Nibbled Toilet Plunger...How Dangerous?

[Jenk]

How concerned ought I be about a bun eating a small piece of rubber from the mid-section of a (yes, used) toilet plunger (especially sincehis behavior has altered a few days' later)?

This past Thursday,my male bunmanagedeata small piece of rubber off the mid-portion of the toilet plunger, which I had placed atop the toilet lid to prevent such a thing from happening.

I'm not worried about the rubber that he ate. But he's been active the past two nights (including tonight). In fact, tonight, he voluntarily returned to his x-pen to lie down after spending only 20 minutes' outside of his pen. Typically, I need to force him back into his penned area. And once inside his pen, he stretched out (in a comfy-looking pose) but was either bruxing or grinding his teeth (I'm unsure).

I'm worried about his behavior and the possibility that he could be developing a gut-flora imbalance from whateverbacteria he may have ingestedfrom the toilet plunger. Should I be concerned? (I'm due to leave on vacation in early July, which makes any problems just before that time even more worrisome to me.)

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[Maureen Las]

I don't think I would worry about the rubber but if you had just used the toliet plunger and had some toliet cleaner or something like that on it and it was wet then maybe i would worry a little but to be honest I really doubt if that has anything to do with him going into his pen; maybe he was warm ; is it warmer there today ?; it is warmer here and that can make the buns sluggish

let us kow how he is in the morning ?

You are more cursed than the rest of us LOL but we are allsort of cursed by medical issues a lot of the time; rabbits are not easy pets. (like I even have to say that !)

 

[Jenk]

In the many months that we've had him (nearly a year now),tonight was the first time that he's voluntarily returned to his pen. The house temp. was (still is) at a stable 74-deg. F, which is slightly cooler than it usually is during the daytime.

But, of course, 45 minutes' later, I heard him chewing at his x-pen door (insisting that he belet out). Once the door was opened, he bounded out and actedlike his usual, silly self. And now he'schowing his hay like mad.

If swear, ifrabbit ownership doesn't knock off several years' time from my life span, then nothing else will take 'em off.

PS: The plunger was completely dry and not recently used. Still, e. Coli is scare of mine, since Zoe seems to court it at least twice a year. :twitch:

 

[Saudade]

The rubber is inert and will not affect your little lovelies. Residual chemicals would of given him an immediate tummyache but there is nothing wrong with this accidental ingestion.

Think of it as like accidentally swallowing your gum. It's not going to kill you once off, but if done repeatedly it could be bad. I suggest putting it up on top of the cistern next time.

 

[Jenk]

Saudade wrote:

The rubber is inert and will not affect your little lovelies. Residual chemicals would of given him an immediate tummyache but there is nothing wrong with this accidental ingestion.

Think of it as like accidentally swallowing your gum. It's not going to kill you once off, but if done repeatedly it could be bad.

Oh, that I know. In the past, he ate a large rubber strip off of the pet carrier that had been left in his pen. (I never suspected that he'd think to chow it.) Far as I could tell, he had no issues from having eaten it.

My concern is the bacteria that he may have consumed....After all, we are talking about a toilet plunger. *Blech!* But there's no accounting for taste, I guess.

I suggest putting it up on top of the cistern next time.

Oh, most definitely! He's taught me a valuable lesson: Don't leave anything within his reach--ever.

 

[tonyshuman]

I wouldn't worry about it. My guys love to eat rubber of all types and have eaten way more than Pink did this time.

I agree that his tummy would have been upset immediately if there were chemicals on it, and I also wouldn't worry about bacteria, because most GI flora imbalances aren't from ingesting the bacteria, but from something eaten that causes the GI tract to slow down, or stress that causes the immune system to let the normal flora get out of balance.

 

[katt]

my old rabbit herman used to have a love of the toilet

hed go in an lick the base. lol

i was also a little worried about what he could pick up from cleaning such a dirty item of the house (even though we scrub the toilet reg. it was still concerning)

i think he will be perfectly fine. but i would watch him in the bathroom, or do what i ending up doing- closing the room off completely while he is out

 

[Jenk]

katt wrote:

my old rabbit herman used to have a love of the toilet

hed go in an lick the base. lol

My guy's in love with the toilet, too, whichstumps me. He likes to circle the toilet's base, thenlick and chinthe flex-hose thingy (that goes from the toilet to the wall).

i think he will be perfectly fine. but i would watch him in the bathroom, or do what i ending up doing- closing the room off completely while he is out

I've already begun closing the bathroom door when he's out. But the second I go for a Kleenex, he's hot on my heels. So I immediately block him from the toilet region (where the plunger is) and playfully chase him back out of the W.C.