maturity!