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Forum DIET & CARE Is eating soil ‘Normal’?

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    • Bat-E
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        It has been a couple of months now since I took in Harri Bunny and we are getting on quite well I feel!! She is really quite good (around 3-4 years old, been mistreated) as she is not a chewer and she mostly poops in her tray – she still hasn’t understood that the kitchen rug is not for pooping on, but she doesn’t pee outside her tray – and she is learning about bedtime!

        BUT, we found that she had discovered a large plant in our sittingroom and was eating the soil around it. Plant was duly removed out of reach. I then found her eating my row of herb plants – well I suppose parsley is irresistable – but she then proceeded to turn the pot over and eat the soil. It is now spread all over the place and she likes to lie in it (of course she is mostly white) and have te odd nibble.

        Sooo, is this because I’m missing out something in her diet? Is it ok for her to do this? I was watching her today and thinking how she would enjoy a sandpit – but she ain’t getting one!!

        Bat-E – Mom to Harri Bun

         

         


      • jerseygirl
        Moderator
        22338 posts Send Private Message

          I’m not sure if she’s looking for anything in her diet, it’s more likely a sensory experience and form of entertainment. Well, that’s my guess! Just be sure she gets plenty of fibre through eating hay.

          My doe likes to dig, and when she does this outside, she must ingest some soil, and more when she cleans herself up. Harri is probably nibbling on the little bark pieces you find in potting soil. I would discourage though as potting mix has warnings for humans handling it so I’d be careful with rabbits around it too. I often think mine would love a sand pit too, they like to dig a trench and lie in the nice cool hollow they’ve made.


        • MooBunnay
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          3087 posts Send Private Message

            Hello Bat-E, welcome to Binkybunny!!

            Can you tell us a little bit more about your bunny’s diet? Is she getting plenty of timothy or another grass hay? How are her poops? If you can give us a quick summary of those questions that can help us determine if she is missing something in her diet.

            How safe the soil is really depends on what is in it – for example, do you put fertilizer in it that might be toxic, or any kind of pesticides? My bunnies LOVE parsley fresh from the garden too, so I can see why she is attracted to it.


          • Bat-E
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              Thank you for your wisdom!

              Harri has plenty of hay around – including Timothy – both in her litter tray and in a hay basket. I can’t say that she seems to eat much of it though as I never seem to to see her chewing on it. Her poops look normal to me though, as they are little round pellets. I wish I could encourage her to eat more hay, which is why I bought the Timothy after reading about it here and mix it in with the ordinary in her litter tray …

              She gets plenty (maybe too much?) of fresh vedge though and has put on weight since I’ve had her! She loves carrots (of course) brocolli, kale, rocket, spinach etc. And she does eat her dried food too.

              Currently she is here in my study, lying on the soil she has spread all over the carpet in front of my desk

              Bat-E

               

               


            • KatnipCrzy
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                I have not really found any info on “pica” in rabbits, just this small blurb.

                http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-5/enteritis.html

                The dirt may be just a novel thing for her- something to play in and has a different texture than what she is used to.

                How are her droppings?  Any similarities with the descriptions in the article?

                You mentioned that you mix timothy hay in with her regular hay.  What is her regular hay?  If it is alfalfa hay or has a lg percentage of alfalfa mixed in- that might be your culprit for her weight gain.

                EDIT: I wonder if the soil feels “cool” to her.  Do you have any tiles that she can lay on?  One of my bunnies prefers to lay on granite tiles that I have in her enclosure, she will take that over fleece 90% of the time.


              • Bat-E
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                  I have wondered if she has a form of pica, but as she seems healthy otherwise, I’m trying not to get too worried. I have now cleaned up and removed all the soil and she does like to sit on the harth where there are cool tiles, so maybe you are correct in that she finds the house too warm at times!

                  A couple of things I am working on are to get her used to going into her pen to bed at night – we currently have a chase round the house first!! This is not doing this old lady much good and also to get her more used to being picked up as she doesn’t seem to like it and to be able to take her to the vet I need her more used to being handled…. But we are getting there slowly.

                  Bat-E

                   

                   


                • Billybobunny
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                    My rabbit lives outside when we got him he disentangle sem interested in digging now something is living under his huch and we think it is either a mouse or a rat now he i nonstop digging and has started eating mud


                  • LittlePuffyTail
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                    18092 posts Send Private Message

                      Hi, Biilybobunny. We ask members to please not respond to old threads. This one is from 2008. Feel free to start a new thread if you have questions. Thanks!

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                  Forum DIET & CARE Is eating soil ‘Normal’?