Is Serbian Spruce Toxic to Dogs?

Serbian spruce (Picea omorika) is non-toxic to dogs and is safe to keep in homes with pets as long as precautions are taken.

What is Serbian spruce?

A close relative of the Norway spruce, the Serbian spruce is a medium-sized evergreen with dark green leaves on the top and silver blue on the underside. Serbian spruce grows in a narrow pyramidal shape, with branches that curve upwards and leaves are approximately 1.25 – 2.5 cm (1/2 – 1 inch) long, and rounded at the tip.

As a narrower tree, the Serbian spruce can fit into smaller corners than the Norway spruce. The leaves impart a citrus smell when crushed.

Related: Caring for a Christmas tree

Safety

While Serbian spruce is non-toxic to dogs, care must be taken to keep pets safe.

• Always secure the tree to a wall with fishing wire to prevent it from being toppled over.
• Unplug Christmas tree lights when they are not in use, or there is nobody there to supervise.
• Do not place edible decorations on the Christmas tree.
• Take care with tree preservers, aspirin or fertilisers in the tree water bowl, due to their toxicity and do not let pets drink out of the water reservoir.
• Place breakable objects higher up on the tree and non-breakable ones lower down.
• Avoid angel hair tinsel which can be injested and cause a linear foreign body obstruction.
• Clean up dropped needles regularly.
• Do not use fake snow on the tree.

Toxicity of common Christmas trees