If She's Eating Her Blanket...

[Jenk]

I'm wondering if I should consider removing a blanket from Zoe's penned area. I've found a few worn-looking spots (albeit small ones) on her blanket, in which she likes to cuddle/sleepduring the day.I'd hate having to take it away from her.

Still, she's begun (again) passing some small, dry, broken-looking fecals (along with her larger, oddly-shaped ones); I'm concerned that she may be ingesting some of the blanket fibers, which, if anything, wouldn't help her digestion.

I feel like this poor rabbit can't have any fun, especially since she can't have any toys because she'll chew/ingest them (e.g., baby keys, etc.).

Jenk

 

[maherwoman]

I would remove it, just to be on the safe side, especially since you're seeing it possibly affecting her poops.

Any chance you can buy her a wagonwheel toy? You can find them at pretty much any pet store (I find mine in the ferret toy section...which is funny, because the times I've bought them was in California, where ferrets are illegal to own).

Hugs to you both!

 

[Jenk]

maherwoman wrote:

I would remove it, just to be on the safe side, especially since you're seeing it possibly affecting her poops.

The thing is, I'm not certain that she is eating her blanket (though the small, worn patches make me wonder). Plus, she's eating pellets (only2 tsp.), which may also be affecting her gut for the worse.

Any chance you can buy her a wagonwheel toy? You can find them at pretty much any pet store (I find mine in the ferret toy section...which is funny, because the times I've bought them was in California, where ferrets are illegal to own).

I just viewed a wagon wheel toy online. I'm fairly certain that she'd chew off bits of plastic from one. (This is a rabbit who literally corners the plastic, entirely-smoothcat balls that she has, so that she can get "grip" on them with her teeth and, thus, chew plastic off of them, as well.)

It's insane, the fact that this rabbit has a bare-bones x-pen area. She has an open-door carrier (which she's chewed on from the inside at times), her litter box and four balls (three small plastic cat toys and alarge rubber one, which she can't manage to easilychew).

Hugs to you both!

Thank you.

I'm getting nervous because we're due to leave on vacation on July 3, and her fecals are now showing some signs of dryness....

 

[redthunderrabbits]

I would remove it from her cage just to be safe and give her rabbit friendly chew sticks thats what I always use Best of luck to you!!

 

[Jenk]

redthunderrabbits wrote:

I would remove it from her cage just to be safe and give her rabbit friendly chew sticks thats what I always use Best of luck to you!!

She's not had luck with chew sticks in the past, either. She ate all the bark, and her fecals starting turning for the worse (small, dry, broken) within a few days' time. Essentially, her system can barely handle most foods (except for hay), much less non-digestible items.

 

[maherwoman]

Oh my goodness...

Have any canned 100% pumpkin on-hand to give her?

 

[Jenk]

maherwoman wrote:

Oh my goodness...

Have any canned 100% pumpkin on-hand to give her?

I dare not give it to her. Her gut doesn't easily accept strange foods. It tends to get worse, not better, even when she receives things that should increase fluids in her gut.

Remember, she's already drinking about 100-130 mL of water daily. If her gut is still drying out somewhere, no amount of pumpkin will help, especially in terms of moisture.

 

[JimD]

About the blanket...

Is it natural fabric ... like cotton?
If not, I'd take away.

All of my buns have blankies and most of them chew them. They don't actually ingest them. MooShu even leaves the little cutouts around her pen. Most of them dig and groom them and tend to eventually tear them up pretty good.


About the chewing...

Have you tried giving her timothy hay cubes? They're great chew thingies for the buns! And all natural too!

Or a small bundle of hay tied up with a long strand of hay? All natural, again!

 

[Maureen Las]

What about a grass mat?

 

[Jenk]

JimD wrote:

About the blanket...

Is it natural fabric ... like cotton?
If not, I'd take away.

All of my buns have blankies and most of them chew them. They don't actually ingest them. MooShu even leaves the little cutouts around her pen. Most of them dig and groom them and tend to eventually tear them up pretty good.

I took the blanket away tonight (intending to wash it tomorrow morning), but I'll be sure to check the tag for the fabric content. (I don't believe that it's all-cotton.)

None of my guys just rip/shred stuff. All three of them rip stuff and then consume it.

About the chewing...

Have you tried giving her timothy hay cubes? They're great chew thingies for the buns! And all natural too!

Or a small bundle of hay tied up with a long strand of hay? All natural, again!

I've not tried the timothy hay cubes, but she has once received a small bundle of hay tied with another strand. She did enjoy it; I ought give her more of them. It's just bad that they make such a mess: hay strewn everywhere when she's "done" with it.

 

[sha10ly88]

What about towels?? Just a suggestion.

 

[Jenk]

sha10ly88 wrote:

What about towels?? Just a suggestion.

Towels are usually worse because the long fibers can be plucked and ingested.

But I should note that I've watched her even more closely as of late at times when she crawls inside of her blanket. I've only seen her lick it a few times--but there's been no chewing. And I don't actually see signs of it being chewed when I'm not around (e.g., frayed edges, actual holes in it, etc.).

Her fecal output is high, although her fecals are still odd. But as long as they're okay, I'm going to leave the blanket in her area; it's of much comfort to her. And since we'll be on vacation on July 4th, I want her to have a comfy "safe haven" to which she can retreat when noisy fireworks are going off.

 

[PamsWarren]

I once had a rabbit who chewed a hole in the towel that I was using as his cage liner and got his head stuck through one of the holes. Towels with holes can also get wrapped around a rabbit's feet. Digestive issues are not the only dangers to be aware of! Just wanted to mention this. Best wishes

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I'm wondering if it would be possible for her to play with a ring of metal house keys you no longer need/keys from hardware store... She can't possibly chew through metal

No really sharp bits either; just a thought.

 

[Maureen Las]

NorthernAutumn wrote:

I'm wondering if it would be possible for her to play with a ring of metal house keys you no longer need/keys from hardware store... She can't possibly chew through metal

No really sharp bits either; just a thought.

They like to play with plastic keys made for babies

of course she could chew those too but I never heard of a bun doing that ???

 

[Jenk]

angieluv wrote:

NorthernAutumn wrote:

I'm wondering if it would be possible for her to play with a ring of metal house keys you no longer need/keys from hardware store... She can't possibly chew through metal

No really sharp bits either; just a thought.

They like to play with plastic keys made for babies

of course she could chew those too but I never heard of a bun doing that ???

Oh, believe me, Zoe's done that....When she had baby keys (attached to the plastic baby rings) attached to her x-pen, she'd gnaw on them. I started finding small gauges taken out of them--and no plastic bits in sight.

After I discovered that she corners her small plastic cat ball toys in order to chew them, my hubby joked that we should get her large metal ball bearings. I looked at him and said, "I know you're joking, but you may be on to something." The drawback, though, is that large ball bearings are not cheap; so we've not bought any at this time.

Metal keys might work, but I wonder if it's bad for a bun to mouth metal? Not that she'd ingest the metal itself, but what happens if she licks on keys? I dunno...