Tropical rabbit forage

[Cosima]

Do your avocados have a variety name? I don't know if the tree here is a specific variety or just a 'wild' avocado. We get a lot of them that are mix and match and not any specific variety. The same with bananas and coconuts. At our last house we had a 'Lehua' avocado, but it was round and purple so it wasn't this type at all. Still tasty, though.

I don’t know what kind it is.

If you try feeding an avocado to a bunny let me know how it goes.

Okay.

 

[Cindy in SD]

Angora Rabbits in Hawaii - Hillside Farm Hawaii
Tropical rabbit forage-based feeding?

How about mullberry? Or what I would call sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas). I think both of those do well in the tropics?

I have no idea what grows where you are, but some tropical forages are notoriously nutrient (fat/protein) poor. I know people in costa rica who ship in alfalfa hay for horses because the local forage looks lush and green but the animals get skinny on it. I think this is a real research project, and you should compile a list here for future reference!

I was trying to figure out why it is that tropical forage can be so low nutrient, with all that sun and rain, but I just realized some of our higher nutrient forages are storing food for winter, or making seeds that overwinter--I suspect that having a cold season makes plants behave that way, while the tropics are never cold enough to require it.

I've read that sweet potatoes must be fed in moderation because they can make rabbits fat, but the greens are supposed to be very nutritious.

 

[Juci]

It’s great to find a topic on here about tropical plants- or plants that will grow in the tropics for rabbits. I thought I’d add some that I haven’t seen discussed yet. Sorry if there are any repeats.

Tithonia also called Mexican sunflower? Grows like a weed where I am in Hawaii. I heard from another farmer that this plant has everything rabbits need nutritionally if given with hay or grass. Has anyone else heard that?

I’ve given it to my rabbits and they don’t eat a lot of it, but they do munch on it. I’m worried to feed that in place of pellets but if it’s true it’s a good one to know in case the feed store runs out.

Pitanga berry or Surinam cherry- this is a really tricky one to research! I saw a few sites claim these are toxic to dogs. I also heard somewhere that the pits are toxic. This was after I gave a few berries to my rabbits and they loved them, but always spat out the pits. Then I gave one to my 10 pound NZ mix doe and I saw her swallow the entire thing. She spat out the pit and then ate it. I freaked out but she ended up being fine. I’ve never tried feeding the leaves of the plant.

I gave them a piece of jackfruit recently and they wouldn’t touch it.

Himalayan raspberry- I gave the leaves to nursing does right after giving birth. As far as I could tell they’re the same or similar enough to regular raspberry leaves. Not sure if it helped her, but she definitely gobbled the leaves down and wasn’t bothered by the prickles.

Ice cream bean / Inga idulis - not very popular with the rabbits but they’ve on occasion eaten the husks and leaves and like the fruit.

I also have a legume tree feeder plant people use for goats I’ve given to them, I’ll figure out what the exact name is and add it later.

I’d love to hear if anyone else has any experience with these or other more unusual tropical plants.