Messy messy hay

[yayforalexis]

My Totoro loves to rearrage his hay alllll over his cage. I have tried a number of different things to place the hay in, but he seems to really like dragging it every where which creates a HUGE mess. On top of that I seemed to have developed an allergic reaction to the hay this past half a year which is weird, because I wasn’t the other 2 years I’ve been handling the hay. I get hives all over my hands and arms and sneeze attacks where I feel like eyeballs might just pop out of my head. This happens because he seems to pick and choose exactly which strands of hay are the yummiest and kicks all the rejected hay everywhere else.

Is there a better way to keep the hay in? I have tried side holding containers, extra bins/ shoe boxes / wooden basket/boxes which he thinks its a litter box and poops and pees inside his hay, little barrel balls which he didn’t like because he couldn’t get a lot of hay out.

 

Also, off topic, when he seems to be digging in a clean/empty area, I see him pull his chest fur sometimes and sometimes his front paws fur (like when hes playing and pulls out strands of paper, but here there is nothing he is digging in)… Does this hurt him? Why is he doing this? He never actually yanks fur out, it jus looks like a tug and he does this for a while.

[LoveChaCha]

Hi there

Is your bunny spayed or neutered and how old is bunny? Usually female bunnies will pull fur from the chest to make a nest. This is what is called a false pregnancy. I have read of both genders doing it, but as a sign that they are bored and need stimulation (toys, etc).

I have a pink IKEA plastic bag holder that I use for hay. I can’t find the picture at the moment -__-

Are you using Timothy Hay? I have bad allergies to it as well. Have you tried Orchard Grass? I use that now because it doesn’t trigger my allergies and it smells quite pleasant to bunny

[yayforalexis]

Hello,

Yes he is fixed. He was fixed at 5months old. He will be 3years old in 3 months. It is timothy hay. I have never tried any other kind of hay for him.

[yayforalexis]

Oh.. and he has a “chest” like a dewlap.. but I am 100% sure he is male because before I got him fixed the vet showed me his… jewels and ive seen his… peepee before that when he got agressive before he was fixed…
I think he has a “dewlap” because Totoro was over fed a LOT of treats and large portions when I lived with my mom for about a year. She and my sister spoiled him and it is taking a while for him to lose any weight, but he is still very active.

[Monkeybun]

You may want to try an alternative hay, like orchard grass. Many people that are allergic to the timothy hay do not react tot eh orchard grass, and it is just as healthy for bunnies

[lashkay]

The mini-horse nylon hay bags, I find, keep the hay tidy and neat while allowing complete access to the hay. We love them. You can get them at horse tack supply places. The hay stays in the bag and doesn’t scatter all over the floor, even when they’re done with it.

[Helenor]

Here’s the IKEA plastic bag dispenser that Brittany was talking about:

I just zip tied it length wise over their litterbox.

[lashkay]

Keep an eye out they don’t start chewing the plastic! Unfortunately, I have an interchange cube for connecting to the plastic tunnels I got in the UK made out of the same thing as yours, and after months of leaving the plastic alone, I caught Dustor chewing noisily on it the other day – out of the blue. I immediately turned the opening facing his pen wall so he doesn’t have access to the plastic anymore, but they’re capable of outsmarting even the best laid plans. A rabbit belonging to an etsy pet bed maker, that ingested plastic was at the vet for a week until it painfully passed the blockage, many $ later.

[lashkay]

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound snippy in my post. I guess I’m still upset that I had to take away the plastic interchange cube because it was going so nicely, he was enjoying hopping out the hole, and now, he has to start chewing on it around the hole SIGH And when I saw the holes on your plastic thing you’re using as a hay dispenser, it brought up my upset with myself for merely turning it facing the pen wall, in case he still may find a way to chew it that would be unbeknownst to me and my upset carried into my post. I didn’t mean to bark, I just wanted to caution you such that you – and I – and others might be spared the unfortunate fate of that etsy owner’s bunny who ended up on the surgery table. It’s hard to take things away from a bunny sometimes when they had been using them well and finding a way to offset boredom. Our little babies have a way of endangering themselves with stuff given to them with the best intentions for their safe usage, but bunnies don’t know any better. I feel it’s a blessing we can share our experiences including mistakes we’ve made with others and possibly help to offset a disastrous istuation for them.

[Helenor]

Thanks for the warning, lashkay. And don’t worry, I didn’t think you sounded snippy. So far, they have not been interested in the plastic. They like to dig at their rug more than anything. I will keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t eat the plastic!

[lashkay]

Thanks, Helenor. I’m sure we will all be watchful over our little ‘chewer-babies.” Sorry yours is interested in rugs. Dustor was digging at the cover of his bed, too. SIGH

[Author]

Messages