Rabbit likes to eat papper!

Question
I have a question for you. I just got a floppy ear bunny about 3 or 4 months ago. She is a great bunny almost 100 percent litter trained (not spaid yet). At first she just stuck to her hay and pellets but now she seems to like other things to chew on. We give her a little bit of hay 2 or 3 times a day followed by plain pellets with no seeds because i read that they are bad for them. She is starting to show an interest in paper. I give her a phone book to rip up because i read that they like that but, she is starting to eat the paper so i try to give her blank paper now because of the ink. Is this bad for her? She loves it but i don't want to see anything happen to her so for now i held off giving it to her till i find out if it is safe. Please get back to me ASAP on any input that you might have. Please give me any other tips or any other info on her diet that i can do to make sure that she is healthy. Thank you for your time. CF

Answer
Hi Corinne

If she is eating the paper and swallowing it then I definitely wouldn't give her the phone book.  If she is just shredding it and digging it and eating just a tiny piece here or there that is different.  Rabbits are going to chew on just about anything you give them.  You can try getting a cross-cut paper shredder and shred tons of paper.  Anything that doesn't have dye.  Junk mail that is just black and white is fine.  I put all the shredded paper into a big huge cardboard box and let my digger/chewer bunny go to town.  He makes a horrible mess but he sure has fun doing it.  I always tell people whose rabbits like to eat the carpet, the newspaper, or anything they really aren't supposed to be eating to give them papaya pills.  You can buy them at any health food store and they are just awesome for rabbits digestive systems.  The rabbits actually love the taste of them too.  I generally give mine 1 pill 3 times a week and when they are molting they pretty much get 1 every day.

You can also see if you can get her to eat dried pineapple.  If you have a food dehydrator spend the week dehydrating the fresh pineapple.. some of my rabbits will eat it and some won't.  It also helps with the digestive system.

Basically give her plenty of toys to keep her occupied.  She will swallow some paper but as long as that is not all she is eating I wouldn't be to worried about it.  You did say you give her hay a few times a day.  You should really have hay in there for her all the time.  I get hay mangers from the pet store and fill them every night.  Most of my rabbits never run out of fresh hay.  

If you need ideas on bunny toys try this web-site

http://www.busybunny.com/

Some of the stuff is expensive but a lot you can make yourself.  You can use untreated wood, dried apple tree branches and then you can use sisal rope and drill some holes in the wood and make hanging toys.  The bunnies love them.  Just make sure if you are using fresh branches that you let them dry for a complete month to get all the sap out.

I usually buy my rabbits one of those untreated wicker baskets from the busy bunny store twice a year.  They are so filled with yummy stuff that it keeps them occupied for hours.

Good luck and if you have anymore questions I will be back on Sunday.

Have a great weekend

Pam