Dental care

Question
I know it's important to give a rabbit something to chew on to help keep teeth healthy, I was going to give them a small branch of wood, can you tell me of any types of wood to avoid and also some beneficial or harmless woods .thank you  

Answer
Dear Steven,

Many people are surprised to learn that dental health in rabbits depends more upon their having fresh greens (especially if they can graze on natural grass on an unsprayed, unfertilzed lawn) to chew than wood or other hard objects.  In a rabbit whose teeth are aligned normally, the teeth wear against each other as he chews, keeping them at a normal length and free of sharp points.

The sharp points issue is one of the more cryptic rabbit dental health problems, though more and more vets are becoming aware of it.  Fresh greens promote a side-to-side grinding chewing motion of the molars, and this helps prevent sharp molar spurs from forming.  So rather than concentrating on wood chew toys (which are fine, and trees such as apple, pear, and maple are safe and fun), I'd be sure bun gets plenty of fresh grass hay (timothy is best) and fresh green, leafy vegetables.  Those will ensure that his teeth stay healthy, as well as his intestines and his whole body.

You can read more about this here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

I hope this helps.  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana