Licks walls?

[newbun]

My rabbit is licking our walls..... does anyoneknow why this might be occurring? He is actually licking theplaster board. We don't know how to stop him, it's like hewon't quit! We have to put him in his cage because no matterwhat we do, he won't stop.

Thanks in advance for ANY reponses.

 

[bunnydude]

Devon licks the walls every once in a while. But not all the time.

 

[Shuu]

Some some 1/2 lemon juice, 1/2 water on the walls. That should deter him.

 

[Carolyn]

A little water squirt gun might stop him fromdoing it. I have used a squirt gun with some training and itworked like a charm.

It's also been said that rabbits love the glue that keeps wallpaperup. Don't know if you have wallpaper on any of those walls,but thought I'd mention it anyway.

-Carolyn

 

[newbun]

Oh gosh... YES i was just thinking aboutthat. Ok but there is more to this story. My rabbithad been having problems with this cheek teeth.... I had written tothis forum about it... and couldn't understand why... because he issuch a good hay and greens eater... No pellets (well about 10 hay basedpellets/day, he thinks they are a treat) Anyway we were referred toanother vet that gave him barium and it showed that he has a mass offood and whatnot in his stomach.... so he is on Metoclopramide .5 ml.s2 x a day and Cisapride 2 x a day. He was diagnosed with GImotility disease..... and when his motility was sluggish.... it wasthen that he didn't eat... and got spikes.... he has these 2 problemsconstantly going on. Well on July 18 he was a the vets for acheck up and we were told that he does have spikes on his toparcadia. Our other vet never did the tops because it was tooclose to the gum line. We thought well lets get his teethdone right.... and then with his meds and how good he eats... wethought maybe we would never have molar problems again.. Well our bunnyHASN'T PUT A SINGLE THING INTO HIS MOUTH SINCE JULY 18 before thesurgery....I am going out of my mind..... thought the antibiotic wastoo strong...Flagyl.... thought his mouth was sore..... haveMetacam..... thought the doctor missed something... maybe a spikecutting something... but we have had our OTHER vet take a look and hismouthlooks fine.... I'm giving him Critical Care and lots ofwater.... and he takes it... but will NOT pick up anything... he runsto it... and is interested... but then walks away. We havebeen to our original vet twice and are told give it time..... he hadsome sub-q water...the other vet is on vacation and can't see us untilAug. 8.2 days ago we realized that he is lickingthe walls...could be be being slowly poisoned by theglue???This glue could be part of his internal food mass inhis stomach. Our vet says there aren't any appetitestimulants..... but there just has to be something! I triedmint and basil and dill..... along with his normal greens.... he runsover and walks away. I don't know what todo!!!!!!!!!!!

Donna

 

[naturestee]

Is it really old wallpaper glue? Ijust did a quick google search and the only stuff directly related towallpaper glue being poisonous was about the death ofNapolean. It was a very quick search, mind you.

I'm sorry your bun is so ill. Many people here use Nutri-Calas an appetite stimulant. You can find it in pet storespackaged for dogs, cats, and ferrets.

Is your rabbit recieving pain killers? It sounds like he is interested in food, but too uncomfortable to eat.

 

[newbun]

Yes it is old. He gets Metacam forpain, but only once a day. He IS very sensitive to painthough. I just realized what I had written.... His appt for his teethwas on July 11th! I'm not even paying attention to what dayit is... just his getting enough food and water. Hewent to the other vet on the 16th and I took him back on the19th. So even if it was pain.... he should be over thatalready. He has gotten his teeth filed before, but as I saidjust the bottoms. Coulddoing the top molars be thatpainful or could his jaw be bruised?I just never saw a bunnyjust have NO interest to eat food just like that.

 

[Jas]

My rabbits lick moist walls having some white patches of salts. My walls are plastered and painted with normal acrylic paints. Some patches have moisture and paint has peeled off due to that. Now my fellas love scratching those patches and even lick or consume the white salt. Is that harmful or normal? If it is harmful, shall I visit a vet for help?

 

[Preitler]

Some of mine do that too, I offer them a piece of stone salt to lick from time to time, but they pretty much ignore it, they need so little that I wouldn't notice anything missing.

I'm not sure why they eat plaster from the wall. I try to feed a diverse diet, so they should have everything they need. I don't think it's something to worry, as long there's no toxic paint (like old lead paint). Since I can't stop them, I stopped worrying, they nibble on plants I wouldn't feed them like ivy with no ill effects, so I trust them to know what they are doing.

It could be that there's something missing in their diet that they are craving, but I wouldn't know what it is.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

What does their diet look like? I agree with Preitler, it is probably not dangerous that they are licking the walls. I would just make sure they are not eating it.