Bun won't stop eating litter!

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D012345678910

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New here and trying to find advice. My adult mini lop all of a sudden started eating his litter (care fresh) in huge amounts! There were times when I would come home and his entire litter box would be empty. I bought a new litter pan with a grate over the top but he just chews it open to get to the litter - so that plan failed. I tried switching to just hay for his litter but then he would pee/ poo on it and eat it! I don't know what's worse for him! I also can't figure out why this behavior started out of nowhere. He has plenty of food, lots of variety, and all the chews and toys he could want. I've asked the vet and even she issn't sure exactly what to do other than try to build a bunny proof litter box and grate. I don't know how to resolve this without completely taking his litter box away. Any other suggestions out there?
 
Many people like wood pellets [for stoves] for litter & it's less likely to be eaten. Is he eating his hay when it isn't in the litter box? Does he chew on the chew toys? Does he have a cardboard hide box that he can chew on?
 
We did try the wood pellets prior to using the paper, but that is when he first started eating litter. When I realized he was actually eating it and not just nibbling we took it away and had him checked by our vet. She had us switch to the paper (care fresh) and figured that would solve the issue and she said if a small amount were to be consumed it would pass through him and he should be fine. Well he started chowing down on it so that is why I am so concerned. He eats his hay all day his fresh veggies and pellets that he gets for "dinner". He chews on his wood blocks and toys, but we did have to take away all of his cardboard stuff because he began eating that as well. He also started eating his toys, so I got him larger ones so that he can only chew them. The vet didn't know what to say about all that either, but told us not to give them back unless under close supervision. We've tried again a few times but he went right back to eating them after a while so we've taken them all away again. Only large wood toys for this little guy. I just feel so bad and I'm worried about why he is doing it and just don't know what to do for litter! The hay is so messy and stinky to use for litter and he still eats that too! I'm afraid he will get sick or block himself up. I just really don't know what to do.
 
so the grates on the litterboxes are chewable? he must really like that litter to go thru all that trouble... crazy!
i wish you the best of luck!
 
You might want to try eliminating the litter entirely. I haven't used litter in more than 6 months.

Replace it with something to raise the grate enough that the urine won't get on rabbit. You can use either more grates on top of each other or something else. The poop can be picked off & disposed of, then add water to the grates, pour into a container, pour into the nearest toilet & flush. Or it could go into the compost. If you don't want to do this daily you could add some vinegar water every time you do the above & rinse again afterwards.
 
^^^thats a very good idea Orlena! Curious, what made you Decide to stop using litter and think,of this?

@ original poster...good luck! It sounds like he really likes his litter...hope you find a solution.
 
Thank you for the ideas! I figured this would come down to having to build/modify the litter box. I am not very handy and have had some trouble attempting this so far, but I will keep trying. His litter box with the locking grate sometimes gets tipped over, so if I tried it without the litter I could see that being a biiiig mess! Great idea though, sounds ideal for cleanup and maybe that will do the trick with him if I can make a box that can be secured to somehow.
 
Thanks Orlena! I will read it later. On the iPad and can't scroll down to read messages......
 
Honey's litter box is in a corner of her xbox & I've got brick-sized paving stones along the other 2 outer sides, so doing that might prevent tip-overs.
 
Make sure he has a lot of hay and other grasses... Maybe he isn't getting enough fiber? :/

As to handiness of making it - look up tutorials on google. I'm sure with a bit of fancy wording you can find something to teach you the skills you need. Else, maybe figure out a bartering system with a person who actually can make such a thing.
 
Thanks again for all the ideas. We do make sure he has plenty of hay, fresh veggies, and chews/toys so that he is not getting bored with his food or textures, but as I said before, we did have to take away the cardboard stuff because he was eating it. As a 'quick fix' last week we ran out and got adifferent larger sized scatterless litter pan w/grate. That stoppedhim fromeating the carefreshAND we were able to try using it without any litter (as suggested above) which worked great because we were able to secure it and weight it down in an area of the house where he can't tip it! So far so good with that, but now we've run into a new problem.

He is nowpeeing over the edge of the litter pan! Another thing he has not done before!The panhas high sides, but he actually gets in, turns around, and scoots his bottom up and over the edge!!! He has plenty of room in thereso it isn't like the litter pan is too small, and heknows how to sit properly because he always has. It's like he's doing it on purpose! We have alwaysencouraged proper sitting in his boxby placing his hay next to and slightly above his box so that he is facing the correct way when sitting in there and he has never had an issue with that. I have nowshowed him the proper way to sit in his litter box numerous times since he started this new thing, but about once a day he will go in andturn around and pee over the edge and refuses to turn around. Grrr. Just don't know what to do with him! We solve one issue, and create another!

:sigh:
 
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