Pinecones, twigs&needles/video added

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This topic has 8sd replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 10 months ago by BinkyBunny.

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- 04/28/2010 at 10:40 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  Around Christmas time the question came up whether pine trees are safe to eat for rabbits. Obviously Christmas trees are questionable because you cannot know if they were treated so it is best not to let your rabbit nibble at them. The pine sap is quite strong and has concentrated phenols in it which may be irritating to a rabbit’s mouth (apart from sticking to everything, LOL) Therefore I would stay away from offering parts of the trunk where the bark oozes lots of sap.
  
  I have searched a bit and had also asked on an HRS listserve about the toxicity of pine twigs and cones.
  
  I came up with this information:
  
  Rabbits may eat the twigs, needles and cones of pine trees, even unbaked, as long as they are free from any pesticides and bug-free. You may decide to bake the cones to be extra safe, ticks and parasites can hide inside the cones.
  
  Be careful with other conifers (evergreens), not all of them are safe.
  
  I include a photo of pine twigs here from wikipedia as I was surprised to see how different they look when the shoots are young:
  
  young twig on left, mature one on right
- 04/28/2010 at 10:50 AM
  bunnyluvr
  Participant
  409 posts
  Very interesting Petzy! Thanks for the info!
- 04/28/2010 at 11:23 AM
  mrmac
  Participant
  2156 posts
  Good to know!
- 04/28/2010 at 11:38 AM
  mocha200
  Participant
  4486 posts
  i probably won’t give my buns pine cones from our woods cuz wee have a TON of tics! just yesterday i found one crawling on out dinning room wall. eww i hate tics.
- 04/29/2010 at 1:18 PM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  mocha, you are right, some areas are very heavily infested and then it’s best to stay away from using any parts of the pine.
- 04/29/2010 at 4:00 PM
  RabbitPam
  Moderator
  11002 posts
  I bought some pine cones prepared especially for bunnies as toys, along with some I got from BB, and Samantha played with them – for about a half a minute. They’re cute and still on my rug around the apt. Once in a while she’s pushes them out of the way.
- 05/01/2010 at 12:53 AM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  Great Petzy! Thank you! I am actually going to post this link in the Forum FAQ section!
  
  RabbitPam – the pinecone thing is weird with my bunnies too. Sometimes pinecones just end up being floor decorations because my bunnies just do a little nibble and that’s it. They’ll sit there for weeks and then one day I come in and the pinecone is all chewed up! So strange. Recently though I got tired of looking at one just sitting on the floor so I cut up a couple of craisins into tiny little pieces and shoved them into the little crevasses of the pinecone. Well, the pinecone then became interesting again of course, and they have to chew it up to get to the tasty bits. A good boredum buster!
- 05/03/2010 at 8:48 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  Not all rabbits like the pine parts. Out of mine the mini rexes are crazy for pine twigs but Deirdra not so much.
- 05/05/2010 at 12:11 AM
  BinkyBunny
  Moderator
  8776 posts
  HAHAHA! I loved the beginning they were like…”Mine…no mine….I’ll take that…no you won’t…give me…give it back” FUNNY!
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