A couple of articles I\'ve read recently encourage putting hay in the litterbox, but I am wondering how safe that is? I thought soiled hay would be bad for rabbits to munch on.
Also, is it harmful for rabbits to eat the pages from phone books, catalogs, etc. because of the ink? Some articles seem to throw off red flags about ink.
Don\'t think I like the hay in the litter box. (Ick!) Let\'s put it this way...
Would you enjoy a salad that had been used to wipe out the inside of your toilet bowl? (Double Ick!)
A few errant nibbles from a magazine probably wouldn\'t hurt a bunny (we all like to enjoy a good book, now and then), but I certainly would make an effort to keep books, phone books, etc. out of the rabbit\'s reach.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
My rabbits wouldn\'t use their litter box until I put hay on it. I covered the whole box with hay when I was first training them to use the litter box. I don\'t like the idea of them munching on soiled hay either. What I do is put the litter box in the corner, and just put hay on just the outer edge of the box where it doesn\'t get soiled. They poop in the middle of the box and in the corner, and they chew the hay that is in front of their face, so even it I filled the box with hay, the box would have to get pretty dirty for them to eat soiled hay. I have never seen them chew on the hay that is under their butts.
I have also read articles about giving rabbits phone books, and I have wondered if that could cause digestive problem. I have also seen rabbits with fleese blankets!
Boy Petey sure gets more than a nibble or two of a catalog and phone book. He loves to shred (I think he likes the noise it makes) and it seems to keep him from pulling carpet. I\'ll have to find another alternative, I guess. He chews his toilet paper tubes, so is cardboard safe to nibble? I\'ll have to invest in a natural grass mat. Some of those websites charge so darn much shipping. I\'ll have to search locally for a pet store that sells them reasonably.
Also, Petey has a towel with hardly any \"nubs\", (we call it his blanket) and he doesn\'t chew it, but he likes to dig it under him -- it looks hilarious (entertainment for both of us)!
Any other ideas for safe shredding and chewing is always welcome. It seems like every website you visit has a different opinion, you know?
I know what you mean about the differences of opinions. I think a lot has to do with rabbits having different personalities. Some rabbits won\'t use a litter box unless there is hay on it. Some chew carpet and some don\'t. Same goes for towels and blankets. Somewhere on this board was a story of a rabbit that was left alone in a room for a long time unsupervised, and he ate lots of cardboard and something happened to him. I will look for it this week-end, and if I find it, I will bring it to the top.
Sometimes I can\'t believe the things I read, because they don\'t fit my own rabbits. I read that only females dig burrows. My female has a bigger drive to do it, but my male digs almost as much. Then there are people who try to make the data fit their beliefs. I read that you should not let rabbits dig in the dirt because they can get deadly bacteria in their nails and get sick! I got to believe that more rabbits die from eating carpet than digging in dirt. I have read that rabbits poop where they eat. My rabbits like to eat where they poop, like when people take a book with them to the bathroom, but they don\'t always poop where they eat. So many authorities out there, it is so hard to know what to believe!
As for chewing, my lilac bush branches have really saved the day. I cut some and put them in the yard, and they chew on them all winter long. I haven\'t tried the grass mats yet, but it sure sounds like a good idea.
I personally think you have to sift through a lot of what you read and hear, like you say, as it fits your own rabbits. The same goes with parenting. If you believed and practiced every single thing you read about your children\'s care, you would go batty with detail, and probably not really learn what makes your children happiest-- or bunnies in this instance!
Petey will not touch lilac bush twigs. I have a huge lilac bush real close to the front of my house (which makes it so convenient for me to cut from), and the little booger won\'t even try a munch! However, he does love the crab apple twigs (of course, at the end of the property-- and its averaging 20 degrees outside)!
I remember the post about the little bunny that died from eating too many cardboard tubes or something. Very sad and it does concern me. Fortunately, though, Petey really just nibbles these and doesn\'t eat a great deal of them. He does like to munch on catalogs, however.
The lady I bought Petey from recommended hay in the litter boxes too, but Petey always pulled it out so we just used bedding (which he digs out too--for fun). Rabbits are smart with good sniffers. I would assume they know which hay they should eat from.
The other problem we run into is that since he shares his bedroom with my daughter, we have to limit the mess he can make outside the cage with toys such as shredding and hay everywhere. That\'s why twigs are nice too. If I find the grass mats, I wonder if he would shred those everywhere? They have to be untreated, also, I think. I\'m going to check TSC.
Harplady wrote:
\"Sometimes I can\'t believe the things I read, because they don\'t fit my own rabbits. I read that only females dig burrows. My female has a bigger drive to do it, but my male digs almost as much. Then there are people who try to make the data fit their beliefs. I read that you should not let rabbits dig in the dirt because they can get deadly bacteria in their nails and get sick!\"
That is amusing.
I have a wayward buck (who is now back in his cage), that I have renamed \"Digger\" because of the extensive burrowing he accomplished when loose.
Dirt in the nails making a rabbit sick??? That\'s a good one. This just goes to show that many of the so-called forums and Websites devoted to pet rabbits promulgate a great deal of misinformation.
I think we have a great group here.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
[quote=Charlcie]
I think we have a great group here.
I agree!