Chewing On Stall Pro Pine Pellet Bedding

[Butterscotch]

As anticipated, Butterscotch is munching on the Stall Pro Pine Pellets in her litter box. They are covered with hay but she digs down to the bottom of her litter box to access the pellets. I can't tell if she's consuming them but she is definitely munching on them. Is there any safety concern here?

I know if rabbits are good hay eaters then they can get away with consuming more indigestible material such as cardboard, wood, etc, but I don't know if Butterscotch would be considered a good hay eater. I serve fresh hay several times a day and I see her eating it but I never notice an actual decrease in the volume of hay in her litter box even before I add more. Same for Goose. Since they are so young (about 16 weeks and 14 weeks) they are still getting unlimited alfalfa based young rabbit pellets, which tend to disappear very quickly. Would it be a good idea to dial back on the pellets to encourage more hay consumption? They are both very active poop machines. Just a side note, they will be staying with my sister for 5 days next week as I have to travel out of state. Would any adjustments in diet be a bad idea at this time? I've also held off on feeding greens until after I get back because I want to be able to monitor them at first. So so far they have never tasted greens of any kind. As soon as I get back and we get settled in again I will begin to offer them slowly. I'd like Goose to be eating some greens before he's neutered on August 30th so that I can offer them to him as he recovers.

I can remove the pellet bedding for the time being, if necessary. Any thoughts?

Thank you.

 

[JBun]

As long as they are a plain wood pellet with nothing added, it wouldn't concern me too much to have some ingested. Rabbits do consume branches/wood, so as long as it's a safe wood then there's no problem. Pine when dried is considered safe. Consuming cardboard is a completely different thing as it doesn't break down in the digestive tract and tends to stay in gooey clumps. Wood that's consumed is chewed into small fibers.

It could be that she isn't eating enough hay. What I did for my young rabbits is feed enough pellets to last 8 hours, then let them munch on hay for the next 4 hours, then feed pellets again. That way they are usually eating enough hay for good gut function. The other possibility is if your hay is very soft and leafy, that it doesn't contain enough indigestible fiber from crunchy stems, and so she is craving that fiber and so eating the wood pellets. Indigestible fiber is what stimulates gut motility and keeps things moving through the digestive tract well.

 

[Butterscotch]

Thank you JBun, I appreciate the advice! I like your system for feeding pellets to young rabbits so I'm going to start that tomorrow. I think it'll work out great giving them just enough pellets to last while I'm at work, then hay until bed time (right around the 4 hour mark) then more pellets at bed time. I think I received first cut timothy in my last Oxbow hay order because it is long and stemmy and they love it! I just received my second order and it looks like it might be second cut: somewhat stemmy but more soft greens. Either way, it's good hay, I just apparently need to encourage them to eat more of it. Also, I don't think Butterscotch is consuming much cardboard, if any. I've never seen her actually injest any, but she sure does rip through it like a little tornado, leaving a big mess in her wake.

Again, thank you for the advice. My buns appreciate it too!

 

[JBun]

Another thing you may find is that as she is eating less pellets and has to eat more hay, she may be less destructive/bored. Pellets fill up rabbits quickly, being a condensed food. What I've noticed over the years is that feeding more pellets, they fill up fast then they have nothing left to do so they tend to get bored and look for things to do, usually getting in trouble. Whereas with hay, it's a slower process for them to eat it, so it takes a lot more of their time up. Hence, they don't get bored as often because they are too busy eating hay. Eating hay is a good boredom breaker activity. It's good for them and gives them something constructive/non destructive to do with their time.

 

[Butterscotch]

Another thing you may find is that as she is eating less pellets and has to eat more hay, she may be less destructive/bored. Pellets fill up rabbits quickly, being a condensed food. What I've noticed over the years is that feeding more pellets, they fill up fast then they have nothing left to do so they tend to get bored and look for things to do, usually getting in trouble. Whereas with hay, it's a slower process for them to eat it, so it takes a lot more of their time up. Hence, they don't get bored as often because they are too busy eating hay. Eating hay is a good boredom breaker activity. It's good for them and gives them something constructive/non destructive to do with their time.

This is good to know! She needs more to do. My little trouble maker....thank goodness she's so cute.

 

[Butterscotch]

I have to say that I am really impressed with these wood pellets for Butterscotch's litter box! She has been leaving them alone lately, which is a relief. I changed out her litter box this morning and even as I was dumping the box into the trash there was very little urine smell. I have about 6 bags of Clean and Cozy for Goose to go through and then I'll put him on the wood pellets as well because they are so much cheaper! I paid just under $6 for a 40 pound bag of pellets vs. $12 to $20 for a 2 week supply of Clean and Cozy. Very happy bun mama here!