Posted: October 27, 2008, 9 p.m. EDT
Q: I have a rabbit that ate the ends off of my bromeliad plant. Will this hurt the rabbit?
The rabbit ate them early this morning (about 5 a.m.) and when I went back to the nursery where I purchased the plant, they told me that the bromeliad is known to kill cats but they didn't know about rabbits. My rabbit seems to be ok. It has been as long as 12 hours since the rabbit ate the plant. The rabbit didn't eat very much of the plant, maybe just a nibble at the end of the leaf.
A: If it has been 12 hours since your rabbit ingested this plant, it is likely this plant had no effect on your rabbit. In fact, since your rabbit just took a nibble, it would be uncommon for this plant to cause problems. In general, we do not worry about toxicity when rabbits eat bromeliad, but there are different species of this common household plant. The most common reactions seen with toxic plants are contact reactions. These reactions cause increased salivation, damage to tissue in the mouth, and maybe a few hours or more of not eating. There are some very toxic plants out there, but a rabbit nibbling on a bromeliad won’t likely experience a problem.