tomato leaves for rabbits?

Question
i have a short rabbit question to ask you.

today i bought some cherry tomatoes for myself. I would assume that they are not good for my rabbits, so I will not give any to them. however, what about the stems/branches, leaves that are attached to the cherry tomatoes? is is okay to give that to them? i know when I do that with grapes, it works out well.

Answer
Dear Raymond,

The tomato fruit is actually the only part that is safe for bunnies.  Mine love them.  But tomatoes are in the tobacco/deadly nightshade family (Solanaceae), and *many* members of this family are toxic and full of alkaloids.  I would not feed any part of the plant (leaf, stem, root, etc.) other than the fruit itself to my bunny.  Nasty stuff in there.

While rabbits can detoxify some alkaloids metabolically, I would not push my luck.  Stick with sharing the red fruit, and not the other parts.

Hope this helps.

Dana