Normal food habit?

[Oreo&Butters98]

I have two mini lops that are 10 weeks old. I have noticed that they have begun to dump hay and food into the drop pan beneath their cage. They are still eating and digesting fine. They both still binky around the room and act fine. I am just curious as to why they are wasting half of their food. I want to make sure they are ok and also that there isn’t something I need to do differently.

[Katie]

Rabbits are just like that.  They’re little brats!  Lol.  It’s like a toddler throwing his food on the floor, and then asking for a snack after dinner.  You can buy bowls that fix to the side of the cage so they can’t toss and/or move them.  That should manage it somewhat.  And a sipper bottle for water, or a side locking dish for that as well. 
I think indoor rabbits get to be spoiled to a degree, unlike outdoor rabbits; they know you love them and will always feed them.  So food is available as a play thing too Lolol.

[joea64]

The way that Panda and Fernando waste hay really irks me sometimes, I tell you that. I bought a 1/3 bale of hay three weeks ago and I’m already having to go back for a refill. They’re very enthusiastic hay-eaters, but they like to throw hay around too, stomp all over it in the litterbox and (obviously) toilet on it too, so that every few days I end up having to throw out most of what’s in the litterbox because it’s honestly inedible by that point.

[Sirius&Luna]

Rabbits like to pick through their hay to find the best bits, which means lots of other bits get discarded in the process! Of course they often go back and eat those bits too, but they also often get peed on before they have a chance to be eaten. Unfortunately, a lot of hay wastage is just a fact of bunnies.

[Wick & Fable]

Make sure your rabbits are housed separately to prevent pregnancy (can’t be 100% sure of gender at that age) and future aggression when their hormones kick in.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[joea64]

Posted By Sirius&Luna on 9/20/2017 5:30 AM

Rabbits like to pick through their hay to find the best bits, which means lots of other bits get discarded in the process! Of course they often go back and eat those bits too, but they also often get peed on before they have a chance to be eaten. Unfortunately, a lot of hay wastage is just a fact of bunnies.

In all candor, it often amuses me to make a nice little pile of their hay refills just so I can watch them half-disappear into it with just their tails and butts sticking out, wiggling vigorously as they forage, or their ears sticking up above the hay as they munch.

[sarahthegemini]

What do you mean by ‘pan beneath the cage’? Is it a wire bottom cage?

[Deleted User]

They’re not likely doing it on purpose.bIf there are places where their food can drop down it doesn’t really sound like an ideal living space as their food is getting wasted when they should be eating it. If they’re tossing their bowls then you should get heavier ones to prevent this

[Oreo&Butters98]

Thank you all for the feed back. I greatly appreciate it. And yes for now they have a wire bottom cage but it’s so close yo the drop pan that when properly filled there isn’t a difference really. We are trying to litter train them so they won’t have yo be in the cage so much for I don’t like it.

[sarahthegemini]

You really shouldn’t keep them in a wire bottom cage. That is incredibly painful and uncomfortable for them.

[Katie]

To compensate for the wire bottom, I know you said when it’s properly filled, there’s hardly a difference.  But just for some ideas you could put some newspaper in there.  Maybe put newspaper in all areas except their litterbox/the corner they picked to go to the bathroom the most.  Most rabbits will choose a corner for this; they’re naturally clean animals.  Newspaper is absorbent anyways though.  Or, if you have the extra hay, hay will lay overtop of the wire quite nicely, and protect their feet.  I don’t think it’s a huge deal if you say that the bottom is hardly noticeably different when it’s properly filled to the brim with bedding.  Maybe just buy them each a bed or put in a blanket in one spot for them to share to give their little feetsies a break once in a while!

[Wick & Fable]

If you think about putting your hand against a wire fence, you can imagine your fingers would kind of naturally fall through the holes and you need to make an effort to keep your palm flat against it all. Essentially, this is the same for rabbits on a wire bottom floor, except it’s all their weight. If they try to shift weight to readjust for comfort, they make their other paws uncomfortable, so what rabbits on wire cage floors end up doing is putting all their weight on the back heels of their feet, making the heels feel sore, blistered, and in longer cases, bleed. It’s very painful, and you can imagine it hinders whether the rabbit wants to actually move anywhere— similar to if you have a stomachache and don’t want to move in fear it will make you feel worse.

the bottom of their feet is really just skin and fur, so small metal wires isn’t comfortable to be on. Try to floor the rest of the cage. You can cut and zip tie cardboard down to make a solid top surface, then cover the cardboard in something, like old t shirts, torn towels, etc. Since litter training is happening, obviously cardboard will absorb urine, so maybe cover the cardboard in something water proof before putting a more cozy top on it. There is debate about soft things, as rabbits like to pee on them, making litter training hard. Because of this, you can consider just keeping to cardboard, but expect to go through a lot of replacement because of replacing soaked pieces. Even though the towels or shirts may encourage peeing, you can wash them and reuse them.

If you like, you can post a picture of your rabbits cage, and everyone can give some helpful advice on additionally flooring options.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Oreo&Butters98]

They have a blanket that takes up a quarter of their cage. As for completely dropping their cage onto the floor that is not yet an option. They are not yet litter trained and they are not clinging to the concept. And they also have problems eating the carpet. We are trying our best to get them litter trained so that they won’t have to be in the cage so much.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Oreo&Butters98 on 9/21/2017 12:15 PM

They have a blanket that takes up a quarter of their cage. As for completely dropping their cage onto the floor that is not yet an option. They are not yet litter trained and they are not clinging to the concept. And they also have problems eating the carpet. We are trying our best to get them litter trained so that they won’t have to be in the cage so much.

A blanket over a wire bottom isn’t gunna do much in terms of protecting their little feet. Don’t mean to be rude but why aren’t you taking it seriously? Wick has explained to you that wire can cause blisters/sore hocks/bleeding etc.

Wire bottom cages are cruel. Simple. 

If you are looking to litter train, I don’t even understand how a wire bottom cage would help anyway. They need to learn to go in a litter tray. Get a solid bottom cage. Put a litter tray in cage. Put substrate (carefresh for example) in litter tray. That’s the easiest (and quite frankly, kindest) method. It’s worth noting that sometimes rabbits are impossible to litter train before they are spayed and neutered. You cannot surely expect them to live on wire til then :-/

[Oreo&Butters98]

Their eating habit is normal that’s all I needed thank you!

[Author]

Messages