Poisonous plants...

Hi all,

The rabbits have settled in well, and we are now letting them run around the garden (supervised) for a little bit of time each day.

Unfortunately, I have started looking into what plants are poisonous... We moved into this house so the garden was already planted up, so identifying a lot of the plants has been difficult.

I do know there is:
- Clematis (I think)
- Rhododendron
- 1 Hyacinth

The Rhododendron is large, but I am not sure if it's the variety that's poisonous to rabbits... there is 1 Hyacinth which we can easily remove.

It is hard to tell if the Rhododendron is a Azalea though... and I think the rabbits may have nibbled on it yesterday, they both seem happy this morning and at most had one flower. Will check up on them later when I am back from work.

Guessing the best advice is just to remove the dangerous plants...?

Cheers.

Chrisrules334 said:

Hi all,

The rabbits have settled in well, and we are now letting them run around the garden (supervised) for a little bit of time each day.

Unfortunately, I have started looking into what plants are poisonous... We moved into this house so the garden was already planted up, so identifying a lot of the plants has been difficult.

I do know there is:
- Clematis (I think)
- Rhododendron
- 1 Hyacinth

The Rhododendron is large, but I am not sure if it's the variety that's poisonous to rabbits... there is 1 Hyacinth which we can easily remove.

It is hard to tell if the Rhododendron is a Azalea though... and I think the rabbits may have nibbled on it yesterday, they both seem happy this morning and at most had one flower. Will check up on them later when I am back from work.

Guessing the best advice is just to remove the dangerous plants...?

Cheers.

Click to expand...

Hope these links are helpful

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/lant-toxicity-the-problem-with-lists

http://www.actionforrabbits.co.uk/Plants toxic to rabbits.pdf

http://www.actionforrabbits.co.uk/Toxic & Safe Plants v2.pdf

There are some options besides removing the plants. If they are all in one area, you could put up some fencing (or puppy panels) to stop the rabbits getting near those plants. For individual plants, you could use a circle of mesh - chicken wire would do, but there are others that are easier to stake in and look nicer. Make the circle big enough so that stray leaves or branches can't be nibbled. They should be protected to about 2' high. Garden canes can be woven through as support in several places.

I have rhododendrons and the rabbits don't touch them - they just use them as shelter. All rhododendrons and azaleas should be treated as not bunny safe if they are seen to be nibbling them.

Any bulbs could be moved.

The clematis may have its stems chewed through - which will affect the look of the plant (although it will recover in time), so I would protect it anyway.

Okay we'll look at fencing the Rhododendron/clematis off. Like you said, they seem highly disinterested in the Rhodo and Clematis and I don't think either of them have eaten any - but just worried that they might do in the future!

I must be a terrible bunny mum my girls have access to all plants in our garden (all be it not many) and they can nibble what they please (apart from the harvest plants that I want the fruit from). Some are identified as plants to avoid such as Ivy but they have a small nibble and move on.

They also have access to bulb plants such as daffodils when they flower.

Jane has given you a link for Francis Harcourt-Brown, and the problem with toxicity lists. Personally, I fell my rabbits are not stupid and will eat the safe plants, or when plants are at their safest.

The only plants I would remove/fence off would be any deadly nightshade and any fox gloves.

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One of my rabbits is a bit on the low side of the intelligence scale and likes to eat the rhubarb leaves. He's never had any issues, and we stop him as soon as we noticed, but he pokes his little nose through the puppy pen bars, and pushes the pen sides too if he can, to get to it. The rest, like the peony, he and Aboleth just sniff at or 'taste' (put their jaws around it but don't take the bite). Not all rabbits will have the same constitution though!*

*He's had stasis before: sprouts are his intolerance! He's not as cast-iron as he likes to think :roll:

The puppy pen we use fences our lawn off so the rabbits stay on the lawn and don't go elsewhere, but it's surrounded by border. The size of the pen (it's 4 large 8-panel pens connected together, with one panel each acting as a support) meand the corners are movable and, inevitably, the 'smart' little raptor-bunnies have worked out where the weak points are and push their food-gathering luck

Thank you for posting the links! Petra can only be described as a hoover so she's not allowed near any plants as I'm not plant savvy but those links are quite useful!

I think the easiest solution for us is to cordon off the back end of the garden when they are out. I'm going to look at getting something that allows us to do this...! They can then just eat the grass and not get poisoned...

Alcohol is a poison and we administer it to ourselves regularly enough...! Seems rabbits are more sensible and avoid it.

Chrisrules334 said:

I think the easiest solution for us is to cordon off the back end of the garden when they are out. I'm going to look at getting something that allows us to do this...! They can then just eat the grass and not get poisoned...

Alcohol is a poison and we administer it to ourselves regularly enough...! Seems rabbits are more sensible and avoid it.

Click to expand...

You should tell that to Phoebe. She'll drink any alcohol that is going. Whisky and Cider are her favourite.



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daphnephoebe said:

I must be a terrible bunny mum my girls have access to all plants in our garden (all be it not many) and they can nibble what they please (apart from the harvest plants that I want the fruit from). Some are identified as plants to avoid such as Ivy but they have a small nibble and move on.

They also have access to bulb plants such as daffodils when they flower.

Jane has given you a link for Francis Harcourt-Brown, and the problem with toxicity lists. Personally, I fell my rabbits are not stupid and will eat the safe plants, or when plants are at their safest.

The only plants I would remove/fence off would be any deadly nightshade and any fox gloves.

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Click to expand...

I'm the same

Can anyone say how bad rhododendron are? Ie would one bite at a leaf be a worry?

I can't see Rhododendron on RWAF or RSPCA poison lists. They only seem to appear on the long lists of plants. I'm not saying the other lists are wrong.

Just need to know how cautious we should be. We basically chase them off the rhododendron as soon as they are nearby.

I'm keep doing this if such small quantities are 'safe' (I don't mean safe but you know what I mean).

What would a rabbit do about these huge lists of poisonous plants in the wild I wonder?

As others have said it is very difficult to find definitive information on what is safe and not safe for rabbits. It seems clear that some lists are contradictory and some confusing.

Personally, I "think" that many plants are listed as toxic or poisonous, when in fact they probably aren't or indeed it's only at certain times of the year or possibly just one part of the plant is an issue.

I would imagine that rabbits in the wild might be more confident about what is safe and what isn't. It may just be that toxic plants do not taste right to some rabbits. Again, it's very difficult to find out for sure.

I have looked on several websites, searching for Rhododendron and it's either not listed as either safe or unsafe or it is listed as unsafe. This accords with my understanding also that most if not all evergreens are not safe. If I am unsure about a new plant I err on the side of not feeding it if it appears on an unsafe list, where I have a degree of confidence in the information.

My rabbits are not free range, but I am aware of unsafe leaves that are blown into their accommodation. Most of these they completely ignore, but not all. I do try to remove ones that I see.

If it were me, I wouldn't let them eat Rhododendron. I just wouldn't want to take the risk. If they are nibbling it I would try to prevent them accessing the plant.

Evergreens have a chemical within the leaves which causes them to be, well, evergreen. (it slows down the dehydration of the leaves/needles).

This chemical means that the leaves etc are very indigestible and may cause problems of impaction etc.

ETA: This may be why you're online finding it on some lists as to my knowledge not all are evergreen?
(I wouldn't be concerned about a test nibble, but wouldn't allow them to eat it).

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