Can Rabbits Eat Raw Sweet Potatoes? – Here’s the Answer

Raw sweet potatoes are a great source of carbohydrates, dietary fibers, multiple vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. For humans, raw sweet potatoes are totally safe. But do raw sweet potatoes are safe for rabbits and can they like to eat raw sweet potatoes? Yes, a small amount of raw sweet potatoes are safe for rabbits, and…

Raw sweet potatoes are a great source of carbohydrates, dietary fibers, multiple vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. For humans, raw sweet potatoes are totally safe. But do raw sweet potatoes are safe for rabbits and can they like to eat raw sweet potatoes?

Yes, a small amount of raw sweet potatoes are safe for rabbits, and rabbits also like to eat raw sweet potatoes. Although like humans, rabbit’s food tastes and preferences can also vary. So maybe some individuals don’t like to eat raw sweet potatoes.

Today in the morning we gave a little amount of sweet raw potatoes to our pet rabbits Cleo and Dot, to see that can our rabbits eat raw sweet potatoes or not. We serve sweet raw potatoes by maintaining safety and preparing and cleaning them properly.

But we were shocked when we saw our rabbits are not eating raw sweet potatoes. Here we will explain the experiment that we did today with rabbits and raw sweet potatoes.

This article will help you to know A to Z about rabbits and sweet raw potatoes. Also, from here you will get an idea about how much and how often you should give raw sweet potatoes to your rabbits. Additionally, here we will also discuss the side effects of raw sweet potatoes on rabbits.

 

Can Rabbits Eat Fresh Sweet Potatoes?

Yes, rabbits eat raw sweet potatoes, but some individuals may don’t like to eat them, like our rabbits. Raw sweet potatoes have some healthier benefits for rabbits.

On the other hand, if you serve raw sweet potatoes regularly or in large amounts then it can harm rabbits.

Raw sweet potatoes contain multiple essential vitamins such as vitamins A, C, B6, and E. As well as vitamins sweet potatoes are a great source of minerals, carbohydrates, and dietary fiber.

Yes, not only sweet potatoes, but almost all potatoes like regular potatoes and red potatoes also contain minerals and carbohydrates.

Although our rabbits don’t eat raw sweet potatoes, our rabbits eat raw potatoes and red potatoes, as we have shown in previous experiments.

Anyway, it’s not too difficult to get raw sweet potatoes. Because they are available almost in every shopping mall. Even some people also cultivate them in neighborhoods or gardens.

 

The Proper Way To Give Raw Sweet Potatoes To Rabbits As a Treat

Here we will tell you the proper way to serve raw sweet potatoes to rabbits as their treat. And we also follow this process to serve raw sweet potatoes to our rabbits.

Raw Sweet Potatoes
Image – Raw Sweet Potatoes

First of all, we collect a couple of raw sweet potatoes from our local market. And before collecting we ensure that these potatoes are safe and the farmer didn’t use any chemicals to grow them.

Then we took them home, and then wash them properly. Remember sweet potatoes can contain mud or dust on them. And to ensure the safety of your rabbits you have to clean and wash them carefully.

After cleaning and washing we took only one sweet potato and peel-off it using a sharp knife. Why do we peel off, sometimes vegetables and fruit peels can contain harmful compounds.

But in our next experiment, we will also serve sweet potato peels or skins to see whether rabbits eat sweet potato skins or not. Anyway, let’s come back to our process, after peeling off, we sliced the potato.

Here is an important point that you should note, and that is sliced potatoes into small pieces. Because small pieces are easy to bite and comfortable to eat for rabbits.

And from those small pieces, we took only 2 pieces of raw sweet potatoes, which was only 4 grams. We knew that eating too much raw sweet potatoes is not safe for rabbit’s health, that’s why we took only 4 grams.

 

Do Our Rabbits Like To Eat Raw Sweet Potatoes?

No, our rabbits didn’t eat raw sweet potatoes, although we hoped that they might eat sweet potatoes. And we hoped because our rabbits ate regular raw potatoes, and red raw potatoes in our previous experiments.

Yes, rabbits also like to eat red potatoes, and our rabbits are almost 10 grams of red raw potatoes in the previous experiment. But we don’t why they didn’t eat raw sweet potatoes today.

Let’s explain the experiment from first to last. After cutting and measuring raw sweet potatoes we served those 2 pieces of sweet potatoes in front of them.

we served those 2 pieces of sweet potatoes
Image – We Served Those 2 Pieces of Sweet Potatoes

When we served raw sweet potatoes to them there was nothing weird about their behavior. Their behavior was normal, like other times when we serve their regular foods.

But, today after serving raw red potatoes, both of them start to smell. And our Cleo took a bite from one piece, and then start chewing. And our Dot didn’t take a bite, he just smelled and ignored the food.

But our Cleo chewed for 30 seconds and then she also stopped chewing. We took those potato pieces in front of them for 1:40 minutes to see whether they eat or not.

So, in a word, we can say that our experiment result was disappointing. But, it’s not the same for all rabbits, because without some individuals most of the rabbits like to eat raw sweet potatoes. And eating raw sweet potatoes is also safe for adult rabbits.

So what about bunnies, can bunnies eat raw sweet potatoes? No, whether it is regular potatoes, red potatoes, or sweet potatoes, nothing is suitable for bunnies. These types of foods are only suitable for adult rabbits.

Here we are providing the video, which will help you to know actually how our rabbits behave with red raw potatoes. So, to get a clear idea you can watch this video.

 

You can skip this video if you want because we are also providing the summary of the experiment. So, skip the video if you are in a hurry.

Rabbits Names Food Items & Weight Eat Or Not (Yes Or No) Percentage Of Eating Percentage Of Residual
Cleo & Dot Raw Sweet Potatoes (4 Grams) No 0% 100%

 

Is Sweet Potato Safe For Rabbits?

Yes, sweet potatoes are safe for rabbits, if you provide them a little quantity at a time. Also, as well as ensuring little quantity you have to make sure that your rabbits are not bunnies, they are adults.

Yes, rabbit’s age plays an important role when it comes to feeding foods like potatoes, fruits, flowers, and other foods like this.

Because rabbit’s digestive system is sensitive and for bunnies, it’s very hard to consume foods like potatoes.

Even, older and adult rabbits also cant consume a high amount of potatoes at a time. So, it’s recommended for everyone, to give a small amount of sweet potatoes to your rabbits.

Also, if you are going to introduce sweet potatoes to your rabbits give them a small amount. Remember too much raw sweet potatoes can cause some serious health problems to rabbits.

 

Potential Risks Of Feeding Too Much Sweet Raw Potatoes To Rabbits

As we mentioned before, feeding too many sweet potatoes can cause some serious problems for your rabbits. And the same thing can happen if you feed them sweet potatoes regularly.

So let’s see 8 potential health risks of feeding too many sweet potatoes to rabbits.

  1. Digestive Disturbances
  2. Starchy Dilemma
  3. Gastrointestinal Issues
  4. Obesity Concerns
  5. Impact on Blood Sugar Levels
  6. Mineral Imbalance
  7. Diarrhea and Upset Stomach
  8. Dental Problems

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is sweet potato ok for rabbits?

A: Sweet potato can be okay for rabbits if the quantity is small. Yes, since rabbit’s digestive systems are sensitive, they can consume a little amount of sweet potatoes at a time. So if you want to feed them sweet potatoes, then give them a small amount as a treat.

Q: Do rabbits like sweet potatoes?

A: Rabbits like sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes are considered safe food for rabbits, in the quantity is small. But not every rabbit’s taste is the same, some individuals can deny eating sweet potatoes.

Q: Can sweet potatoes be eaten raw?

A: Yes, as humans you can eat sweet potatoes on both ways, by cooking or just peel-off and eat them raw. For animals, most animals can eat them raw, but there are some animals, for those raw sweet potatoes are not safe. And if you talk about rabbits, then raw sweet potatoes are safe if they eat a certain amount.

Q: Can rabbits eat cooked sweet potatoes?

A: Yes, rabbits can eat both cooked and raw sweet potatoes. But cooked sweet potatoes are safer for rabbits compared to raw sweet potatoes.

Q: Can rabbits eat sweet potato peels or skin?

A: Well, our next experiment will be about this topic. Since we didn’t do any experiment we can’t say the exact answer.

But it’s generally recommended for everyone, peel-off sweet potato skin before giving. We saw some information on the internet where they said rabbits can eat sweet potato peels and skins.

Q: How many sweet potatoes can a rabbit eat?

A: A little amount means 5 to 8 grams for rabbits which can be a small slice of a sweet potato. This is a safe amount and if you want to make sure a balanced diet for rabbits then do it, don’t give sweet potatoes more than that amount.

Hope now it’s clear to you that can rabbits eat raw sweet potatoes or not. If this article is helpful to you then please subscribe to our blogs to get regular updates from us.

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Ahosan Habbib is a professional content writer and blogger.

Ahsan Habib loves to write about animals and has been studying and researching animals for a long time.You won’t find better articles on rabbit rearing, caring, feeding, breeding, and naming than this blog.

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