Carefreshnot safe for rabbits?

[Mimzy]

I recently helped a lady out get started with her new baby bunny. They had it on pine shavings & I suggested the pine pellets, however, she is covering the whole bottom of the cage with the bedding, so I told her paper bedding like carefresh is a good & safe option. I did actually buy her abag of it.

However, I just read someone else say that paper bedding is also not safe as the rabbit might eat it & it can cause digestive impact issues which can be fatal?
Has anyone had issues with their bun eating the carefresh?

[Asriel and Bombur]

It’s fine if it’s ingested a few times, but obviously repeated ingestion isn’t safe. Some paper beddings aren’t safe for ingestion because they have additives in it to make it not smelly.

They won’t have good luck litter training that bunny if there’s bedding all over the cage. It’ll teach it to go wherever it wants because the whole cage is basically a litter box.

[Bam]

Thank you for helping this lady with her bun! That’s lovely of you!

We have had reports here of rabbits eating Carefresh, although some seem to mostly nibble at it -which is fine. But ingestion of any type of bedding would be bad if the bun ate significant amounts of it. It seems to vary a lot between buns, whether they will eat their bedding or not.

You could perhaps ask the lady to keep an eye on her bun to see so she isn’t eating the bedding. Just explain that some buns will eat bedding. No bedding is safe if eaten in significant quantities except perhaps straw or straw pellets. Straw has other disadvantantages though.

So I’d not say Carefresh is less safe than any other litter.

(I also agree with A&B about keeping litter in the litter box only for easier litter training).

[lovebunny]

I am so glad you asked this question Mimzy! I use a paper bedding in Marinette’s litter box. I didn’t even think about her possibly ingesting it. It just looked more comfy then some of the other options. I clean her box every evening to make sure there are no changes in her poops and what not. She likes to dig and play in it after I clean it. I have never seen her eating it but I am going to pay more attention when she is playing from now on.

[Author]

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