Should rabbits eat tomato greens?

[Miss M]

If he won't take oatmeal or hay, you can throw all the rabbit-safe foods you can think of at him. Small amounts of carrot, raisins, dark green lettuce. If you have blackberry, raspberry, or rose bushes, he can have the stems (called canes) and leaves. Strawberry leaves, and even mock strawberry leaves. If you look in the natural feeding forum, you will find many rabbit-safe plants.

It is important to keep him eating something. Oatmeal and hay are the safest, along with the blackberry, raspberry, rose and strawberry. If he stops eating altogether, he can go into gut stasis.

It is equally important to keep him drinking something. Syringe it carefully into the back of his mouth if necessary.

 

[shee]

I am glad to find that my rabbit isnt the only one that likes tomato leaves. After reading so many sites about tomato leaves being toxic I was getting worried. We have 3 tomato and 3 bell pepper plants growing on the deck with a small fence around them. When my rabbit and I are enjoying deck time in nice weather she goes nuts trying to push the little fencing in to get to the leaves to eat them (and succeds quite frequently). She has never had a reaction to them, but after seeing the toxic posts about them today I was getting worried. The funny part is I offered her a cherry tomato today after reading they can have the actual tomato and she didn't want that at all.

__________ Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:40 am __________

I am glad to find that my rabbit isnt the only one that likes tomato leaves. After reading so many sites about tomato leaves being toxic I was getting worried. We have 3 tomato and 3 bell pepper plants growing on the deck with a small fence around them. When my rabbit and I are enjoying deck time in nice weather she goes nuts trying to push the little fencing in to get to the leaves to eat them (and succeds quite frequently). She has never had a reaction to them, but after seeing the toxic posts about them today I was getting worried. The funny part is I offered her a cherry tomato today after reading they can have the actual tomato and she didn't want that at all. <br /><br /> __________ Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:45 am __________ <br /><br /> I am glad to find that my rabbit isnt the only one that likes tomato leaves. After reading so many sites about tomato leaves being toxic I was getting worried. We have 3 tomato and 3 bell pepper plants growing on the deck with a small fence around them. When my rabbit and I are enjoying deck time in nice weather she goes nuts trying to push the little fencing in to get to the leaves to eat them (and succeds quite frequently). She has never had a reaction to them, but after seeing the toxic posts about them today I was getting worried. The funny part is I offered her a cherry tomato today after reading they can have the actual tomato and she didn't want that at all.

 

[Zee-Man]

So many posts on this topic. I appreciate the folks who have talked to vets and done a bit of research.

I have read many warnings that humans should not eat tomato greens because they are toxic. This seems to be a gut reaction to the fact that the plants are members of the nightshade family (as are potatoes and eggplants). And yet we eat the fruits (and tubers) of them freely. Our agricultural solanums however, are not close to belladona and datura.

Tomatoes do have tomatine. Tomatine, while toxic, appears to be very weak. It is in all parts of the tomato plant, the unripe fruit, the ripe fruit, the leaves, and the flowers. The most prevalent parts are unripe fruit and the young leaves. Senescent leaves and ripe fruit have less.

Now, fried green tomatoes are a luscious addition to the table, why not leaves? I've been enjoying cooking with tomato leaves for several years now. The are an essential part of my spaghetti sauce recipe. I also enjoy them in salads. But, I do not have the hind gut of a rabbit. Nor do I have the rumen of a cow.

I then read many posts from gardeners asking how to keep rabbits from eating their tomato plants. It would seem that wild rabbits like them enough to raise widespread ire. I was heartened by the earlier post relating second hand info about a meat rabbit husband feeding tomato greens to their rabbits regularly.

Based on my experiences and the overblown reaction to the tomato being a nightshade, I am going to try feeding leaves to my rabbits this summer. I will report back if I find any deleterious effects.

 

[Preitler]

My thoughts on that:

Why? It doesn't need an experiment to verify that solanin is somewhat toxic. That's why the potato plot at my well over 100yo house is outside the fenced vegetable garden, no wildlife will do any considerable damage to it. So why feed a somewhat toxic plant?

Ok, I know, there isn't much that can kick a rabbit out of it's boots, and solanin isn't really deadly anyway. And there are accounts of rabbits having eaten tomato plants. But: Just the test nibbles they do can easily destroy a plant. When free range, they can deal with toxic plants, test them, or use them if they need too - like ivy or allium plants. I wouldn't know of any positve effects of solanin though. Sure, mine did test the beans, destroyed my cabbage, but left the tomatoes untouched - and they are greedy little *******s.

It's different when being fed in a cage. Why risk causing discomfort or pain, which can be hard to notice. I doubt tomato plants are a suitable staple food, so what's the gain in that? Feeding it just to get rid of that green stuff doesn't make any sense to me. It's an experiment of little value, since the plants also differ a lot in toxiticy. What's the point?

I like my rabbits too much to do such an experiment. To test out how they cope with something bad. Not my way.

 

[chriskyle]

My rabbits seem to really like my tomato greens, but are they ok to feed to them?

Yes, a can rabbits eat tomatoes but not in a large amount. Feeding the tomatoes to bunnies as a whole diet is an absolutely wrong choice. Along with being rich in sugar content, they lack several nutrients required by bunnies. You should always offer tomatoes a treat to bunnies. Tomatoes in large amounts may be harmful. It is essential to offer the bunnies the food having all essential nutrients, fibers, and all essential minerals and vitamins. Yes, the good news is that the cherry tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, and all other tomato varieties are safe for bunnies. But the thing you should consider is that you need to offer the tomatoes in a moderate amount only. Make sure, you are offering the other green part of these tomato varieties as well.

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Read more details: Can Rabbits Eat Tomatoes? Yes Is Tomato Safe For Rabbits
Hope this helps.