Stop eating your litter!

[pani]

Hi everyone! Finally our hay roller arrived today, and I was really excited to have it to reduce our wasted hay and encourage a much healthier eating habitat for my bunnies.

I first filled it up and popped it on the xpen, and they both took hay from it and seemed to enjoy it, so they know how to use it.

I've just now changed their litter and placed the hay roller in their hutch, just above the area where I'd normally place their hay in the litter box. So far Felix hasn't used the box since replacing it, but Clementine has, and she was chewing on her litter instead! :rollseyes

Right now their litter is a mix of two different kinds of recycled paper pellets, both non-toxic and they've used them normally in the past when the hay was available in their box. I placed a small amount of hay under the roller, where it would normally go, and Clementine still seemed more interested in chewing the pellets.

Do you think it'll pass, or should I look into using a completely different litter type? I'm so concerned about her/them eating too much and causing a blockage or other GI distress. :cry1:

 

[whiskylollipop]

Paper-based pellets break down easily in moisture, so blockages shouldn't be an issue unless she's eating heaps of it. Merlin and Rosebun used to like chewing on their wood pellet litter too, I don't know why but I guess bunnies just like chewing on stuff.

Try spreading a thin layer of hay over the top. I started saving the short chaffy bits of hay at the bottom of the hay bag and spreading a layer of it over the litter pellets whenever I cleaned out their litterbox. It seemed to work. When they go to sniff the litter pellets the hay layer distracts them and they'd just surface with a piece of hay in their mouth.