Hay Cubes: There is a theory that crushing and cutting the hay into those shapes reduces the long fibers in the hay, so it has less of a positive effect on the bunnies’ digestive systems.  It also runs up the price quite a bit, so I think they are mostly good as toys/treats.

I do not know if plastic bottles will leach toxins, but I do know that with a glass bottle you can boil it to disinfect the entire thing.  You can’t do that with plastic.  On the other hand, the plastic ones will survive a fall much better.

I haven’t even seen the glass bottles in stores. I shop at Petco, a large pet supply store, You would think they would have everything.

Floppy, personally, hay cubes are mostly boredom busters and are usually made out of alfalfa hay which is not the best for an older bun. And as Osprey said the fibers are shortened, bunnies need to keep their GI tract moving and clear and the shorter fiber doesn’t clean out things quite as well. I think it is best to stick with loose hay and offer a cube as a treat or toy.

I can’t speak for the hay (as I’m a new bunny person myself), BUT as far as plastic leaching toxins…do a search on the internet regarding that.  I’ve read multiple sources that claim that plastic is very dangerous and does leach out toxins…and especially not to use it in the microwave.   You may remember a few years ago when they (whomever they are!) were saying not to use plastic wrap in the microwave.

Well, I became very ill about a year ago with multiple, multiple autoimmune disorders.  I’m really trying to pay attention to potential toxins now.  So, now more plastic for me (I use glass only) and (now that the subject has come up), I will go on a search for a glass water bottle for my baby!!!

You know, animals are probably very much like humans.  Some of us are more "sensitive" to allergens and toxins than others…hmm…

Terry

The hay cubes I like to give as a treat for my bunnies because it provides them something to chew on, keeps their teeth in good shape, and is a treat that will last them awhile. If you use the alfalfa type you cannot give them too many because they are fattening, but its something that can keep them distracted for awhile even if given only once and a while.

As for the plastic bottles, I am not sure, I always use water crocks because that way I make sure I change the water every other day.

hay cubes are an occasional treat at my house, but I agree with Osprey that they likely lacking the long strands of hay that are so beneficial to bunnies. I know several folks with hay allergies who have found the cubes to be a lifesaver.

Plastic bottles should be replaced every year, but I always thought it was because of bacteria.

You might consider using a ceramic bowl – it’s more natural for rabbits to drink this way and it’s easier to replace the water daily as well.

I ditto the hay cubes/cakes as treats, and I never heard of the plastic being a problem with toxins. Does anyone have any info about that that we can read (from the net)? I do know that they should be replaced every year just because the nozzle can wear out and of course you may not know until it’s too late. But I am very interested in the whole toxin issue. I will start researching this further.

There’s an old thread from a few months back asking that same question. Someone did give us a link about the water bottles and the leaching of toxins. I will see if I can find it and put it up again.

I personally don’t care for the hay cubes. Yes, they are GREAT chewtoys, my bun liked them immensely. But I think because of the alfalfa content, he turned his nose up at anything else and wouldn’t eat the stuff he needed to keep his belly moving…so I got rid of them.

Plastic in general is not the greatest thing to contain food in. But it is so ‘convenient’ and ‘popular’ and ‘cheap’ that it is the mode of choice for our world. lolz…too bad one can’t put water in a paper bag or something.
I don’t put water in a bowl becuase it either gets knocked over constantly or gets nasty stuff in it, plus Mim gets his chin all soaked drinking from it and I don’t want him to get sick that way.
I haven’t seen any glass water bottles. I may have to go Outside to find them. Could those be something supplied by binkybunny.com’s store perchance?

I bought a glass bottle by Super Pet- it has a metal guard all around the screw on drinking tube part- so there is NO plastic exposed.  This is seriously a HUGE piece of junk.  It had to be "just right" in order to work- and that is not acceptable to me, I would worry that Cotton is not getting water when she wants it.  I looked at other places on-line that have reviews like Petco and Petsmart- and I am clearly not the only one that had issues with the horrible water bottle.  A few people thought it was great- but the majority like me struggled to get it to work properly.

Julie

I use plastic bottles for my buns too. The thing that I dont like about it is that you cant wash inside of the bottle well. So I had to go buy the ones that the top opens so that it’s easier to refill the water. It’s easier to clean too.

As far as plastics, I know that it’ll absorb the molecules of whatever it is that you store in. That’s why if you store smelly food in it, you can never get the smell out. Or it’ll stain the container. I know that it releases toxins that can cause cancer if you microwave it. But I dont know about releasing toxins as in general.

I’m going to let my other half know that this thread is here so that he can more technically address the plastic issue – research on toxins is part of what he does for a living. I will say that I know he’s gotten those “warning” emails from various relatives on the hazards of reusing plastic water bottles and has told them those are false.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/petbottles.asp

We have plastic bottles for our bunnies and don’t replace them yearly, and if there was any scientific evidence of them releasing toxins then believe me Scooter would know!
– Annette

Yes, I’ve been hearing and reading some scary things about plastic as well..I’ll try to find some links.

I’ve recenlty heard (this is more people related) that those nalgene bottles, you know the ones we buy to look like we are healthy and exercise (hehe)) the hard plastic ones; Apparently these are really dangerous and although they don’t have a plastic smell (one reason they were popular) they release alot of chemicals into the water.

K&K, I don’t think that the Nalgene containers are any better or any worse than other food-grade plastics in releasing chemicals to the water.  Among other things, we use Nalgene containers in my laboratory for a lot of purposes, including as containers for processing water samples for measuring some of these chemicals at trace levels.  This is at part-per-quadrillion concentration levels!  We even use them to clean our lab glassware and apparatus after working with these chemicals, using some special detergents.  If they stuck to these containers and came back off, we couldn’t use them for our work–they’d contaminate our whole lab for a long time.

Of course, these are pretty heavy-duty pieces of plastic in the lab, but they aren’t all that much different than what we’d buy at the store.  I’d recommend washing such containers well before using them for the first time, which gets rid of any residual particles of plastic on them from manufacturing, but I think that’s a good idea in general with any container.

Scooter – I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to give a run-down of scientific research and analysis on plastic etc. especially being an expert such as yourself. I as well as everyone else would ike to express our deepest appreciation. I am going to also add this discussion to our FAQ section under Plastic Toxicity Questions.

Annette – Thank you too for having your other half take a look and answer these questions for us. It is invaluable information!