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What Can Rabbits Chew On? 6 Amazing Items To Give Them!

What can rabbits chew on? Well, there are many to mention- hay, wood, pine cones, and toys are just a few.

Chewing is natural, ordinary, necessary, and highly enjoyable for your pet rabbits. Their teeth continuously grow all their lives, and by chewing, their teeth get trimmed.

What Can Rabbits Chew On?

What can rabbits chew on

But if your rabbit keeps wandering around looking for things to chew on, they may ingest some stuff that is not good for them.

You may be tired of your rabbits chewing on your things that are supposed to be off-limits.

Let us get right into it!

Factors of Chewing

What Can Rabbits Chew On? Before everything else, let us first understand the factors why rabbits keep on chewing.

Here are the following:

  • Sex

Female rabbits have a stronger desire to burrow than male rabbits; although, this is not the only factor why rabbits chew.

Age and hormone factors also apply to males.

Both male and female rabbits should be spayed or neutered as soon as they sexually mature, usually about 4 to 6 months old.

If your rabbits are not yet spayed or neutered, talk to your veterinarian about this procedure.

Factors of Chewing

  • Hormones and age

  • If young, under two years old, and unspayed, have them spayed
  • If young and spayed, their chewing will gradually decrease over time
  • If the rabbit is mature and spayed, her behavior is not dictated by her hormones

Keep in mind that a neutered rabbit will chew less and less as they mature.

Younger rabbits have bountiful energy levels, encouraging them to explore every part of your home and chew as they go along and investigate, which is likely caused by their burrowing instinct.

  • Personality

A chewer tends to be a more intelligent, affectionate, and outgoing individual who likes to be in charge and get a lot of attention.

Does your rabbit chew to get attention? Or maybe they would like some companion to lessen their boredom?

Provide something for them to chew that is safe for them.

  • Environment

Bunny proof it!

Go to your nearest local hardware store for products to use for bunny proofing. Hardware stores make wires or conduits that can go quickly over your home wires.

Locking them in a cage or a room buys you time while you bunny-proof. Get your rabbits spayed, or wait for them to mature because this will only be a temporary fix.

What Can Rabbits Chew On? 6 Safe Items That Your Rabbit Can Chew On

If you are not sure what is safe for your pet rabbits, you can refer to this list.

Here is a list of things that can rabbits chew on.

#1. Hay

A rabbit’s daily diet must include hay.

Hay is one of the essential parts of a rabbit’s daily intake. It also has a high fiber content, which is vital in maintaining good dental health and intestinal health- since rabbits have a complex digestive system.

What Can Rabbits Chew On? 6 Safe Items That Your Rabbit Can Chew On

There are many kinds of hays available; some of the popular ones are meadow, timothy, and orchard grass.

I would often mix different hays for Thumper because they provide various flavors, an excellent nutritional value, and is safe for him to chew on.

#2. Woods

There are lots to choose from; apple, ash, hawthorn, hazel, juniper, maple, pear, spruce, birch, and willow.

Since rabbits have different personalities and preferences, you might have to be a little patient to find out what they like the most.

On the other hand, avoid woods from trees that produce fruit with a pit, such as avocado, peach, apricot, and cherry.

These woods have a lovely smell produced by a chemical called “Phenols,” which are poisonous to rabbits and can lead to liver disease.

#3. Pinecones

Pinecones are ideal for a rabbit that loves to chew; these can be quite fun for them to chew on.

It is essential to dry and prepare them before giving them to your rabbits to be safe for chewing. Make sure to scrub off any sap, dirt, or bugs on the cones using your hands.

#4. Chew toys

Make sure that your bunnies have lots of exciting choices.

You can provide them with chew toys; not only will it keep them occupied, but chewing fibrous materials is exceptionally beneficial for them.

It can also help stop them from chewing things you do not want.

#5. Willow balls

Since my pet bunny, Thumper, likes to toss things around, I figured out I would get him a willow ball for rabbits.

You can choose from different shapes and sizes. Make sure that the willow ball you get is made out of all-natural material.

I got mine from ordering online. I prefer the grassy variety because it makes less mess than the other ones.

#6. Toilet roll tubes

This one will cost you no money at all since you have this item in your household. Rabbits will enjoy eating and tossing them around.

To make things fun, you can fill them with hay, another great way to give them their much-needed fiber intake.

Starting now, do not ever throw your old toilet rolls away!

This is a free and unlimited source of entertainment for your bunnies.

Importance Of Chewing in Rabbits

Herbivore teeth are designed for grinding and chewing and your query What Can Rabbits Chew On has been answered but let’s discuss why it is important to chew.

Take note of this:

Importance Of Chewing in Rabbits

Rabbits should move their jaws more than 120 times per minute when eating since they have open-rooted teeth, which compensate for the wear and tear.

The upside is that the teeth would not merely wear away with a high fiber diet; this is why you need to know what rabbits can chew on.

If the diet does not have enough fiber, this may cause the teeth to rapidly grow, leading to abnormal wear, and malocclusion.

What’s this?

It’s a condition where the teeth do not meet adequately which prevents effective grinding.

And it can cause the formation of spurs on their teeth, and abscesses in the rabbit’s tooth roots and jaw.

Make sure to be mindful of what you feed them.

If the teeth are left unchecked, it can lead to dreadful dental diseases, manifesting as appetence-lack of appetite, lumpy or irregular-feeling jaw, slobbers or excessive salivations, and abscesses around the face, most especially in the area of the cheeks and eyes.

The majority of your rabbit’s diet must consist of about 80% hay and grass, and the rest should be made up of vegetables, pellets, and fruits.

How Many Teeth Do Rabbits Have?

Rabbits have 28 teeth. They do not have canine teeth and only possess incisors (which keep on growing), premolars, and molars. 

Conclusion

What can rabbits chew on? Chewing toys are useful to train your rabbits not to destroy furniture and their hutch.

Unlike humans and other animals, their nails and teeth never stop growing!

It makes it imperative that you must provide your rabbit with an unlimited supply for them to chew on.

When chewing gets out of hand, it is understandably frustrating and annoying for pet owners.

Luckily, this article can help you to manage your rabbit’s chewing, and this is something that you can be able to control and prevent.

I hope that you find this article useful.

Have a great day! Happy rabbit-keeping!

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