Due to being cute and low maintenance, the popularity of keeping pet rabbits is increasing again with more and more people choosing to add a pet rabbit to their family.
As the number of people keeping rabbits as pets increases, the number of questions about caring for rabbits from the community also increases and we have noticed people having problems with their pet rabbit eating bedding recently so decided to publish this article to help our readers.
There are a number of reasons that your pet rabbit may start eating its bedding with the most common reason being your rabbit’s instinctive urge to chew things to regulate the growth of its teeth.
Some rabbits will also eat their bedding due to their diet being deficient in fiber or being curious as to what their bedding tastes like. Other rabbits will simply eat their bedding due to being bored and lacking stimulation in their cages.
In some very rare cases, your pet rabbit may eat its bedding due to being stressed or anxious but this is very rare and only really happens in rabbits that have previous trauma in their life or are being kept in a cage that is too small for them with minimal time out of their cage.
The majority of pet rabbits eating their bedding will be doing it due to the reasons that we covered in the paragraph above and they should be where you start your hunt for why your rabbit is eating its bedding.
Can Rabbits Eat Their Bedding?
Some types of rabbit bedding are digestible by rabbits due to rabbits being able to digest cellulose meaning paper and cotton bedding can technically be digested with minimal risk.
Rabbits are not able to digest polyester or other artificial fabrics though so if a rabbit eats this type of bedding then there is a chance of the bunny developing health problems.
We have seen some people who keep rabbits switch over to a paper based bedding for their pet rabbits due to the bunny having developed the habit to eat its bedding no matter what.
Making the switch over to one of these paper bedding options that are less hazardous to your pet bunny if it eats it can drastically reduce the risk of health issues in a bunny that is going to be eating its bedding anyway.
On the flip side of that, we have also seen other people say that they have switched over to a paper based rabbit bedding from other types of rabbit bedding and their rabbit has stopped eating its bedding just because of the new texture on the paper bedding.
This can commonly occur if your pet rabbit is only eating its bedding as a way to try and regulate the growth rate of its teeth and although this is not common, it does happen enough to see it mentioned on social media every now and then.
Why Is My Bunny Eating Its Bedding?
There are a number of reasons why a bunny will eat its bedding ranging from the instinctive urge to chew, craving fiber due to their diet being deficient, your bunny lacking mental stimulation and eating its bedding due to being bored, and sometimes just because your bunny is curious.
There are some health issues that can increase the chances of your bunny eating its bedding but these are very rare.
A lack of available food can also increase the chances of your rabbit eating its bedding too with this being surprisingly common with some species of rabbit on certain diets due to some of the cheaper rabbit food mixes lacking in required nutritional profile for a rabbit to be healthy.
Thankfully, there are plenty of rabbit food mixes on the market these days that are as close to being nutritionally complete as possible while also being budget friendly.
You can even find some of the more expensive rabbit food options on the market are not nutritionally dense enough to reach your rabbit’s nutritional requirements causing your rabbit to eat its bedding in some cases.
This is why we usually recommend that you try to supplement the diet of your pet rabbit with suitable kitchen scraps from your own vegetables when possible no matter what food mix you choose for your pet rabbit.
How Do I Stop My Rabbit From Eating Their Bedding?
The easiest way to stop your pet rabbit from eating their bed is to simply remove the bedding from their cage with this strategy being a very common way to deal with the problem.
The majority of bunnies don’t actually need bedding in their cages with many not even liking having bedding in their cages so if the ambient temperature is suitable, you can just remove the bedding from the cage and be done with it.
As we touched on above, you can also switch over to a high-quality rabbit food mix and supplement your pet rabbit’s diet with suitable vegetable kitchen scraps to increase the nutritional density of your rabbits diet as much as possible.
This can help reduce the cravings for fiber in some rabbits and reduce their urge to eat their bedding while also improving the general health of your pet rabbit too.
Depending on the type of bedding you are currently using with your pet rabbit, you can also consider switching over to a paper based bedding that can stop some rabbits eating their bedding due to it having a softer texture.
Paper bedding is also generally considered a less hazardous bedding for a rabbit to eat too due to there being a higher chance of your rabbit being able to digest any of the paper that it consumes.
What Happens If My Bunny Eats Their Bedding?
If your rabbit is eating a paper or even cotton based bedding, there is a higher chance of your rabbit being able to digest the bedding and pass it without issue.
If your rabbit is eating a synthetic bedding material that it is not able to digest then the risks of impaction start to increase quickly and this can end up being a serious health issue that can eventually be fatal.
This is why a large number of people who keep rabbits will just remove their rabbit’s bedding from the cage once they notice that their pet rabbit is eating its bedding.
Provided the ambient temperature in your area is suitable both during the day, at night, and during the colder months of the year, this often won’t cause an issue for your rabbit but removes the health risks associated with your rabbit eating its bedding.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over why your pet rabbit may be eating its bedding to a close. Due to there being a number of reasons that a rabbit may eat its bedding, this can be a more common issue than some people initially realise but thankfully, there is usually a number of quick and easy fixes available that can stop your pet rabbit from eating its bedding.
