[Jess]

Yep, Smudge is eating his litter box now too. A funny noise woke me up last night, and Smudge was gnawing at the rim of his litter box. It looks like he actually got some of the plastic off too!
Obviously, I don't want him eating it. Any ideas? I can't think of anything non-chewable to cover the rim of his litter box with. I also don't want him to have negative experiences in his litter box, since it is his "safe place" and I don't want him to be scared of using it. So I'm a little wary of putting something bad tasting on the rim of it or something like that.
I had never seen him actually chewing off the plastic before last night, so I'm hoping this is a one-time thing, but I'm still paranoid.
Any ideas?


So much for my "Ultimate Bunny-Proofing"

 

[BarkingPup]

Are you sure he ate it? Hamm chews on his litter box but he's never ate it before. I'm not sure what you could replace it with.... a giant ceramic box?

Mkay, so rabbitsonline gives a couple suggestions:

I can sympathise with this as my little horror does the same thing, he's on his third tray.

He has similar toys, a telephone directory, cardboard boxes, wood toys etc. etc. all of which he also plays with and eats and plenty of space to wonder about. He just seems to think his litter tray needs the edges removed.

I think we have got on top of it by using a thicker plastic tray (I use washing up bowls so went for the upmarket version). Whilst this has a few scratches now he hasn't managed to get his teeth through to start the hole so has given up.

With wood toys I think where they are is almost as important as flavour. Try hanging or cable tying them where they are in his way. They are much more likely to chomp on something blocking their path or swinging about over their head.

And basically the rest of it is saying to give the bun a LOT of chew toys (wood, grass mats, phonebooks, etc.) when he's in the cage so he won't be tempted. Hay rack above the litterbox and placing his hay in toilet paper tubes, hanging it in clumps etc.

Hope that helps :/

 

[Jess]

Thanks.


Yup, I'm sure he ate it.... I watched him. He eats everything he chews, no matter how un-edible it is!
He has SO many things to chew on- a wooden tunnel, a grass mat, 6+ big willow sticks right now (I have, like, 20 of those things), 3 wooden ball toys that I switch around, a dig box full of paper, cardboard, chewsticks, ect., a paper towel tube, and his entire enclosure is lined with pine boards that he can chew. He has a 6' x 2' enclosure. He is free-range in my room during the day, and he doesn't bother anything while he is running around. It's just at night when he is in his enclosure that he starts chewing!

 

[Nibbler]

what about getting a metal cooking tray and using it at a litter box like a cake one ?

 

[Jess]

I need one that his really high edges though, otherwise he pees over the edge.
The one I have is this one. It has super high edges so he can't pee out of it.

 

[Nibbler]

i was thinking something like that but higher and wider

 

[BarkingPup]

So I looked it up online (Google) and some other suggestions were:

Get a glass litter pan (might not be viable because of the pee thing)

Or

Get some safe-to-chew boards and modify them so they fit over the edges of the litterpan. The rabbit can then chew as much as he wants.

Some of the deterrents were bitter apple, vinegar, and ivory soap that you can put on the edges.

 

[2babygirls]

There must be something in the air because Coco was chewing on his litterbox yesterday & I've never seen that before!

I've been thinking of getting metal pans because they don't absorb pee odor like plastic does. I didn't think of a baking pan - good idea Nibbler! I'm going to see if I can find some XL commercial sized pans.

 

[Dragonrain]

I use Rubbermaid storage totes for litter boxes - the really big heavy duty plastic ones. You can cut an entrance out of one of the sides and use a dremel to make sure there are no sharp edges, or maybe melt the plastic around the hole to get rid of any sharp bits.

The sides are really high depending on what size box you get, but higher than the litter box in the picture you posted. It works great for my bunnies - Ziggy use to pee over the edge of the old boxes I had but hasn't done that since I switched.

If you get the ones made of the really thick plastic maybe he would have a harder time chewing it? Mine has a few scratches on it but that's it.

Is he only doing it at night when you put him in his cage? Maybe when you put him in his cage at night you could give him some kind of novel toy to keep him busy? Something he doesn't get to play with during the day, or maybe a treat/food dispensing toy or something like that?

 

[Purple-Hops]

I think its one thing after the other with Smudge wanting to annoy you!

 

[Jess]

I think its one thing after the other with Smudge wanting to annoy you!

I know, I just can't win with him!!


@Michelle: Yeah, I was actually thinking of doing that anyways, since it's about time for the yearly litter box change LOL. What do you use to cut the entrance with? A saw or...? I could probably smooth the edges with sandpaper.


And he gets his Slim Cat ball with pellets in the mornings on the weekend when I want to (attempt to) sleep in, but he is incredibly obnoxious with it- He attacks it, bangs it against the walls, ect. - so I wouldn't be able to fall asleep if I gave it to him at night. I have hay cubes too, but I don't like to give him those more than once a week because he needs real hay for his teeth issues. Any more ideas?? I might be able to order some toys online once I get a little more money if the shipping isn't too bad.... This weeks babysitting profit is being spent on Squishy! I can't think of anything other than pellet food to put in his SC ball, and what ever toy he gets needs to be somewhat quiet.


He is so well behaved during the day, but he turns into the Devil's spawn at night LOL. He never did this kind of stuff before he was free-range during the day either. I think he is a little to spoiled for his own good LOL!
I'm just REALLY worried that he is going to end up hurting himself by eating all these weird things, so sorry if all my "Smudge is eating this and this and this!" threads are getting a little annoying. I would feel absolutely horrible though if he died from something preventable like this.

 

[BarkingPup]

No question is a bad question! A rubbermaid tote is a good idea.

Lessee, toys... Bird toys (Hamm has one with a bell but I don't recommend that). Getting branches and putting them inside the cage. Hanging toilet paper tubes full of hay from something. Even making a small cardboard fort?

 

[Dragonrain]

Um I actually didn't cut mine my fiance did so I'll have to ask him what he used!

Quiet toys...I have a problem with that too. My bunnies are SO loud at night it drives me insane. Even things you think would be quiet toys they find ways to be loud with. What about hiding treats around the cage for him to find? That keeps my bunnies busy for a little while at least, and depending on where you hide them they are relatively quiet while looking lol.

 

[Jess]

Yeah, I suppose I could do that. I have some small papaya treats that I could hide when he isn't looking, and maybe a few extra pellets too.
I bury "special" hay in his dig box too, and he absolutely loves that too, so I could do that more often. When I stumble over to my closet at 5:00 AM to give him something to keep quiet, I'm not always very toy creative LOL!


Let me know about cutting the bin!

 

[Dragonrain]

Haha I know what you mean. When my rabbits are loud I usually stumble into their room half asleep still and just throw them a handful of fresh hay. They aren't as loud when they are busy stuffing their faces :lol: Unfortunately that doesn't usually keep them quiet for too long though.