eating cardboard and blankets

[ani-lover]

okay....mocha has been eating a lot of cardboard and shes been spayed for three months today, my question.....is the cardboard bad for her to eat? and shes also gaining weight and i want to put her on a diet as she has a small build but has been looking a little chunky lately. also i know its normal for females to be slightly heavy and have a big dewlap but i feel that she needs to lose a little weight and i was wondering if anyone has any tips.

other info: she eats 1/4 cup of big red rabbits choice pellets per day
and she has free run of timothy hay all the time

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

Silly bunny. Don't let her eat the cardboard, it could cause a blockage in the intestines.

 

[juliew19673]

To me, it sounds like she is bored; Hormones take a good few weeks to wan, and she is now trying to figure out what she is supposed to be doing now that she is not hormonal; so go with her thinking but wise to ask..

my female will destroy, carpet, walls etc.. when bored. She's been altered for a good 2 years. You might try just giving her a box (small cardboard) along with a few bunny toys (wood toys to chew on, anything might that will make her have to work at it). My 3 buns have eaten their weight in cardboard and I haven't seen a problem, but that being said, its not food - its their way of wearing down their teeth. Make sure her teeth aren't giving her problems. Move her stuff around, then she has to "chin" everything all over again.

Buns will, at the best of times, still chew on clothes, you or the WALLS; if left to their own devices.. Weight gain may be had from being altered, someone should jump on here soon with some sage advice.

Hope it helps and post back what you find works for you.

 

[ani-lover]

thanks for the response.

mocha has a lot of loofa toys and other chewy things in her cage. she just loves cardboard though and as she does live in a two level NIC cage her floor is cardboard because i dont know what else to use.

i've been trying to give her other toys but the first thing she grabs is the cardboard packaging. lol. i dont let her have it though.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Our bunnies love cardboard and as long as it doesn't have photo quality pictures on it or vet says it's just fine as it is digestible. The photo pictures are a plastic applique and aren't good for the bunnies but the rest is soy ink so it's not a problem. If your bunny is eating the blanket, that could be a problem and could cause a blockage. Ours get an assortment of wood blocks and branches, paper towel and toilet paper rollers and boxes in all shapes and sizes. We also have a couple of giant litter boxes filled with shredded newspaper too. They love to play, lay, and dig in it and it's soy based ink too.

 

[NDrAbBiTs58041]

Our Thumper likes to chew too. Yes, we have toys to chew and play on. She is getting better though. The other day I cought her chewing on her matting that we have on the bottom of the cage that i made with children playmat's. It works, and its cheap. Like was said in earlier post, Thumper doesnt really like her toys she would rather nudge her nose to the door begging to be let out of her cage....(our 3yr lets her out) which is ok but I need to know so i can watch her. Not much for her to get into but don't want her peeing oneverything. She mostly chews on 'new' things when i ut them in her cage right away but then a few hrs later she doesn't care.

 

[blthmm]

My rabbit looooves cardboard too! I would give her tons to play with before I also realized she was actually eating it instead of just chewing like my hamsters and gerbils used to. I was also concerned about it causing blockages.

She has a lot of other toys but she never chews on the wood ones of course and without cardboard will end up chewing on things like furniture and wall corners. So I let her have one shoebox to chew on and make sure I give her canned pumpkin on a regular basis as it's supposed to be an extra boost of fiber. I like to freeze them in ice cube trays so that way it doesn't go bad and it's already portioned. And my rabbit loves it! Papaya tablets are good too but mine won't eat them.

I think it's ok as long as she eats plenty of her food and isn't just filling her tum with cardboard. If her poops get smaller it may be an issue. I see it as a treat, fine in moderation.

As for the cage floor, I use a shower liner for the bottom, $2 at Wal Mart. And then I cover that with a shower curtain. For shelves, I just fold up a blanket. Hope that gives you some ideas!