eating too much cardboard????

[patches2593]

recently i put cardboard in my rabbits cage ( i have a nic cage). he has been shredding it soooo much and possibly eating it. i feed him 1/4 cup pellets every night and his dish is always empty by morning. i fed him and the next 2 days the pellets were still there (only half eaten). he hasnt gone to the bathroom as much and didn't eat his pellets last night either. i saw him eat some hay too and drank some water over the weekend.

could he have a blockage? what should i do?????:shock:

 

[PaGal]

It sounds like he is still eating and drinking just not as much. Is he still pooping? If he is that is a good sign. If you are worried then remove the cardboard and try to get him to eat more hay and drink more water. The hay and water will help push things through. My buns eat cardboard all of the time and I have never had an issue but buns can all be so different.

Once your bun is back to eating and pooping normally you could try just keeping a small piece of cardboard in the cage or only keep cardboard in the cage for a short period. There are also other items you can give your bun for a chance to chew such as pinecones that are dried out so the seeds are no longer in the pine cone, bun safe twigs and bun safe wood pieces. Different chew toys made for rabbits such as willow balls. Wooden toys made for parrots.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Make sure that your bun is pooping and that there is no blockage--that can come whether or not they ingest cardboard. Ours have been terrorizing cardboard for more than a decade and we haven't had any problem because of it.

 

[patches2593]

he did poop some and urinated a couple times but he still isn't pooping as much. i took out the cardboard and i did see him eating some hay and the pellets that he hasn't eaten in a couple of days.

hes eaten cardboard before but i think he ate too much this time

 

[JBun]

I'm glad your bun is doing better. Ripping and shredding cardboard is ok for buns, but when they start ingesting more than the occasional little piece, it can pose a health risk. I've read accounts of rabbits developing GI blockages from eating too much cardboard. If your rabbit is prone to doing this, you may want to hold off on letting him have access to cardboard any more. To satisfy his chewing needs, hay is always good, as are wood branches and chew blocks. Just make sure to use wood that is safe for rabbits. My bunnies like apple and willow branches, and also have pine chew blocks that are thoroughly dried out.