Can Rabbits eat Pumpkin?

Pumpkin is a very popular food at this time of year with Halloween and thanksgiving fast approaching and all the festivities that they bring.

Throughout the world, families will be buying in pumpkins for their celebrations and making various foods from them not to mention carving them up into amazing creations.

So can rabbits join in the celebrations and enjoy pumpkin as well?

For the sake of good rabbit care, it would be good to see if they could have it as well.

Lets take a look at the nutritional data of pumpkin to find out more about what it contains.

In particular we are interested in its starch, sugar, phosphorus, calcium, and acidic content as they affect rabbits the most.

Energy 109 kJ (26 kcal)
Carbohydrates
6.5 g
Sugars 2.76 g
Dietary fiber 0.5 g
Fat
0.1 g
Protein 1 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv.
beta-carotene
lutein zeaxanthin
(53%) 426 μg
(29%) 3100 μg
1500 μg
Thiamine (B1) (4%) 0.05 mg
Riboflavin (B2) (9%) 0.11 mg
Niacin (B3) (4%) 0.6 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
(6%) 0.298 mg
Vitamin B6 (5%) 0.061 mg
Folate (B9) (4%) 16 μg
Vitamin C (11%) 9 mg
Vitamin E (3%) 0.44 mg
Vitamin K (1%) 1.1 μg
Trace metals
Calcium (2%) 21 mg
Iron (6%) 0.8 mg
Magnesium (3%) 12 mg
Manganese (6%) 0.125 mg
Phosphorus (6%) 44 mg
Potassium (7%) 340 mg
Sodium (0%) 1 mg
Zinc (3%) 0.32 mg

Source: USDA

As you can see Pumpkin contains some phosphorus and is quite acidic and has a decent amount of sugar content.

This means that rabbits can eat pumpkin but not too much of it as they will get stomach ache if they have too much of it.

So it is fine to feed a little to them at halloween and thanksgiving but not too much.

What about other parts of the pumpkin?

Do rabbits eat Pumpkin leaves

Pumpkin leaves are fine for them to nibble of but they aren’t a food that they can consume too much of as they have quite a lot of calcium.

Do rabbits eat pumpkin seeds?

Pumpkin seeds really aren’t good for them as they will get stuck in their teeth and lodged in their throats.

Do rabbits eat pumpkin skin?

Pumpkin skin is fine for them to eat although they might not enjoy it so much.

Do rabbits eat cooked pumpkin?

Unfortunately, they can only eat it raw

Do rabbits eat pumpkin pie?

Unfortunately they can’t eat pumpkin pie at all.

It is full of preservatives and sugars and is really not good for them at all.

Do rabbits eat butternut pumpkin?

This is another name for butternut squash, yes they can in small amounts.

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