Eating the Litter Box...

[Jenk]

This post is part question and part venting....

When my one bun had a cage (in which she was locked nightly but let out of daily), she never chewed her litter box. Now that we've removed her cage (letting her roam in a large penned area), she's been ingesting the plastic sides of her litter box. I'm unsure how bad/dangerous this behavior is for her. This has been going on for nearly two weeks' now; so far, she's continued passing decent fecals (for her).

For the life of me, I can't figure out why she's now chewing the box that she's had for over a year and never chewed when it was inside of her cage. It's the kind of box with a metal grate because she eats newspaper, litter, etc. I never thought, though, that she'd start eating the litter box.

The box backs up to the NIC-panel wall, which divides her from her sister during the day. I can't move the box from that location because she'll continue to mark in that area. I didn't want to get another litter box because, as I've said, she eats litter; and it gets pricey filling an entire litter box with hay.

Any ideas?

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[BethM]

I don't really have any advice to give you.

I just wanted to share in your frustration. Tobi ate most of her house, a rubbermaid box with two holes in it. I finally removed it after she had eaten two entire sides of it. I replaced it with an expensive willow house-sort of thing, and she won't touch it.

 

[degrassi]

My bunny used to do this too. He'd sit in the box and chew the side. have you tried any of the bitter sprays? Or rubbing soap on the edge? My bunny wasn't stopped by the bitter spray but he stopped when i rubbed soap on the edge of the box. Now that he stopped the habit I dont' have to rub the soap on anymore.

Does he have other stuff to play/chew on?

 

[Jenk]

degrassi wrote:

My bunny used to do this too. He'd sit in the box and chew the side. have you tried any of the bitter sprays? Or rubbing soap on the edge? My bunny wasn't stopped by the bitter spray but he stopped when i rubbed soap on the edge of the box. Now that he stopped the habit I dont' have to rub the soap on anymore.

Does he have other stuff to play/chew on?

I'd be fearful of her still eating the box, soap (or bitter spray) and all.

She has plastic play toys but nothing else to chew. I had to throw away her timothy-hay hut when a mite issue struck. And since she has abnormal fecals (typical of megacolon), I don't give her chew sticks and such; she's developed digestive problems in the past.

As I've said, though, she never chewed her litter box when it was inside of her cage. Now that she has more freedom during the nighttime, she uses it to eat her box; I can't figure it out.

 

[JadeIcing]

I have two that randomly chew their litter pans. Nothing usefull to add. I did switch one two a metal baking pan.

 

[Jenk]

JadeIcing wrote:

I have two that randomly chew their litter pans. Nothing usefull to add. I did switch one two a metal baking pan.

I hadn't considered that option. Do you find, though, that a metal baking pan corrodes from the urine? I would think so but am not entirely certain.

 

[JadeIcing]

Hasn't yet. Six or seven months using it. I'd rather buy another than sick bun. I am sure you understand.

 

[Jenk]

JadeIcing wrote:

Hasn't yet. Six or seven months using it. I'd rather buy another than sick bun. I am sure you understand.

I figured that would be your reasoning, with which I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[JadeIcing]

Jenk wrote:

JadeIcing wrote:

Hasn't yet. Six or seven months using it. I'd rather buy another than sick bun. I am sure you understand.

I figured that would be your reasoning, with which I agree wholeheartedly.

Hehe. I thought of using a heavy glass one but still not sure.

 

[Jenk]

JadeIcing wrote:

Hehe. I thought of using a heavy glass one but still not sure.

That's another option, I suppose.

We did give her a different plastic litter box last night (to use at least temporarily). It's a table-busing box, so it's made of thick plastic. And it's top edges are rounded (rolled over, in a sense). But I did hear her chewing on the underside edges a little bit. Not sure if she had much success. I'll have to take a closer look this morning.

What's actually funny about all this, though, is that I had a dream about it last night. I dreamt that we gave her the busing box last night. Then I woke and found that it had morphed into a huge Rubbermaid container that we use to store hay. And that huge container looked like Swiss cheese, it had so many chew holes in it. Even in my dreams, I give her much credit in terms of chewing ability.

 

[JadeIcing]

That's to funny! Love it.

 

[Little Bay Poo]

We're actually using a metal baking pan too, but just with Ronnie because he has an easier time getting in that with his tilty head. Haven't noticed any problems with it other than it being a little slippery on the bottom. We were going to try to find a plastic mesh screen to put on the bottom so that it wouldn't be as slippery for him to get in and out of, but Ronnie adjusted so well in a few days that we never got around to it. The baking pan was fairly cheap, so no problems replacing it with a new one as necessary.

 

[Jenk]

Little Bay Poo wrote:

We're actually using a metal baking pan too, but just with Ronnie....We were going to try to find a plastic mesh screen to put on the bottom so that it wouldn't be as slippery for him to get in and out of, but Ronnie adjusted so well in a few days that we never got around to it.

Does that mean that you fill the baking pan full of hay (as both food and litter)? It gets pricey to do that.

Currently, our three buns go through approximately a 50-lb. box of Oxbow timothy hay in a month. Buying it locally costs $80, so it ain't cheap. And I can't afford to go through even more hay by filling up her box. But if I were to put newspaper in the bottom of it, she'd eat it like crazy.

 

[Little Bay Poo]

We put CareFresh in the baking pan. We have a hay rack on the side of the cage next to the litter stuff, but Ronnie doesn't like eating out of it, so we also put a few handfuls of hay just outside of the pan.

If your rabbit eats newspaper I imagine she would be tempted by CareFresh also because we have that problem with Billy. He's a big fan of all paper products.

Maybe you could try putting wood stove pellets in a baking pan and using that as litter. We bought a 40 pound bag for only a few dollars. We only use it for the drop pans but I think there are people who put it in litter boxes.

I would say that the baking pan isn't all that much bigger than the corner litterbox we use for Billy. It's about twice the size and much shallower, so the amount of CareFresh used isn't too big of a difference from what we were doing before.

Ours go through a five pound box of hay in about 6 months. They are not big hay eaters! They gorge themselves on pellets

 

[DazyDaizee]

I've seen this behavior with an increase in stress with my first foster bunny.

-When she had the cage, was she given access to a different area during the day than she's in now?
-Her sister: have they always been kept so close? She's being separated by a NIC panel wall, you said, this means she can easily see and smell the other rabbit and you say she marks this area where the litter pan is. Could she be aggressive/territorial towards the other rabbit. If so, is she chewing the box in attempt to move it to get at her sister or to mark the area? Has this always been their penned off setup, or has it changed?

Of course, not knowing the rabbit or seeing the situation first hand, I can only speculate, but I believe it's due to stress or territorial behavior. In my experience, normally behavior changes are the result of something rather than a chance occurrence.

 

[JadeIcing]

Could be the case but I know with my two it is not. If it was I could solve it! :nerves1

 

[DazyDaizee]

JadeIcing, with your bunnies who do it regularly maybe it would help to attach something they can chew to the side instead, or won't find as interesting to chew.. Maybe cut a slit down a paper towel tube and slip it over the edge of the box.. I guess it depends how persistent they are..

 

[JadeIcing]

:cry1:Tried. I even folded cardboard over the chewed area and they chewed it till they could get to the plastic again.:biggrin2ersistant little buggers.

 

[Jenk]

Little Bay Poo wrote:

We put CareFresh in the baking pan. We have a hay rack on the side of the cage next to the litter stuff, but Ronnie doesn't like eating out of it, so we also put a few handfuls of hay just outside of the pan.

Maybe you could try putting wood stove pellets in a baking pan and using that as litter.

Can't trust her with CareFresh; we already know that she gorges on it. She'd do the same with newspaper. And we don't even dare trust her with wood stove pellets.

We were using wood stove pellets with a litter box having a protective grate. That worked well until she started eating the box....

Ours go through a five pound box of hay in about 6 months. They are not big hay eaters! They gorge themselves on pellets

Zoe's my girl with megacolon-ish fecals; I don't know that she can handleeating so many pellets that we actually save money on hay.

 

[Little Bay Poo]

I checked out the metal baking pan last night to see its dimensions. It's 13 x 9 inches, which I believe is smaller than a lot of cat litter boxes. If you decide to try the baking pan method out, it may not be too much bigger than whatever Zoe is in right now. Perhaps only filling it shallowly with hay will help you to keep the hay usage consistent with what you've been used to.