Herbal Safety for Rabbits

Information contributed from members of the Herbal Rabbit  group.
Individual acknowledgements are shown.

From Dawn:
“Proper dosages should be used with herbal treatments just as with chemical treatments. The fact of the matter is that some plants most assuredly do have side effects and should be used with caution.

While many are safe in any amount, not all are. For example, foxglove, from which digitalis is derived, is a deadly toxin.

Belladonna & Monkshood are a couple of others.

I realize these are extreme examples, but they illustrate the point. A more commonly used plant is Blessed Thistle, which increases lactation. However, it can also cause vomiting and diarrhea in large doses.

The attitude of “since it’s natural, it’s got to be safe” is a dangerous one. So, by all means, if you’re not familiar with a remedy, ask questions from someone who is!”

Dangerous Herbs List

This list was compiled by Carla Emery, and included in her book, “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” and was supplied by Rachel.

These range from deadly-poisonous, to hard-on-a-bunny, to having no nutritional value:

Amaranth, Arrowgrass, Bracken Fern, Broomweed, Buckeye, Burdock, Castor beans, Chinaberry, Chokecherry leaves or pits, Fireweed, Foxglove, Goldenrod, Hemlock (poison), Horehound, Jimson weed, Johnson grass, Larkspur, Laurel, Lima beans, Lupine, Mesquite, Milkweed, Miner’s lettuce, Moldy bread or moldy anything, Oak (not oak leaves), Oleander, Pigweed, Poppy, Potato (leaves, sprouts, or peels), Rhubarb leaves, Soybeans or soybean vines, Spinach, Sweet clover, Tarweed, Tomato leaves