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Question
I have a male rabbit (I'm honestly unsure of his breed, he's rather small) who is about a year old, is fixed, stays indoors, and has a cage with a solid bottom but wire sides. He's the one and only.... I wondered what fabrics were safe to put in the cage for him to nest in. Is denim safe? Cotton?

Answer
Hi Kat:

Bunnies are very inquisitive little creatures and like to sample everything they come across, especially something new! :)

They will nibble and chew just about anything out of curiosity.  For this reason, no fabric should be put in with them.  Cloth and soft toys are near the top of the list for visits to to the emergency vet; they eat pieces of it, develop a blockage and without immediate surgery, it can be fatal.  Something as small as a 1" square piece of cloth is enough to kill a bunny.

Instead of cloth, you can make him a nice bed using shredded materials.  You can use a small dish pan or small storage tub and put a thick layer of aspen bedding in it.  Aspen can be purchased at any pet store.  Pine and cedar should not be used because the oils in them can be problematic to your bunnies nose and lungs, but aspen is free of oils and completely safe.  If its eaten, it will pass through and not harm you bunny at all.

To save money, you can pack the box or tub with hay for the thickness and just put an inch or two of aspen on top.

The other option is to purchase a pre-made sea grass, straw or hay mat.  It offers some cushioning for the bunny to lay on and at the same time, it's completely edible if the bunny chooses to eat it.

Here are a couple of links for grass/hay mats:

http://www.busybunny.com/catalog/grass-mats---extra-large-bb-85.htm

http://www.petco.com/product/13360/PETCO-Straw-Mats.aspx?cm_mmc=bazaarvoice-_-RL...

I hope this helps and please let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Best wishes to you and your bunny; have a hoppy day!

Lisa L.