TwirlyGirly
New Member
New poster here!
I wasn't sure whether the following belongs in this forum, or "Housing and Environment." Please move to the correct forum if I've chosen the wrong one!
My daughter and I have been bunny mamas to a sweet little bunny, Dusty, for about 4 years.
Over the past couple of months, Dusty has begun chewing her litter pan to bits. She doesn't swallow; she just lets the bits drop to the floor of her cage.
Dusty does have plenty of "approved" chew things in her cage and available to her at all times; a substantial branch from an (non-treated!) apple tree, willow balls, and flavored bunny chew sticks. Her chewing on her litter pan is in addition to, not instead of, her chewing on the things we have provided specifically for chewing.
She's always done some knawing on her litter pan and igloo, but she's really stepped up her game to the point where the new litter pan we gave her just four days ago will be completely useless within about two weeks if she keeps up her current chewing pace.
The new pan, like the one it replaced, is a large plastic corner litter pan made specifically for rabbits. It has hooks that fit over the cage bars in the corner, and the front edge of the pan is rounded. It is the front edge she chews down to literally nothing. That, of course, makes the pan useless.
She's been to the vet recently and her teeth are in fine shape, so we don't know what's prompted this.
Since I can't keep buying new pans every couple of weeks, I've thought if she continues this behavior to use an 8" square Pyrex baking dish as a litter pan, because she cannot chew it, it won't corrode, and it's heavy enough that I don't think she'll be able to move it around or dump it over.
I wish someone made a rabbit litter pan with a metal trim along the exposed edges, like the metal door-guard trim on car doors!
Thoughts?
I wasn't sure whether the following belongs in this forum, or "Housing and Environment." Please move to the correct forum if I've chosen the wrong one!
My daughter and I have been bunny mamas to a sweet little bunny, Dusty, for about 4 years.
Over the past couple of months, Dusty has begun chewing her litter pan to bits. She doesn't swallow; she just lets the bits drop to the floor of her cage.
Dusty does have plenty of "approved" chew things in her cage and available to her at all times; a substantial branch from an (non-treated!) apple tree, willow balls, and flavored bunny chew sticks. Her chewing on her litter pan is in addition to, not instead of, her chewing on the things we have provided specifically for chewing.
She's always done some knawing on her litter pan and igloo, but she's really stepped up her game to the point where the new litter pan we gave her just four days ago will be completely useless within about two weeks if she keeps up her current chewing pace.
The new pan, like the one it replaced, is a large plastic corner litter pan made specifically for rabbits. It has hooks that fit over the cage bars in the corner, and the front edge of the pan is rounded. It is the front edge she chews down to literally nothing. That, of course, makes the pan useless.
She's been to the vet recently and her teeth are in fine shape, so we don't know what's prompted this.
Since I can't keep buying new pans every couple of weeks, I've thought if she continues this behavior to use an 8" square Pyrex baking dish as a litter pan, because she cannot chew it, it won't corrode, and it's heavy enough that I don't think she'll be able to move it around or dump it over.
I wish someone made a rabbit litter pan with a metal trim along the exposed edges, like the metal door-guard trim on car doors!
Thoughts?