Cherry Blossom ?

Hello :wave:

We have a large cherry tree in our garden which is currently blossoming in white flower.

My rabbits are let out every day in the garden for daylight hours, and keeping on top of every fallen blossom is impossible.

My question is: are the cherry blossoms themselves poisonous? I know twigs and branches are.

Are there any easy solutions to keeping on top of falling blossom?

I have just googled this and it is a no-no for rabbits - it is poisonous! Your best bet if you want your Rabbits to remain well is to buy a huge Run so you are sure they aren't eating anything which is going to make them ill or dead even.

Uhm, I, and my rabbits think otherwise. Can you post a link?

Google is a mixed blessing, you will find whatever you look for, not the answer to a question. If you look for toxic and deadly, you will get toxic and deadly.
Like that never dying apple seed myth.

I just leave that link (which very much mirrors my experiences):
https://www.bunnymeadow.co.uk/blog/safe-branches-list-for-rabbits-and-guinea-pigs

If your rabbits are used to graze even if it were toxic they wouldn't eat more than they could stomach anyway.
Just a good read on that topic:
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/lant-toxicity-the-problem-with-lists

I wonder if Tonibun means that this becomes toxic with injestion over time? Like with so many things, they may not be immediately poisonous, but there is a harmful component that builds over time to cause problems IYSWIM?

I've no idea either way btw, but think resources are always a good idea

Tannins are mentioned, and I know tannins are very antibacterial etc, but will lower PH, but being honest I've no idea what the impact of that would be on rabbit gut health, but I'm sure someone must know this?

IMO: It doesn't matter. The rabbits know when it's enough. And no, those toxins - if they were there in the first place - do not accumulate.
Rabbits evolved with that stuff. They can deal with it. It's not hemlock or yew or so.

Preitler said:

And no, those toxins - if they were there in the first place - do not accumulate.

Click to expand...

How do you know they don't accumulate? Is there a resource or so? Genuinely interested.

I'm more of the side of that within any animal 'hobby' (for lack of a better word) that there is a lot of unnecessary scaremongering at times (you should try the dog world...) but if there are genuine in depth answers about the possibility or not of toxicity, it makes for interesting reading

Hydrogen cyanids are quite common in the plant world. It gets metabolised at a pretty good rate, and apart from rather rare stuff like the insides of stone fruit kernels concentrations are too low to cause problems. It's something pretty much everything that eats plants has to deal with, and has evolved with. And rabbits are specialists, they can deal with more than humans, and they have the instincts to avoid really harmful stuff and doses. (We do too to some extent, like that something that's bitter is not good, but our instincts devolved to uselessnes by now)

If there hadn't been James Bond movies with the cyanid filled teeth and capsules people wouldn't be as scared as they seem to be. The internet is just a multiplyer of those fears, by repeating and exaggerating.

For example, if you do the math you'd need to stuff several pounds of ground up apple seeds into a bunny to make it sick. Well, it would have exploded by then. But we all learned in school that there is cyanid in apple seeds, cyanid is a deadly poison - Bingo.

Toxicity is all about concentration and doses.

Hello! First of all, thank you for all of the responses.

Because it’s a very large cherry tree the blossom has the potential to fall on 80% of the garden, which means putting them in a run would really restrict the full access they have at the moment.

Thank you for the links Preitler! A very interesting read on poison.

I think I’m going to keep on top of the blossoms by sweeping as much as possible but still allow the rabbits to roam? Fingers crossed and I’ll look out for any signs they’re feeling unwell.

Accumulation occurs with certain toxins/poisons, e.g. heavy metals. IIRC it's the same with some plants' toxic substances but I can't find the link I was using and Google isn't helping. There's a certain amount of accumulating toxin a rabbit will be able to take over its lifetime and TBH most rabbits deal with these alright I guess. I.e. mine ate rhubarb leaves but never had any ill effects, and they'll turn up in liver/kidneys first.

CloverParsley said:

Hello! First of all, thank you for all of the responses.

Because it’s a very large cherry tree the blossom has the potential to fall on 80% of the garden, which means putting them in a run would really restrict the full access they have at the moment.

Thank you for the links Preitler! A very interesting read on poison.

I think I’m going to keep on top of the blossoms by sweeping as much as possible but still allow the rabbits to roam? Fingers crossed and I’ll look out for any signs they’re feeling unwell.

Click to expand...

That is what I would do. Also love the thread title as one of my guinea pigs is called Cherry Blossom! Here she is, pic 1. Pic 2 is her and her sister, Rosie.

https://ibb.co/PNTLqJN

https://ibb.co/d25Vqc1