Rabbit Eating Paper

To keep your bunnies life enchanted, you need to provide it with various toys and items for throwing, digging, shredding, chewing, bunching, rolling, hitting, nudging, burrowing, and so on. Otherwise, a bored rabbit will tend to be more destructive especially if it is unneutered.

Therefore, to make this pet exercise, be mentally stimulated and break boredom, you need to consider the various toys both homemade and commercial ones, i.e., give them chew, logic, and exercise toys.

One of such boredom breakers you can include in your bunny’s hutch or cage is papers including old newspaper, shredded ones, telephone directories, and so on. Your furry friend will not only enjoy chewing them but also shredding or ripping them apart and they can also be modified to make digging and chewable tunnels.

For instance, placing shredded newspapers at the end of a tunnel will provide a digging tunnel that your bunny may also munch. On the other hand, shredded old magazine, junk mails, newspapers, and can be used to make a digging box. Fill them inside a cardboard box.

The ideas are endless since you can also give them Yellow Pages for shredding and ripping. Unfortunately, shredding may not keep your house or their hutches very neat. Also, recycled paper may be good for their bedding.

However, in all these cases, do not forget that your bunny may eat or ingest some of these magazines, newspapers and so on.

Why do rabbits eat paper?

Chewing is one of the natural rabbit behaviors which has both psychological and physical reasons since they are folivores. Therefore, these pets will chew almost anything they come across including wood, cardboard, twigs, and so on.

However, if your bunnies are ever craving chew items including eating too much of these papers, it may be a sign that your “rabbits are craving fiber, as they are not on unlimited (or usually any) hay or greens” [1]

Is it ok for rabbits to eat newspaper or toilet paper?

Yes, it ok for rabbits to eat paper including newspaper and toilet paper. However, you need to ensure if they have ink, the ink is safe for your bunnies and you remove any other harmful things such as tapes, staple pins, stickers, and on.

Plain paper envelopes are most recommended for eating in case your bunny loves them especially if you get them from your local chemist or pet store.

Whereas your rabbit ingesting a lot of paper might not be harmful since they have cellulose, avoid letting them eat too much since they have little nutritive value.

This is the same case with your rabbit eating paper towels. They are not harmful to this pet but may not be helpful nutritionally. They cannot depend on them for their nutritional requirements.

Instead, give them unlimited amounts of hay such as Small Pet Select 2nd Cutting "Perfect Blend" Timothy Hay, as well as some leafy greens. Further, occasional treats of fruits and non-leafy vegetables in small quantities are recommended so long as they are safe for these pets.

Finally, always stick to the recommended rabbit’s diet and provide this pet with an unlimited supply of fresh, clean water.