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windryder201

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Hey folks.

So my buns are cardboard junkies. They're also quite partial to twigs (particularly if they're twigs on something like a hamster hut they pulled out of a box and doesn't belong to them!).

They don't seem to be particularly partial to their hay!! Oh they do eat it. I have to fill up their tissue-box I use as their hay feeder a good 2-3x/day. They get nice fresh Oxbow Orchard hay (timothy is much messier and they don't like it near as much).

But no. CARDBOARD is their thing.

I used to try to keep them from eating it. But life got super peaceful after I stopped fighting with them about it, so I've just been letting them eat it.

So far, we haven't had any problems. No changes in feces, no behavior problems (they've been a bit lazier than usual, but nothing that makes me worried)...

is there any good concrete reason why they can't continue like this, given that they have plenty of hay? They've just been SO MUCH less destructive since I let them go to town on cardboard!! It's been almost...peaceful...
 
windryder201 wrote:
Hey folks.

So my buns are cardboard junkies. They're also quite partial to twigs (particularly if they're twigs on something like a hamster hut they pulled out of a box and doesn't belong to them!).

They don't seem to be particularly partial to their hay!! Oh they do eat it. I have to fill up their tissue-box I use as their hay feeder a good 2-3x/day. They get nice fresh Oxbow Orchard hay (timothy is much messier and they don't like it near as much).

But no. CARDBOARD is their thing.

I used to try to keep them from eating it. But life got super peaceful after I stopped fighting with them about it, so I've just been letting them eat it.

So far, we haven't had any problems. No changes in feces, no behavior problems (they've been a bit lazier than usual, but nothing that makes me worried)...

is there any good concrete reason why they can't continue like this, given that they have plenty of hay? They've just been SO MUCH less destructive since I let them go to town on cardboard!! It's been almost...peaceful...
Click to expand...
Peaceful for you, but is it really good for your bunnies? Believe me, love peaceful bunnies, but I think they would need to eat their hay more than the cardboard. Understand their urge to chew due to keeping their teeth worn, but the hay does so much more than cardboard when it comes to help preventing hairballs. I see you have a Lion head who has lots of fur. I'm a HUGE Lion Head fan and will be getting my own male soon.

If they were mine, it would be time to break the habit. Yes it won't be as peaceful for you, that "Cardboard" withdrawal will be tough for your bunnies. But you need to get them focused on using the hay for their teeth. I don't know how old your bunnies are, but getting a little bag of alfalfa hay and mixing it with your other hay may entice them. Alfalfa is sweet to a bunny. Like Candy. Switch their habit to that, and then when they are hooked, start slowly weaning them off the alfalfa hay. Because it will make them fat.

Just a suggestion. Sometimes you have to really look who's really benefiting in that peaceful time.

Hope you help your bunnies kick their Cardboard habit.

K :)
 
ZRabbits wrote:
Peaceful for you, but is it really good for your bunnies?  Believe me, love peaceful bunnies, but I think they would need to eat their hay more than the cardboard.  Understand their urge to chew due to keeping their teeth worn, but the hay does so much more than cardboard when it comes to help preventing hairballs.  I see you have a Lion head who has lots of fur.  I'm a HUGE Lion Head fan and will be getting my own male soon. 

If they were mine, it would be time to break the habit.  Yes it won't be as peaceful for you, that "Cardboard" withdrawal will be tough for your bunnies.  But you need to get them focused on using the hay for their teeth.  I don't know how old your bunnies are, but getting a little bag of alfalfa hay and mixing it with your other hay may entice them.  Alfalfa is sweet to a bunny.  Like Candy.  Switch their habit to that, and then when they are hooked, start slowly weaning them off the alfalfa hay.  Because it will make them fat. 

Just a suggestion.  Sometimes you have to really look who's really benefiting in that peaceful time. 

Hope you help your bunnies kick their Cardboard habit.

K :)
Click to expand...

Well like I said...they're eating plenty of hay too. They're just choosing to spend their "spare time" munching cardboard 9_9 This is probably only about 1 hr TOTAL out of the day. At night and during the bulk of the day, I'm sleeping or in class and they are in their pen where they have nothing to chew on but hay and some wood toys. When they're out, they spend MOST of their time playing or sprawled out napping some more. They eat plenty of hay XD. my two smallish rabbits have gone through almost 18 lbs of hay in just one semester!! It's really not that much cardboard :)

I agree with your advice in general, but do you have an actual reason beyond "It's probably not good for them?" Your concern seems to primarily be that they aren't chewing on enough hay versus "oh no not cardboard!"... So I guess I'm asking if there's any documented health concerns regarding the consumption of cardboard, specifically.
 
windryder201 wrote:
ZRabbits wrote:
Peaceful for you, but is it really good for your bunnies? Believe me, love peaceful bunnies, but I think they would need to eat their hay more than the cardboard. Understand their urge to chew due to keeping their teeth worn, but the hay does so much more than cardboard when it comes to help preventing hairballs. I see you have a Lion head who has lots of fur. I'm a HUGE Lion Head fan and will be getting my own male soon.

If they were mine, it would be time to break the habit. Yes it won't be as peaceful for you, that "Cardboard" withdrawal will be tough for your bunnies. But you need to get them focused on using the hay for their teeth. I don't know how old your bunnies are, but getting a little bag of alfalfa hay and mixing it with your other hay may entice them. Alfalfa is sweet to a bunny. Like Candy. Switch their habit to that, and then when they are hooked, start slowly weaning them off the alfalfa hay. Because it will make them fat.

Just a suggestion. Sometimes you have to really look who's really benefiting in that peaceful time.

Hope you help your bunnies kick their Cardboard habit.

K :)
Click to expand...

Well like I said...they're eating plenty of hay too. They're just choosing to spend their "spare time" munching cardboard 9_9 This is probably only about 1 hr TOTAL out of the day. At night and during the bulk of the day, I'm sleeping or in class and they are in their pen where they have nothing to chew on but hay and some wood toys. When they're out, they spend MOST of their time playing or sprawled out napping some more. They eat plenty of hay XD. my two smaller rabbits have gone through almost 18 lbs of hay in just one semester!! It's really not that much cardboard :)

I agree with your advice in general, but do you have an actual reason beyond "It's probably not good for them?" Your concern seems to primarily be that they aren't chewing on enough hay versus "oh no not cardboard!"... So I guess I'm asking if there's any documented health concerns regarding the consumption of cardboard, specifically.






Excuse me, took in your information wrong. Thanks for the clarification.

You are worried that in their spare time, which consists of 1 hour a day they only want to chew cardboard and twigs. And it's peaceful.

Nothing wrong with it. Be at peace, Mine love toilet paper rolls. Also I got them straw mats, but since you and your bunnies don't like timothy, because it's a bit messy, it might not be for your bunny. But then again, your bunnies like hamster huts so maybe it's something to look into.

K :)
 
Yah, they do like the twiggies they use for the hamster huts and tunnels and stuff. I'll probably get them another twig-cube that has the bell in it. They have no interest in the bell, but they love them twigs!

Thanks for the reassurance. I was just concerned that they might get impacted or something 9_9 I figured that was probably silly considering they eat plenty of hay and get plenty water, but I wanted to check!
 
Do they consume it or just chew it up? What kind of volume gets eaten? Mine love to chew on cardboard, but they make a terrible mess (I think that is part of the joy of it). As long as I'm cleaning up pieces I don't worry if they ingest a little, but if they ingest large amounts there might be an issue.
 
They eat it. I don't think they really end up eating THAT much. There was a piece of cardboard on the ground I was letting them chew on that was, oh, 1.5 ft x .75 ft? And it's taken them a good few months to eat it to almost nothing. They kind of peel it up layer by layer, not just munch on it like a big paper sandwich :p

Like I said, they only even have the opportunity to munch cardboard for about 4-5 hrs a day, and they spend most of that time trying to go places they aren't allowed or lounging around on the rugs!
 
I wonder what would happen if you stuffed a toilet paper tube with hay....associating hay with cardboard...they might start to eat more?
 
lol I've tried that. they ignore it unless I put treats in the tube with the hay. even then, they eat just enough hay and tube to get to treats, then leave it.

They don't particularly like to munch paper rolls, oddly enough. They prefer flat sheets of cardboard.

Like I said...crazy creatures...
 
I would not worry about that amount. Sounds like they just have that kind of preference. Mine will take TP tubes stuffed with hay and toss them into their one water dish, then eat the hay sopping wet. That's why they have two water dishes, one for throwing things in and one just for drinking. :)

Buns have such strong preferences and funny personalities.
 
Cardboard is great fun! Tubes, toilet paper rolls, etc..

As long as your buns are eating well, they can have SO much fun with Cardboard! Just make sure they are not fixcated on it.
 
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