is it normal for a rabbit to want to chew on brick and mortar?

[sharper]

 Bailey has discovered her love for my brick fireplace.  I can hear her chewing on the mortar sticking out from between the bricks.  She has gotten obsessed with it.  A squirt of water distracts her for a split second, but she immediately goes back to what she’s doing.  She’s not doing any damage.  I don’t even see any slight marks where she chewed.  But is it okay for her to be doing this?  Is this normal?

Is there something else I should get her that is similar to the feel, like a pumice stone or something? lol I’m just baffled by this behavior.  At least it has gotten her away from my wood baseboards. lol  So weird.

[KatnipCrzy]

that is odd- maybe she has some form of pica from her previous living conditions/diet?

EDIT: have you ever offered her a mineral block or other treat like that (Critter Cone, etc)?  These are generally considered to not be necessary and are just something else to sell to a rabbit owner.  But I wonder if it is the morter, location, texture or something else that is prompting her to chew mortar.

[sharper]

no, i haven’t given her anything like that, but I might try that. It would be better than hearing the scrapping of her teeth on the fireplace…*shudder*

I found a few others that had rabbits that liked it too on another forum. One person gave her rabbit one of those lava rocks you put in aquariums to try and get her away from the mortar on the fireplace. It’s so strange.

[KatnipCrzy]

maybe someone else on here will be able to chime in with some experience.   I imagine the sounds would be akin to “nails on chalkboard”. 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Yuck I hate that kind of noise!
It could just be a nice feel for her to chew on or a dietary deficiency-Most feel salt licks are unnecessary but if your bunny is not getting enough salt from their diet they would use a salt lick. Unless the bunny has nothing else to do (and it become a neurotic behavior) they’ll only use the salt lick if necessary. I offer them to my buns and they’ll sometimes use them-I don’t think it’s totally necessary but I don’t think it’s harmful either. You could get a salt lick or mineral block to see if she uses it-or try offering something similar to chew like a pumice stone or wood chews?

[Beka27]

OUCH!!!!!!!! That sounds awful… to hear and the feel of the scraping on your teeth! :o(

I’m not really sure about that. I’m guessing it’s not good for her tho. Can you distract her with something more suitable to chew or she keeps heading back there?

[KitD]

I can only offer a trick to discourage her that I have used for my baseboards; rub the surface with the outside of a (washed) grapefruit peel. I have found that it works for awhile. I’ve actually used this for wooden chair legs and such. Hope it helps cuz that grinding/scraping noise would drive me NUTS!

[MarkBun]

Maryann likes to lick an antique blacksmith ladle I have propped up in a corner. It’s iron and rusted. Then again, she’s nutz.

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