What Rabbits Do You Have? Show Off Your Rabbits Here!

[TheTwoRoos]

I spent a few hours making wood & hemp toys for my 4 cages. 2 i hung in the cages and 2 i just layed in there.
so, is it ok for rabbits to eat the cardboard, paper, hemp, cotton rope, etc?
i will take some pics in the morning to share. i havent seen them play w/the toys, just sniff them. one buck did chew and eat some of the wood. i give them tree branches w/leaves, so i know they do eat wood.

Cardboard and News Paper (NO GLOSSY NEWSPAPER.),but for the rest I dont kniw.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I would worry a bit about cotton (it has a tendency to clog and bind GIs), but hemp or sisal twine should be fine. Cardboard is fine, paper is fine too but it's best if you can find stuff that's undyed. So definitely no glossy or color pages. Try to avoid newspaper in general, IMO, the inks can be carcinogenic.

 

[CyndiD]

here are the hemp & Pine 2"x4"

"Blaze" my 2yo buck

another 2yo buck (no name yet)

4mo does

3mo kits

i am saving up paper towel tubes then i will stuff w/treats/hay

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Those look great! I bet they will have fun chewing those as needed. I would be willing to bet they have never seen a chew toy before. They look ideal for wearing down teeth and keeping them healthier. It does look like you're using lumber. Just be careful to use lumber that isn't treated with carcinogenic chemicals. Kiln dried untreated or treated with linseed oil should be fine, for instance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_preservation

 

[Bunnylady]

While you can buy linseed oil at the health food store that is safe to ingest, the stuff that is used in wood treatment is irritating to skin and definitely not safe to inhale, ingest, or otherwise get long-term exposure to. And as the Mythbusters demonstrated a few years ago, linseed oil + rags = spontaneous combustion, so it may not really be a good idea to apply it yourself. Most of the newer types of treatment for wood are safer than the old CCA, but the safest rule of thumb is just not to use treated wood on any surface that a rabbit can chew on.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Fair, the less treatment possible, the better. Certainly never apply treatments yourself. If you have rabbit safe wood logs you could just chop those apart.

 

[Monstro]

Just stepped in here so maybe its already been said. When i had rabbits they were for show and freezer. We gave both toys.

Usually a cat ball with rattle inside for boredom. And a 2x4 diagonal in their cage, with feed on one side and water on the other. This helped the shoulders develope for the show ones and helped make sure the freezer ones didnt get fatty

 

[Monstro]

Somewhat topical, I just now (not ten minutes ago) had a really frustrating customer experience. Had a couple visit me, looking to buy four (10lb) rabbits. Turns out they wanted house bunnies and they wanted unfixed pairs to breed so they could have more cute babies as pets (that's just asking for a hoarding/rescue nightmare) and didn't say. They had no idea what rabbits were like, it was like they'd never even picked one up before. They showed up and were immediately offended when they found out that the rabbits kicked. They were upset that the rabbits shed. They were mad that the rabbits didn't want to be held and cuddled. The girl had these rediculous inch-long fake nails and a coach purse and when one of the rabbits kicked off one of the nails (because she insisted on holding one of the hormonal BUCK rabbits) she was upset that the rabbits were so flighty. They were upset that the rabbits didn't have their nails clipped (they had their nails clipped last week). She was upset that she couldn't hold the rabbits and her purse at the same time. (Mind you, these are adolecent rabbits and are extremely hormonal and flighty, like all rabbits at that age.) And you know why they SAID they wanted rabbits? And I quote, the lady said "I want rabbits because I love them, and animals are my life".

This is why I don't like selling to pet owners. They walked out without my rabbits, probably thinking that I am a bad breeder because my rabbits aren't indoors or some other preppie-upper-middle-class-white-girl nonsense. I don't think I would have sold to them even if they wanted 'em. I told them that all rabbits shed, kicked and were not fond of being held, especially at this age. I genuinely hope they reconsider rabbits as pets but they probably won't. They'll just go to someone who pretends to be sweeter but probably has a lot less sense.

Customers can be the best part of the job when they're attentive and want to be educated. They can be the worst part of the job ever when they are high on themselves and preconceived notions. And they will lie through their teeth to get you to sell to them if they want it that badly.

Heck, my ad is on a FARM page and even says; "[COLOR=222222]The four rabbits would make a great starting herd for cross-breed back yard meat rabbits or possibly 4H projects.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]
[/COLOR][COLOR=222222]These are not minis. These are big bunnies with 8-11lbs parents."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=222222]Not "Sweet loving pet rabbits to a good home" or some other nonsense.[/COLOR]

People like that completely ruin my day and this job.



Edited by Staff

LOL... I raised Californians and Rex and refused to sell as pets. Id only sell to breeders and sometimes 4-h'ers.

My sister raises dwarf hotots and she had an experience thats pretty much stopped her from selling too many. Had a guy she sold to once in a while who claimed to want to raise them. Turned out he was using them for snake food.

 

[Bunnylady]

Hey - the snake's gotta eat, too.

And most reptile people don't want to risk their animals getting torn up by the intended meal, so they kill the rats or rabbits or whatever first - and they are every bit as efficient and humane as you would be when processing for meat. But some people are squeamish about it, nonetheless; I had a rabbit raising friend who was furious when she found out some of her rabbits wound up being snake food, even though she admitted she wouldn't have minded if the guy had eaten them himself (she frequently sold to a slaughterhouse). But if that is what a person is doing, they shouldn't lie about it.

 

[Monstro]

Hey - the snake's gotta eat, too.  And most reptile people don't want to risk their animals getting torn up by the intended meal, so they kill the rats or rabbits or whatever first - and they are every bit as efficient and humane as you would be when processing for meat. But some people are squeamish about it, nonetheless; I had a rabbit raising friend who was furious when she found out some of her rabbits wound up being snake food, even though she admitted she wouldn't have minded if the guy had eaten them himself (she frequently sold to a slaughterhouse). But if that is what a person is doing, they shouldn't lie about it.

I agree. But it was the part of lying about it. People will say anything. If the rabbits were killed quick before hand, great. If not, i dont know much about a snakes digestive system but im guessing itd be a slow death.