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Does anybody else's buns do this????????

Charm

Young Bun
Just wanting to know If anybody else's buns do this. I have 3 rabbits that are in their own individual hutches in my shed. I always put newspaper down first then a layer of woodshavings then a good thick layer of hay. I put newpaper in their litter tray and then the same thing woodshavings then hay. But all of them scrape all the hay into a heap and dig away till they get to the newpaper. They then rip the newpaper to bits and lay on the bare hutch floor. They seem to be trying to get rid of the hay in a pile and making a nest from the newspaper. The nice layout in the hutch is ruined and ends up with a big heap of hay ripped newspaper all in a pile. Just wondered does anybody else buns do this. Also I am worrying about them being cold at night??:( Was thinking about putting some of that shredded bedding the paper type in?
 
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Could it be that they are bored? I know my Peter does this when he has been locked in his cage for a long period, since he has been free range all day he has stopped doing it, I have put it down to the fact that he is stimulated in other ways. This could be especially true if they don't have the company of another rabbit I guess. Do they have access to the rest of the shed or a run so they can exercise?

My bunnies are indoors so I'm not sure about outside bedding but lots of hay could be an idea. I'm not sure about the use of straw but i know I used to use this with my guinea-pigs for warmth in the winter. I'm sure somebody else will be a long in a while with some better advice.
 
Yep ripping up newspaper is very common. It seems to be fun for them to rip it up, but a lot of bunnies become more destructive when they are frustrated in some way.

I also have noticed less destructive behaviour the more space they are given. When confined to a room (my buns are also indoor) where they had only around 20sqft of floor space (I was moving so boxes taking up all the space) they became extremely destructive.

Are your bunnies neutered? Smelling any bunny that is not bonded to them can frustrate a bunny, but being unneutered makes the problem a lot worse.

As for bedding, I would avoid using shavings as they can cause respiritory and liver problems, I would use megazorb instead for the litter trays. I would just lino the hutch floor to stop any 'accidents' seeping into the wood and then leave bare in general (obviously provide fresh hay daily, a hay rack will reduce wastage and mess), but cover in hay for the winter. A big warm bed of hay in the sleeping compartment is the most important thing. You could use straw as well for the bed, but watch they arent eating loads of it, as its pretty much useless nutritionally unlike hay, and they wont eat as much hay if they are filling up on straw.
 
Nino used to do that ALL the time when we first adopted him many years ago. One day I experimented by putting a soft blanket folded up on top of the hay/shavings etc. - he immediately went and sat on it! After that we scrapped all substrate bedding and put lino on the floor of the hutch and just gave him vet beds and blankets to sleep on! He was much happier :D
 
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