Bunny Eating bedding

[Tori_bun]

A while ago I noticed my bunny Bella eating her bedding quite often and I have tried to shoo her away from doing it but she wont stop I also tried switching to using towels instead hoping that would discourage the behavior but it didn’t she just started trying to chew holes into the towels so I switched back to bedding but am using a different brand, I went with the carefresh unbleached natural recycled paper bedding hoping at least that my she wasn’t eating dyed and colored paper,I switched to this a few weeks ago so I don’t think this is curiosity chewing over something new, she also chews on carpet so its not just her bedding. She hasn’t had any health problems and I keep an eye out to make sure shes still going to the bathroom and there are not any blockages caused by this habit of hers. Is there anything else I can do? Any recommendations or ideas? 

[jerseygirl]

I see a cute little bun in your avatar! Is she a mini-rex?

Is she a good hay eater? My concern for when rabbits eat paper products is they are looking for easy fibre. Whereas, grass/hay is the best fibre for them.Some rabbits can get away with it. But Ive had one of mine develop gi stasis from ingesting too much cardboard from back when he didn’t eat as much hay. 

Do you use bedding to line her cage? If so, it isn’t really necessary. Most rabbits will push it aside also. If they use a litterbox, the bedding isn’t needed. If she also eats the litter, I would look at getting a litter screen to place over the top.

She definitely sounds like a chewer, so be sure to provide her different chew toys. She might enjoy destroying things like timothy hay or seagrass matts.You could even attach some to the cage side. There are little bungalow type things made of hay too, that they can sit in and chew to their hearts content.

[Tori_bun]

Haha yes she is an adorable mini -rex. 

She is a fairly good hay eater but a picky one so I haven’t found a specific brand that she loves. Do you have any suggestions? 

I do use bedding to line her cage and she does push it out of where she sleeps in her hut however we are still litter box training so she does still need the bedding because she will occasionally go outside the litter box.

She is for sure a chewer and has already destroyed many a toy however she is not a fan of all the hay mats and stuff because of her being a very picky hay eater.

Thank you so much for your suggestions!

[Asriel and Bombur]

I think the bedding encourages them more to go outside the box because it’s a soft place for them to pee. So I’d honestly axe the bedding. Is she spayed? Unfortunately getting her litter trained is going to be very difficult until she is.

[jerseygirl]

I agree, the bedding could be interfering with her litter training. Try see how she does without anything on the cage floor.

What types of hay have you tried? A lot of bunnies like orchard hay if they’re not into timothy. There are they different cuts of hay also. 1st cut being coarse, the 2nd and 3rd cuts softer. My own eat oat hay as that is what is readily available here in Australia.

Do you place they hay in her litterbox on in a spot above it? This also helps a lot with litter training. When she is out of the cage, you could put hay in a couple other spots to encourage her to stop and eat some. One of out forum leaders, Wick, has some success putting multiple hay stations in place for her rabbit.
Reducing pellets and other foods for a while can also get them onto eating more hay.

[Tori_bun]

Unfortunately she is not spayed I am hoping to get her spayed before she is 2 (she is less then a year old right now). 

Litter training does seem to be going well. I do have her hay located closer to her litter box and even with the bedding she has never peed outside her litter box, however she does poo outside her litter box quite regularly. She has also never gone to the bathroom outside her cage, not since the first night I had her, she always goes back into her cage to go to the bathroom then she comes back out to play. 

She does seem okay with timothy hay but I have never tired her on orchard hay, I thought it wasn’t as good for them? From what I can see I think she prefers a coarser more straw like hay not a fine and thin one.

Thanks for all your advice 

[Author]

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