Will this harm my rabbit?

[Glorylocks]

Just yesterday I bought Clyde a new cage. It's an Extra Large and the brand is Living World or something like that...is that an adequate size for a Mini Rex. He seems like he is so little in it compared to his previous cage! Anyways back to the point. I made him a little "House" out of a shoe box and I cut two entrances out of it and he LOVES it! However..he chews on it. And by chews on it I mean he totally just tore it apart. The bad part is though I think he is ingesting the cardboard. I couldn't find any little pieces of cardboard on the bottom of the cage this morning. He also chews on carpet when I let him out of his cage. He not only chews on it and rips it up he also eats it. When I catch him doing this I clap and firmly say "No" this spooks him a bit and gets him to stop only momentarily. Am I doing something wrong by scaring him like that to get him to stop? I don't want to like mentally scar him or something!! :shock: Sorry for all of the questions and the long post my main concern though is, is it going to harm him if he is eating cardboard and carpet? I can't move him into a room that doesn't have carpet because my whole house other then the kitchen is carpeted and my Dad doesn't like him running around the house. I'm lucky he lets me allow him to run around in my room. So..what should I do? I don't want him to get sick and I need as much help as I can get!

 

[melbaby80]

Does it look like this? If its this one you don't have to worry about a house because it comes with one. You have more then enough room for 1 mini rex. I have two inside my pen and they still have tons of room to sprawl out. I do let them out of their pen too so they are not always inside it. Mine comes with a "home" and my two go inside it together as well. As for the cardboard, I give my two toilet paper rolls and they chew on them. I haven't seen them digesting it, but if they did I don't think it would effect them since they eat tons of hay along with pellets and other greens high in fiber. Majority of rabbit toys are made of cardboard.

 

[fribble2110]

on a side not sorry but this is so off topic... YOUR CAGE IS SO CLEAN! I cant keep mine clean for like 5 minutes!! Im jealous!!

 

[Glorylocks]

Melbaby80 yes that is what the cage I have looks like. I make sure my bunny eats plenty of hay daily so I guess since he eats plenty of hay he should be okay.
Also Clyde always used to eat every bit of the food that I gave him but lately he's only been eating about half of them. The only thing that has changed is he has been aloud free roam of my bedroom for most of the day. Would that have something to do with his changing eating habits?

 

[melbaby80]

fribble2110 wrote:

on a side not sorry but this is so off topic... YOUR CAGE IS SO CLEAN! I cant keep mine clean for like 5 minutes!! Im jealous!!

Hah its not always like this. I clean the floor every single day because since storm is an angora the poops stick to her fur. I wipe the floor down with either an oxy cleaner or peroxide (mine is in a spray bottle) to keep it disinfected and get rid of any urine smell they track so far it has helped with them peeing only inside their litter box. I am sensitive to smells so I have to keep things tidy lol or I get annoyed haha.

Jessemily, I'd worry if he has a change in poops, isn't drinking or peeing, and is not eating at all and even his activity levels drop. What you can do is keep up with the hay. Is he a baby? You can try giving a little bit of pineapple 1-2 times a week to help him pass anything. I usually put a little bit of pineapple juice in my bunnies water about twice week to help prevent wool block. I do give them parsley or cilantro a few times a week too. Some people are against giving greens at a young age, but my two have been doing great with zero issues.

 

[Glorylocks]

When we bought him the one question we failed to ask is how old he was. We guess since she had three "sizes" or so to speak of rabbits and we bought one that was in the middle that he was 4 months or older when we bought him. Going off of 4 months as they youngest we guess he is around 5 months old now at the least. I just got back home and he seems to be eating like normal now! =) I placed a bowl of water (which he normally used) back in the cage instead of using the water bottle that came with the cage. I wonder, could stress of moving into a much bigger cage have something to do with his decrease in eating habits?

 

[LakeCondo]

Eating cardboard is ok, as long as it doesn't have plastic tape on it. I inter-fold the box flaps so no tape is needed.

Eating carpeting is another matter. The fibers are probably synthetic & the carpet is dyed. Plus I'm sure your Dad won't like the carpet destroyed. The only thing I can think of to do is to cover it or replace it with another rug. If the rug has a very low nap, rabbits are less likely to chew it. If the current carpeting is already low nap, the only other thing I can think of is a rug that is made from jute, like an indoor-outdoor rug.

 

[melbaby80]

Not really, Jesse. My angora was trained to drink out of a bowl when I brought her home. I transitioned her to a water bottle. I left her a little bowl under the water bowl and would add ice cubes. I'd let it melt, she'd drink it and then realized the water bottle above. Peace of cake after that. And a new cage does not really stress them, but location of the cage can. My bunnies took to their new cage happily. They explored and sprawled out like it was the best thing ever. Sometimes my buns won't eat all their food or hay, and other days they eat like crazy. It was probably just one of those days for your bun. And see, orlena just said eating cardboard is ok she reads a lot so she usually has a lot of answers.

 

[ZRabbits]

I have found out with having 5 that any change, whether new crate, new bowl or water bottle, new bunny coming in, there will always be a different, offish attitude. It's all normal. They take time to adjust. They are very cautious animals. They have to be because of being "prey" animals.

Whenever I change anything, I always talk to my bunnies. It seems to help them transition to the change. I know, I sound silly but it works. I have found that I and my husband are our bunnies "touch" stone. They always look up to us and we help them make the change.

Cardboard will not hurt your bunny if ingested. As long as it's not plastic coated. All my bunnies love to attack, tear up and destroy cardboard. Along with their hay mats.

Carpet, that's another thing. No, no to carpet. All my bunnies know the word "No" and do not touch my carpets. It took a while but they caught on. A loud clap and a firm "No" stops them all in their tracks. Some were more stubborn with that way of correction, so when the "stubborness" surfaced, they found themselves back in their crate. They got the idea real fast.

K

 

[LakeCondo]

Honey is a cardboard-chewing champ. Some of it gets eaten & some she tears off her dig box in chunks. She's awfully timid, but when she's in the mood, she really wraps her mouth around the edge of an opening & rips away, sounding like a little beaver. She also loves tearing up brown packing paper. She sits on part of the piece, puts a corner in her mouth, moved her head & rips away.

 

[Glorylocks]

Thanks everyone for the answers. I have since removed the cardboard "house" and Clyde is getting better about not ripping up the carpet!