Why....

....is Tomee eating sawdust?

I thought I saw him do it before but I just thought he had dropped some food on the floor or something but I've just sat and watched him and he's definately eating sawdust.

Plus he's not eating any hay, how can I get him to eat more hay?

:shock: Cant you bed him on straw instead? :?

I'd remove the sawdust immediately and replace it with straw and a covering of hay. Do you mean sawdust, or woodshavings? Sawdust isn't really suitable for rabbits.

anything wood based contains phenols which are poisonous to their liver, so if he's a litter eater (and for some reason Benny likes to nibble his litter even with a pile of hay next to him :roll: ) use a paper based litter with no added clay, so it won't kill him - I use megazorb which you can get online or from suppliers if you have a car (very cheap) Sainsbury's used to do paper based cat litter, but some brands have added clay, so check the ingredients.

Less pellets mean more hay eating

Megazorb is wood based..It's made from wood pulp .

Ok now I'm worried.

It's woodshavings that he's got as lining to his hutch. He's not eating large amounts of it, just little bits.

The problem with putting straw in he won't go poop or wee on it. Strange rabbit, but he just won't.

I think I'll go pets at home and see if I can find anything more suitable for him, I don't want him getting ill.

Sooz22 said:

Less pellets mean more hay eating

Click to expand...

I've tried that, he eats all his food and then won't touch any hay so I don't want him to go hungry so I give him more food. Maybe its the brand of hay that I've got. Perhaps he doesn't like it.

Oh I'm so rubbish at this rabbit stuff.

You are not rubbish at all. We have all been exactly where you are. I'm so thankful to this forum..rabbit ownership is a very steep learning curve. If he will only perform on woodshavings then put some in a litter tray and that'll help with the litter training. I'm happy to meet you halfway between mine and yours if you want to try out some Megazorb....

I know it's hard caring for a rabbit, it's just sussing out what's suitable for him and his home.

Well eventually I want to get him off woodshavings anyway as he doesn't really like lying on them, so perhaps megazorb will be better for now.

Is it alright to line his hutch with megazorb?

I should think so..it's actually a horse bedding..very absorbant, though I'd cover it with some straw. It's only available in big sacks, so if you want to try some first I'm happy to let you have some of mine. There's a stockist at Golbourne which I think is somewhere in your area though. I think it's called Blue Sky Horse feeds. When I got some there last year it cost under £5.00 for a 70ltre sack but I go to Congleton now which is closer for me and it costs £5.40.

I used carefresh (i think its called) also good for buns and grta for absorbing urine!!
My bonded two actually have large wood shavings in their bed, sometimes tehy dig it away to lie on the floor underneath. I like the sugestino of having it just in the litter tray, great for his litter training!!

As for not eating as much hay, I went through that will Charlie and just cut down and now only feed as treats.. he sulked for a bit but soon got the hang of the hay - they know you'll give in you see so you have to perserver. Maybe replace some pellets with fresh greens (mine love curly kale and parsley )

Also I vary the hay and the hay experts are great for that. They do sample packs so you can get to know which ones they prefer and I just gve them the bag so they have some fun getting to it (take the cellotape off first!)

http://www.thehayexperts.com/product_info.php?products_id=32 (thins lik actually has the carefresh litter too... here is the sample pack:
https://www.thehayexperts.com/index.php?cPath=4_23

They have loads of healthy high in fibre treats/additions to the usual hay too

I am due to put them all in a pen too (once all bonded) with lino bottom and a huge litter tray in one end (actually an old guinea pig cage base)

Hope some of that helps

Capel - Oh don't worry about it, I'm going to go raid some pet shops once I've been paid and just try him out on different things. I'll probably get abit of lino off my grandad and just use abit of straw and hay and put megazorb/carefresh in his wee corner.

emjay - Thanks so much that's a great help! I'm going to order some of those sample packs, I think it's the only way I can really tell which one would be best for him. I think once I've found one he likes I'll start cutting down on his food abit. He's been getting plenty of greens but I'll get him eating hay I just have to stick it out!
That's what happened with Tomee he got in a right mood when I gave him less food and more hay and wouldn't come out of his bed until I was gone. So I just caved!

I'd be more worried over the rabbits lack of interest in hay than the rabbits abnormal interest in woodshaving. If he won't eat hay when offered he might have troubles with his teeth, most likely the molars in that case. Does he try to nibble, does he seem hungry when offered, but not able to eat? Hay is harder to chew than pellets and vegetables.

That's my toughts

I think he's just being a spoilt bunny and wants more greens and vegetables than anything.

He had a checkup at the vets a few weeks ago and they checked all his teeth and he said they were in excellent condition.

He does eat it, just not as much as I think he should be. He's more interested in the woodshavings at the moment. :roll:

I'll try the sample packs from the hay experts and if he's still not eating it I'll take him the vet to see if they're is any problems with his teeth that had been missed.

As long as he is eating ANYTHING then there shouldnt be any troubles with the teeth. Chalrie had to have his molar spurs doen the week before last and just before he woudlnt eat even his favs so there wa def a problem wth the teeth.
Just sounds like he's a bit spoilt (not in a bad way mine are too!!) but they do know what they can get away with :lol:
Charlie actualyl got quite ill cos he wasnt eating enough hay so that did it for me - I was very resolved to not give in to his sulks!
They currently have a huge box of hay that I got from the willow warren which is FAB for their teeth but also keeps them occupied for ages (2 weeks now!!) digging down in it (I am slowly removing the soiled layers)
http://www.willowwarren.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=trhsmallbox&cat=1
The box is actually MASSIVE!! and only costs £5.65!
I also have a treat ball that I put the pellets in so they get some excercise and I can control the amoutn that they get.

Just to add it is very important that he does eat some hay cos they chew up hay (and greens) differntly to pellets so even if he doesnt have probs wth is teeth now he will do. You may also find that when his new girlfriend arrives she can encourage him to eat more hay by copying and not wanting to miss out My vet has also suggested apple branches if you can get them.. mine didnt seem to like the other type of sticks you can get on hay experts (hazel etc)... well Charlie and Molly, but Benjamin does. Just a case of trouble shooting really.
Dried grass is also a fav of mine!! Also on the hay experts.

( BTW greens and hay eaten with sideways grinding of teeth so wears down the molars. Pellets eaten with a up and downwards motion, so not very much wearign down of teeth - if any!)

Give a few thinsg a go and see what works, btu he really will start to eat more hay if you cut the pellets right back, he'll get hungry!!! I can actually now entice mine into their bed by rustling a bag of hay.
Hey maybe you can find a local farmer who will sell you some - i heard of some people gettign an actual bale(!) for about £3!!!! Will be fresh and if you keep it in a cotton laundry bag or old pillow case will keep fresh for a good while

Let us know how it goes - and have you found a girl yet?? Saw your last list and I just have to stop looking, all so beautiful!!

PS - Sorry my posts are soooooooooooo long!!!!

HaHa, no it's good, the more information the better!

He is most definately a spoilt bunny!! He's just staring at me right now chewing on a big green leaf! It's my fault he's spoilt, when I first got him he was in a tiny 3 foot hutch, and had a big bowl of rabbit mix that he didn't touch but he had loads of hay which he eat all the time. I put him in a bigger hutch with a run and started him on veg and a better rabbit food and he's gotten too use to it and forgotten about his yummy hay! So I just need to get him back on track!

Thanks for all the help, it'll definately come in handy when he goes back to hay! Which he will and he will like it!

I'll keep you updated! I've got 2 girls in mind at the moment so I'm just waiting for the new hutch and then I can start deciding! I'm so excited but nervous about the bonding! But I'm sure people on here will help me out!

if he is eating shavings he may eat any other litter you use too so I would go with the lino and then pur hay on top..keep an eye he is not chewing and eating the lino at edges.

I would advise agaist straw for 2 reasons..one is it can be very sharp and cause nasty eye injuries..the other is it has almost no nutritional value so you don't really want a bun to eat it..
if you surround him with hay he is more likely to nibble it and so eat a bigger quantity...

You say he has a large hutch which is good as some bunnies will eat litter if they are bored ,so make sure he gets lots of time out and cuddles..I'm sure he does!

Thank you so much! I'll see if my grandad's got any lino, he always has bits like that lying about.

Thanks everyone for all the advice, it's definately helped and bunny is going to be on his way to a hay-eating-non-shaving-eating life!