# Crab Apple



## lilylop (Dec 22, 2011)

Just wondering if crab apple twigs and leaves are ok for a bun? I have a tree in the back yard and it needs as trim.
If it is safe what needs to be done to it before I give it to the fluffsta??


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## Nancy McClelland (Dec 22, 2011)

I know apple is alright. Maybe go to the library here ans see if you can find info.


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## LakeCondo (Dec 22, 2011)

Just like regular apple wood, it would need to be dried sufficiently. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but my guess is you should trim & then wait a number of months, maybe until a few sticks would burn without oozing sap.

And I think Fluffy is too young now, anyway. They both may be ready at the same time.


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## PeachySteph (Dec 23, 2011)

can't you treat them in the oven on a low setting?

That's what I had to do for any logs/branches I collected for my anoles.


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## lagomorph (Dec 27, 2011)

Dry the apple twigs? Why? We have a few apple trees in the backyard, and they need to be pruned to produce well, so I prune them gradually throughout the winter, giving fresh prunings to our two buns almost every day from mid-December through March. (We use no pesticides on our trees.) I've been doing this since the rabbits were less than a year old, with no untoward effects. Wild rabbits certainly eat apple twigs and bark whenever they can get it, too.

On occasion, I give them twigs of other tree species, such as sugar maple, oak, beech, ash, autumn olive, service berry, etc. They like some of these more than others. However, the two that they will not eat are crab apple and black cherry, so I don't bother giving those anymore.

There are many different kinds of crab apple, though, and it's possible that rabbits will eat some but not others. My crab apple trees are Sargent crabs. If you have a different kind, and they do eat it, I would be interested in hearing about it.

Everyone has a different philosophy, but I find out what they like by simply offering it to them. As long as you have not sprayed your trees with chemicals, it is fine to give them some twigs and see if they like it. I always give them fresh, not dried.


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## lagomorph (Dec 27, 2011)

I just read about drying apple twigs on a couple of websites. They say there is a tiny amount of something in the fresh twigs that rabbits metabolize to the toxic chemical cyanide. If that is true, the risk must be extremely small, and you would have to feed your rabbits fresh apple twigs exclusively for them to get enough cyanide to make them sick. I would not be surprised if this risk has been exaggerated by people who sell apple twigs, so that we will buy them, rather than get them for free from back yard trees or from local orchards. This kind of reminds me of the green potato skin fear: A person would have to eat an awful lot of green potatoes to get sick from solanine poisoning.

My healthy rabbits are 5.5 years old and have been snacking on fresh apple twigs for 5 years. Apple twigs and bark are favorite foods for wild rabbits and many other herbivores, and they don't seem to be dropping dead from cyanide poisoning.


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## Ashley B (Dec 27, 2011)

For years i have been giving my bunnies crab apple twigs and nothing happened. I just cut twigs off the branch and wal-ah, they love it! I wouldn't worry about but try not feeding too much at a time! Hope this helped!


-Ashley


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## Chad Laughter (May 22, 2020)

I have NEVER dried apple twigs when giving them to my rabbits and I haven't lost a rabbit yet.


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