Rabbit ate too much cardboard!?

[BunBun71]

Hi,

My 14 month old rabbit, BunBun, ate a lot of cardboard last night and I'm thinking it might be too much. It was an Amazon box that I was using for a digging box. (It was filled with wood shavings). He ate about (ABOUT!!!) 7 square inches maybe? Will he be ok? I read that I should only give him hay and water....no pellets for a couple days.

Is this true? I've only had him for about 4 days so I don't want to loose him. I've heard that eating too much cardboard can cause......well, I don't remember.....but it was something that can be fatal. I really love this rabbit and don't want to loose him! Could someone please help me out?

Also, I called a vet nearby and they said they couldn't really help me unless I brought him in and I can't right now. (personal reasons). Please help! From now on I will give him a wooden box.

Thanks for any help!
BunBun71

P.S. - Thanks for reading my long post and FYI (or, JSYN - just so you know) I will post a picture of what he ate later...

 

[Hermelin]

Make sure he eats a lot of hay and drinks water and everything will be okay.

Just keep an eye on that he don’t show common signs of GI stasis or gas. Like stop eating, pressing stomach to the floor, hiding and so on.

If he start to show those signs, feed him critical care, massage the stomach and give him gas drops until you take him to a vet

 

[Blue eyes]

Has he been eating lots of hay since you've had him? Refresh the hay a few times per day to encourage him to eat more hay. Hay helps push everything through.

Also keep an eye on his poos. If they remain normal, then he's probably fine.

 

[BunBun71]

Thank you both! I'm really new to this so I'll need a lot of help from you guys! Blue eyes - Yes he's been eating hay....but I'm not sure how much is enough for him. (He weighs about 5.6 pounds and is some sort of lop. You can see him in my avatar.)

I'm trying to get him to eat more hay by hand feeding. I gave him a new place to explore so he got exercise. I will keep an eye on his poos. Should I see a vet?

 

[Hermelin]

if he don’t show any signs of feeling uncomfortable and his dropping don’t change or it just change for a day and then go back to normal. You won’t need to see a vet.

You just need to keep an eye on him the next 48 hours

 

[Blue eyes]

No need to see a vet if he is still pooping normally. The size of his body (visually) is about the amount of hay (roughly) you want him eating. If he eats more, that is great. There is no such thing as too much hay.

I'll attach a photo from my site just to show you what I mean by size of body. In the pic you can see that the size of the stuffed rabbit is about the same size as the amount of hay.

 

[BunBun71]

Thank you! That really helps me. I will update later.

 

[bunnylove2024]

Also, if you see any signs of pain or dry poops make sure he is drinking water, hay will help but water will help more! I would massage his stomach to see if he is sensitive and if he is bloated. Good luck!

 

[BunBun71]

Thank you.

 

[bunnylove2024]

Of course!

 

[Taylor Kimball]

My bunny always does things like this to me. Even after a year I still get so nervous! But especially when I first got her I was a wreck As long as he is still eating and pooping he should be fine!! Just keep an eye on him

 

[BunBun71]

Ok, I will.
Thank you!

 

[bunnylove2024]

How is he doing?

 

[BunBun71]

He is doing great. This happened about two weeks ago, so he is fine now. He never showed any signs of illness.