“Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico.”[1] These plants belong to the Compositae or Asteraceae family (daisy or sunflower family) and are related to the chrysanthemums, zinnia, daisy, and sunflowers.
Dahlias feature brightly colored flowers with different hues except for blue. They are often meant for floriculture as well as being a part of the Oaxacan cuisine. Initially, they had medicinal value before insulin was discovered.
Do rabbits eat them?
The Toronto and Region Conversation and Arizona Cooperative Extension list dahlias as some of the rabbit and resistant plants, i.e., they tend to “avoid plants with a sticky, rough or fuzzy texture.”
However, disliking them does not mean that bunnies will not nibble them. These animals can nibble almost anything they come across.
While researching, we found conflicting information regarding the safety of this flowering plant. Some sources [2][3][4][5] listed dahlias as some of the plants that your bunnies should not eat – potentially dangerous, harmful, or toxic – together with others such as bindweed, caladium, agave, arum, belladonna, charlock, among others.
On the other hand, there is one source [6] that consider them as safe for rabbits and lists them as one of the safe, flowers and petals that bunnies can eat.
Our thoughts
We do not recommend allowing your bunnies to eat dahlias since they could potentially be harmful. Most plants that grow on tubers are often not safe for these pets.
However, as already stated, do not assume that bunnies will naturally avoid them because they may potentially be unsafe. These animals nibble almost anything.
Therefore, use the various methods to keep rabbits from eating this plant and others that are harmful. This will also reduce the damage that bunnies can cause to this ornamental plant.