Wood for chewing / toys...

[Frosted Rabbits]

I got this off a Chinchilla care site: I am thinking the same things that make wood toxic or safe for a Chinchilla would also apply to our rabbits. PLease note, in the toxic category, Yew is probably 'Taxus', a common landscape plant.


Safe woods:

•apple
•arbutus
•ash
•aspen
•bamboo
•blackberrry
•blackcurrant
•cholla
•cottonwood
•crabapple
•dogwood
•elm
•grapevine
•hawthorn
•hazelnut
•kiwi
•magnolia
•manzanita
•mulberry
•pear
•pecan
•pine - kiln-dried white
•poplar
•quince
•rose hip
•sycamore
•willow (but not white willow)


Toxic Woods

•almond
•apricot
•beech
•birch
•black locust
•black lotus
•blackwood
•box elder
•buckthorn
•cashew
•cedar
•cherry
•chesnut
•china berry Chinese snake tree chokeberry
•citrus woods - orange, lemon, grapefruit, etc.
•cypress
•ebony
•elderberry
•eucalyptus
•fir
•ginkgo
•hemlock
•holly
•honey locust
•hydrangea
•juniper
•kumquat
•laurel
•mahogany
•mango
•manufactured/glued woods like plywood or fiberboard
•maple
•mesquite
•myrtle
•nectarine
•oak
•oleander
•peach
•pine - fresh, pressure treated, red -- kiln dried is thought to be safe
•pinecones
•pistachio
•plum
•redwood
•sandalwood
•sequoia
•spruce
•teak
•walnut
•weeping fig
•white willow
•yew

 

[MaggieJ]

Interesting list... and a great starting point for further research.

I don't agree with everything on it as it pertains to rabbits. White willow (Salix alba) is fine for rabbits, according to a study published by World Rabbit Science and my rabbits eat the bark and leaves with no problems. I also give them silver maple (Acer saccharinum) and have fed the leaves and branches of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in the past.

Next time I'm surfing aimlessly, I will check out some of the others.

Can you post a link for that chinchilla care site, Terry?

 

[Jack]

many yes, but some no....
um, look up 'toxic wood sawdust' and you will see, most of those listed as 'poisonous' aren't that bad.... but some are, Mango produces the same oil that you react to in Poison Oak, Mahogany or Ebony is notorious for 'wood workers Pneumonia' which is a chronic cough/chest congestion with lung inflammation.

willow has aspirin in the bark
Spruce is a type of pine, I have lots of it and cottonwood in with my rabbits, so no bad signs yet, and same with willow and birch, which they love the bark of.

 

[Pongo]

My rabbits have eaten maple (mostly sugar) for years with no ill effect

 

[SaratogaNZW]

Personally, I use chunks of Hickory and Mesquite. You can buy bags of it, chunked about the size of your fist, at most Walmarts in the summer BBQ season. Look over by the charcoals and smoker supplies.
I throw 2 or 3 chunks in the adults cages as chewable toys. They roll and toss them around like a ball.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Can you post a link for that chinchilla care site, Terry?

I'll see if I can find it again- I am not sure I bookmarked it-- very tired- been surfing for Aquatic Ape Theory sites.....

here it is:
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/chinchil ... awoods.htm

 

[MaggieJ]

Thanks, Terry! I'll check it out.

 

[Jessykah]

I read that rabbits can eat oak?

 

[Section10]

I see cedar wood is considered toxic. I don't know about the wood, but I know that snowshoe rabbits around here practically live on cedar greens/"needles" all winter long so I'd think domestic rabbits could eat it as well. You'd think the cedar diet would show up in the meat, but I've eaten plenty of snowshoe rabbits even late in the winter and it never seemed to be evident at all.
Which brings up an interesting question. Has anyone noticed any extra flavor in the meat because a rabbit has been eating a particular food?
On my farm once in early March, loggers had slashed out the 40 across the road and had damaged a very big cedar. There were deer tracks everywhere in the slashings and one evening after the job had ended, I went and sawed down the cedar for the deer. Early the next morning I took a look and there was not one single spot of green left anywhere on that very big tree. I decided it was way too big a job to feed deer. Deer meat will be affected by what they eat over the winter and late winter and spring, the meat is poor tasting (also illegal).
Jim

 

[akane]

http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml is a good list to start researching around too. This is what we mostly follow for our chins. I find the chin forums to be rather overly cautious. If you look around you will find every potential item that can be used around a particular animal on one dangerous list or another. The site we use has explanations for several of their choices and scientific name or at least genus on things that frequently share a common name. They have a paragraph on willow

Willow Someone sent me a URL for a University of Maryland University medical center page about some willows, and and how the bark contains salicin: similar to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Apparently the wood does not contain the compound like the bark does. One excerpt reads:

"The willow family includes a number of different species ... ... Some of the more commonly known are white willow/European willow (Salix alba), black willow/pussy willow (Salix nigra), crack willow (Salix fragilis), purple willow (Salix purpurea), and weeping willow (Salix babylonica). The willow bark sold in Europe and the United States usually includes a combination of the bark from white, purple, and crack willows"

The article sounds reliable, and apparently the bark and compounds are effective for human use it they are not allergic to it. Based on that information, I would still be very inclined to use willow wood for parrot perches or bird stands. But would remove the bark. And if the branch is freshly cut, will be among the easiest to remove. I used this for hiking sticks, and in the spring, bark virtually peels off by hand. If its dry, just use a knife.

Willow with bark is used on purpose for rabbits sometimes to work as a natural pain killer.

They have a paragraph on pine which is the same for cedar. Cedar and some softwoods are full of volatile oils that can cause liver damage and respiratory irritation. Wild animals would only be eating a limited diet of it when there is nothing better around. Giving cedar wood for regular chewing when they have no other options might lead to excessive ingestion of the volatile oils. White softwoods are a bit less of a risk. I disagree with spruce being toxic. I search it out for bedding if I want shavings because it has less oils than pine. For much the same reason I wouldn't place oak as always toxic. It is high in tannins and if enough is ingested it could be a problem but the odd stick or acorn is not going to be a problem. They like the occasional acorn from oak or pine cone from a safe (relatively) evergreen and a few wood coins to string on a toy should be fine. Just don't use any of them excessively.

Aside from trees wood and canes from plants with edible berries is also safe.