Can Rabbits eat Loquats?

Loquats are a species of flowering plant which are native to south central China. They are a large evergreen shrub or small tree which are grow commercially for its yellow fruit and are also cultivated as an ornamental plant.

Their flowers appear in the autumn or early winter and their fruits ripen in late winter or early spring. The flowers have a heady and sweet aroma that is strong. They grow in clusters and are oval, rounded or pear-shaped with a smooth yellow or orange skin. They have a succulent and tangy flesh which is white, yellow or orange coloured

So can rabbits eat loquats at all?

Lets take a look here at their nutritional data and find out more about them. In particular, their acidic content, phosphorus, sugar, fat, fibre, sodium and calcium content is of particular interest as far as bunnies are concerned.

Energy 197 kJ (47 kcal)
Carbohydrates 12.14 g
Dietary fiber 1.7 g
Fat 0.2 g
Protein 0.43 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv. (10%) 76 μg
Thiamine (B1) (2%) 0.019 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (2%) 0.024 mg
Niacin (B3) (1%) 0.18 mg
Vitamin B6 (8%) 0.1 mg
Folate (B9) (4%) 14 μg
Vitamin C (1%) 1 mg
Trace metals
Calcium (2%) 16 mg
Iron (2%) 0.28 mg
Magnesium (4%) 13 mg
Manganese (7%) 0.148 mg
Phosphorus (4%) 27 mg
Potassium (6%) 266 mg
Sodium (0%) 1 mg
Zinc (1%)

source wikipedia

As you can see Loquats contain a little phosphorus, a hint of calcium, a little acidic content, and a hint of fat.

This means that rabbits can eat loquats and they will enjoy them. Three to four times a week will suffice nicely but take care as to how much you give them so that you don’t give them tummy ache.

Chopping them up into small segments giving them a few a day would be fine for them.

Don’t give them the stone however, and steer clear of giving them the branches and leaves as they cant usually eat the branches and leaves of stone-based fruit trees unfortunately.

Image "Eriobotrya japonica3". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eriobotrya_japonica3.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Eriobotrya_japonica3.jpg

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