quick question about branch from outside

[voguemamselle619]

my father has finally allowed me to take a branch off of one of the trees in our yard. i'm going to take a pear tree branch. these trees have never been sprayed, but my only concern is that my neighbor was white washing his house a couple months ago and my dad said that some of the spray probably got on the tree. i know i'm neurotic, but i just want some reassurance that branches from these trees would still be safe. i would like to just rinse them off and put them in her cage. our backyard squirrels love hanging out in these trees.

[voguemamselle619]

and also has anyone used japanese red maple branches? i can get one of those too. are they safe?

[lynn]

Has it rained in the past couple of months? Wouldn't that be basically the same as rinsing the branch off? I would think that once the whitewash dries, the paint is pretty much inert.

[Joan]

Both branches will be OK.

[voguemamselle619]

thanks