Safe to eat

[KimandCocoa]

I have noticed Cocoa eating things that I am afraid he should not be eating.
He's eaten his bedding (carefresh), cardboard, pieces of a basket, andalso corn cob bedding (when I used that in his litterbox).

Will these things harm him? Why does he eat them?

:eats:

 

[aeposten]

The carefresh isn't toxic, and al long as he isnot ingesting a TON of it, it should be fine. My only concern with itwould be the fact that it is quite fibrous and may cause GI impactionif eaten in large quantities.

Cardboard should be ok too (once again, as long as he isn't eating a large volume of it).

Not sure about the corncob bedding, but I'll do some searching.

-Amy

 

[missyscove]

I'm pretty sure the corncob bedding is NOT okayto eat, it's best not to use it. Try a pelletedpinelitter instead.

 

[Greta]

The CareFresh and cardboard should be fine aslong as he doesn't eat so much that it gives him an impaction. As forthe corn cob litter, I have no experience with it, but my concern wouldbe that the corncob would expand in his stomach and, again, give him amajor impaction. You might want to switch to a pelleted wood littersuch as Woody Pet to avoid danger of a serious impaction .

 

[KimandCocoa]

Yeah, I only bought one bag of the corn coblitter before switching to Yesterday's News (which is so much moreabsorbent!!) And I haven't seen him eating that.But I do recall him eating a little of the corn cob after I put it inhis litter box.

 

[maherwoman]

About corn, the following site has this to say:
"Corn, fresh or dried, is NOT safe for rabbits. The hull of cornkernels is composed of a complex polysaccharide (not cellulose andpectin, of which plant cell walls are more commonly composed, and whicha rabbit can digest) which rabbits cannot digest. We know of more thanone rabbit who suffered intestinal impactions because of theindigestible corn hulls. After emergency medical treatment, when thepoor rabbits finally passed the corn, their fecal pellets were nearlysolid corn hulls! Those rabbits were lucky."

This was quoted from:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/diet.html

It's always stuck in my mind. So, I would change out thatcorn cob bedding ASAP and be sure to watch your bun for the next fewdays to be sure he's pooping enough.

Also, you can check out any tack and feed place near you, ask them for"wood pellet horse stall bedding", and wind up with very inexpensive,GREAT litter for Cocoa's litterbox. I got a 30litre bag forapprox $6!! For a size comparison, about half the bag fills a5 gallon bucket.

Not to mention, it's completely safe if your bun nibbles a bit of it!

Sorry if I scared you with the above, it's just so important, I wanted to emphasize changing things ASAP.

Let us know how things go, ok?

Hugs!

Rosie*

 

[Jace]

How much is too much? I see Bud munching out onhis litter every now and then and I have to bust out the squirt bottlejust to get him to stop sometimes. I've been too afraid to leave alitter box (with litter of course) in his cage while i'm gone incase hetries to eat it again. Would Woody pet be better than Yesterdays News?Or should it be safe for him if i were to leave him alone in the cagewith the litter?

 

[maherwoman]

I wouldn't worry about it too much,Hun. As long as the things you have in his cage arecompletely natural (nothing with any sort of finishing on it, oranything other than paper or wood products), he's fine eatingthem. I even give my buns those soft paper drink holders youget from places like McDonald's because I can tell they're recycledpaper, and have no dyes in them! They can also have cardboardboxes (as long as they don't have any shiny printings on the outside,they should just be cardboard). He can even have newspaper,as it's made with vegetable dye!

He's just getting fiber from all different kinds of sources, andenjoying the bounty of different flavors you've given him.It's fun for buns!

As long as he's eating plenty of hay and the right amount of pellets, he's just fine, don't worry!

If you want some good links on food, check out the following section in the forum...has all SORTS of good links!
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12046&forum_id=17

Here's also a link about Hay:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12059&forum_id=17

Here's a link about Pellets:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12160&forum_id=17

Link about percentages of things needed in pellets:
http://www.lagomorphs.com/pellets.pdf

Good link about what to feed buns per age:
http://www.carrotcafe.com/diet/index.html

Also, check out the other things on that last site (Carrot Cafe) formore information regarding food in general. Good site!

Also, check out the House Rabbit Society's info on feeding...they're a very good site as well:
http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/diet.html

There ya go! Lots of reading, but believe me, it's worth it!!

Hugs to you both!

Rosie*

 

[maherwoman]

Oh, one other thing, I'm not sure if trying totrain with a squirt bottle is the best idea. I don't knowmuch about training buns, personally, but I have trained over 20 cats,and I can tell you that at least with them, the squirt bottle justisn't a good idea.

I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to post a question about it, so Ican tell you for sure. I won't mention anything about you inmy post, but thought it would be the best way to get information on thesubject. I'll just say that I know someone who's triedit.

I'm not trying to make you wrong, or anything, just trying to make sure what I'm telling you is correct.

Hugs!

Rosie*

 

[Jace]

Oh! I just realized I read the other post aboutsquirt bottles before I read this. I don't have to use the squirtbottle anymore. Bud knows when no means no and is still growing closerto me from what I can tell.

 

[maherwoman]

Oh, ok...hehe! Well, I went ahead andasked, just for my own knowledge, and apparently it's not a badidea! Every species of animal is so different, I thought itcouldn't hurt to ask, ya know?

Hope I didn't offend you by asking...that's the LAST thing I wanted to do.

 

[Jace]

Not at all. I've dug all around in Bud's poo, i'd do just about anything for him at this point haha.

 

[maherwoman]

Ok, glad to hear it (I mean that I didn't offendyou...hehe). Of course, I would dig around in my buns' poo ifI had to, too!! :embarrassed: