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I am sure shes eating soil - should I be worried?

madcatwoman

Mama Doe
My rabbits have an old belfast sink to dig in and its got the contents of a grow bag in it. twinkle really loves it, she spends hours a day shovelling and pushig the muck around, Shes a rew but ends up black and white when shes done:love:

Just noticed her now sort of nibbling the edge of the sink but I cant work out if shes shovelling the soil back in or if shes eating it.

Shes totally fine in herself infact its only 3 weeks since she had a mammary turmor removed and her recover has been amazing. Shes eating/drinking/toileting fine, racing round like a loon.

I just dont know if i should let her 'eat' the soil, or if i should be replacing the soil with something else maybe bark chippings.

Any thoughts?
 
I think she will probably be fine. I have noticed that when my rabbits dig they also use their mouths to shovel away earth. Anything that they ingest might contain grit or nutrients that they may need but I doubt it would do any harm. I think bark chippings could actually be more harmful than soil. I would just check that the soil has not been pooped in by any other creatures, if it is generally clean and there is nothing sharp in like wee stones or broken its of pottery then it will be ok.
 
Double check there's no miracle grow, or other ferts etc in there.

My vet did say to me yesterday (whilst talking about a supplement made from peat) that if rabbits eat too much soil it affects their poops, they become dry and hard I think he said, so I assume that would mean its not great for their digestion. I'm sure a small amount isnt harmful though, wildies would eat small amount along with the roots that they dig up to eat.
 
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