My youngest rabbit started to eat her aspen shavings and doesnt like to use litterbox with it?!

[Nidela]

Hi! Out of all my years of owning a rabbit, i have never seen this behaviour and its kind of nerve wrecking. My youngest rabbit (about 8-9 months old) has started to eat the aspen shavings in her litterbox! She also doesnt like to use her litterbox with any type of shavings (she always takes the litterbox and flips it all over and make a huge mess lol) but when i leave her litterbox empty with just some timothy hay she tends to use it and not really flip it. Shes doing things backwards? I also give her wood sticks to bite on and instead of chewing on it and spitting it out like my other rabbit she eats it too! Besides that, shes a super happy and hyperactive bunny who eats and drinks a ton. Im just concerned with this new behaviour she has picked up on.

[tobyluv]

Since you have another rabbit, I assume that this one is spayed, so her new behavior can’t be chalked up to hormones.

Aspen chips are one of the safe litters for rabbits and a little nibble here and there would be okay, but you don’t want her to be actually consuming quantities of it. A litter screen might work for you. Put the aspen chips on the bottom of the litter box for absorbency and odor control, then put the screen over them, with the hay on top of the screen. Or you may want to try a heavier litter, such as aspen or pine pellets, which would make flipping the box more difficult. You could still use the screen with the heavier litter. Aspen chips don’t weigh much, so using them would make it easier for a rabbit to tip over a box.

If the chew sticks are safe ones, apple or willow, then it’s natural for rabbits to actually eat them. Some rabbits may just chew and leave the bits behind, while others will totally chew and consume them.

The litter screens are sold in the store here, by themselves (2 sizes) or with the litter box.  Some people have fashioned their own screens.

[Nidela]

Both my buns are spayed, i was guessing maybe because shes young she picked up on the habit. Thank you for the suggestions! Im also glad to hear about the sticks because those are the ones I give to her so it gives me some relief

[Puffbaby]

I use a puppy pee pad and just hay over it because my bun won’t use his box if anything else is in it. Regardless of the litter. Though I am going to try the carefresh litter again soon and see how it goes. So you could try just layering hay over her shavings and see if that works before buying a screen!

[Nidela]

Thank you for the idea

[Author]

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