Bunny only wants to eat cardboard

[Sam_]

ever since he discovered paper and cardboard, brownie has not wanted to eat his hay and will only eat cardboard. how can I stop him?

 

[Blue eyes]

You'll have to remove the paper and cardboard until he is back to eating plenty of hay. Once he is consistent in eating about his body-size in hay, you can allow him the occasional bit of cardboard or paper.

Eating cardboard without eating hay can cause a blockage in his gut, so that hay is important.

You may want to consider (if you haven't already) getting him some seagrass mats to chew and destroy. Those are safe for eating.

 

[Sam_]

that would be a problem. I use cardboard to block them from chewing on wires. he is still eating his pellets and all of his greens. is there a way that I could make the cardboard taste bad?

 

[helena]

You could try spraying it with apple cider vinegar or just distilled white vinegar, that should help.

 

[Blue eyes]

You could replace the cardboard with corrugated plastic (coroplast) or with grids from cube shelving. Or you could protect the cords with a flexible conduit from the hardware store.

It's good she's eating pellets and greens but the cardboard will cause a blockage without sufficient hay to push it through her gut.

 

[Sam_]

I"m thinking about buying some pvc piping to put the wires through

 

[Crystl.marshl]

Cardboard is fine for bunnies to eat. I would give him small pieces of cardboard. and other toys that he can chew on. You may want to get the rubber wire protectors. Cardboard and paper is a natural thing for bunnies to eat. Just reduce the amount of cardboard that you give him. If you don't want him to eat cardboard then give him other chewing toys such as pine cones, willow, fruit tree sticks, etc. You have a bunny who is a chewer so it best to get things that he will enjoy chewing.

 

[Sam_]

they never touch the wires. it's more of a precaution

 

[JBun]

Cardboard is fine for bunnies to eat. I would give him small pieces of cardboard. and other toys that he can chew on. You may want to get the rubber wire protectors. Cardboard and paper is a natural thing for bunnies to eat. Just reduce the amount of cardboard that you give him. If you don't want him to eat cardboard then give him other chewing toys such as pine cones, willow, fruit tree sticks, etc. You have a bunny who is a chewer so it best to get things that he will enjoy chewing.

I need to point out that this statement isn't entirely correct. Though cardboard isn't usually harmful for rabbits to ingest in small amounts, if large amounts or large pieces are consumed, they do pose a possible intestinal blockage risk. There have been incidents where rabbits have developed an intestinal impaction due to excess cardboard consumption. Cardboard isn't really natural for them to be eating. It's a man made product that doesn't break down in the gut but compacts together into a gooey mass, which is why it can pose a blockage risk. Hay, forage, branches, vegetation. Those are natural fiber sources for them to eat

Most of the time, rabbits ripping up their cardboard boxes isn't going to be an issue as only small amounts of it ever gets ingested. But the OP had stated that their rabbit had since stopped eating hay and was eating cardboard instead. And not eating hay will put the rabbit at even higher risk of the cardboard ingestion leading to a blockage.