Are Christmas Trees Safe for Rabbits?

While chewing on the bark won’t necessarily do rabbits any harm (unless it has been treated with fire retardants, etc), we do not recommend allowing access to Christmas Trees for rabbits.

The main danger is that rabbits are very keen to chew through electrical cables and wires, so lights on the tree are an especial worry, but even after taking down the decorations, dangers range from mild (pigments changing the urine colouration to dark or reddish, mimicking urinary tract bleeding) to severe (overconsumption of leaves causing gut problems which can lead to death).

Having said that, the toxicity of pine resins and poinsettias has been overstated in the past (https://rabbit.org/health/poinsettia.html), and the main concern is gastrointestinal upset from eating these new foods. If your Christmas tree has not been treated (with fire retardant, pesticides, etc) or painted, then it should be safe to chew. Note that natural chemical compounds in some evergreens may cause the rabbit’s urine to turn more orange than usual, but this is not a health concern.

_{Richard Saunders BSc (Hons) BVSc FRSB CBiol DZooMed (Mammalian) DipECZM(ZHM) FHEA FRCVS
Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund Veterinary Advisor}