orange tree twigs/leaves

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cindys6436

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Dec 26, 2009
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Orangevale, CA
Are twigs from my orange tree (more like a bush, not even close to a tree, actually) as well as the leaves safe for my rabbits to chew on?

The info I find on internet searches is so confusing. I would really like to give my rabbits some twigs/branches, but I don't know what kind of trees I have. The only one I know for sure is my orange bush!

Cindy
 
Cindy, don't feed anything you are not sure of.

You need to learn to identify your trees with confidence. I'll see if I can find an online guide to help you. Some of them will walk your through leaf type, arrangement of leaves on the stem, etc. etc. and lead you to the answer.

If you have a knowledgeable friend, get him or her to walk around your property with you and name the trees. Then double-check online and see if they are safe for rabbits.

Apple, pear, willow, elm, sugar maple, silver maple, sycamore, and poplar are all safe. See the safe plants list to get the botanical names if you are not sure what tree species I mean.

I have no experience of citrus trees, living this far north, but perhaps someone in the southern states can help you.

Edited to add:

This website might be helpful to you.
http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:OaD ... clnk&gl=ca

I found several references to cottontail rabbits damaging young citrus trees, which would tend to indicate that the twigs are not toxic. If you feed them to your rabbits, try it with one rabbit several time before putting them all at risk.<br /><br />__________ Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:44 am __________<br /><br />http://forestry.about.com/od/treeidenti ... _start.htm
 
Thanks Maggie - I have checked online - I find things saying they are fed to rabbits, and nothing saying they are unsafe, but the ones saying people give citrus branches to their rabbits don't seem to be "expert" sites but rather just rabbit owners. Not that they might not be experts or at least know what they are talking about, but I don't feel comfortable using them as the final say.

I have a vet appointment for initial exams for two of my rabbits before their spay/neuter, so I will ask the vet tomorrow and see what she has to say.

Thanks for the link!

Cindy
 
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