can mold kill rabbits?

Question
hi,

My three year old rabbit died a few days ago and later I found mold in her food dish. It was a black/grey color. I remember cleaning out the food dish a few weeks prior and it wasn't there. It's possible it wasn't quite dry when I put the food back in. Would this have caused her death? The night before she was very listless and ignored me.

Thank you.

Answer
Hi Keri,

Rabbits are much like horses, chinchillas, guinea pigs or degus....mold, even in very minute quantities, are very toxic and cause severe digestive system upset and death.  I lost a wonderful dwarf Hotot a couple of years ago due to mycotoxins....a result of moldy hay.  It was in a very well known brand of hay.  Even with my advanced protocols, there was nothing I could do to reverse the damage.

You did mention something that concerns me and if you have, or plan on getting, another rabbit....I would suggest reviewing your husbandry protocols.  I get the feeling that you might be using what we can a "bin feeder" where pellets are piled in.  This can very easily lead to mold concerns.  Many people use this method...and most people overfeed pellets.  I have two Flemish Giants....they get less than 1/4 cup pellets per day.  At that rate of feeding, the issue of not cleaning the food dish every day doesn't come into play.  If you overfeed pellets in a large crock or hang on bin feeder....all sorts of issues can happen to the pellets.

Mold can also be present in low quality food that is either old or has been improperly stored.  Temperature extremes make these moldy foods even worse.  Low quality hay also can harbor mold.  Many growers, in an effort to harvest the hay, bale before the hay is totally dry or it rains on the hay after it's been cut.  These lead to mold that you can't always see.

But, yes, mold is highly toxic and nearly always fatal if ingested by a rabbit.