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[Weaver]

My wife has told me that whenever she gets a cardboard box she puts it outside and our donkeys come running in delight. George puts one hoof down on the cardboard and then pulls pieces off it and eats it all, leaving nothing. I hope she gives them a box each in case Gilbert gets nothing, George being the dominant one, and larger; two males.

[burakkucat]

 

Maru, the Japanese "box cat", is known to modify boxes, sometimes also eating bits of them. His blog is written by his house-keeper, mugumogu, and also features the exploits of his adoptive sisters, Hana & Miri.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhgvAWgg8eI

[Weaver]

Ah, I’ve visited the website before, perhaps following your recommendation? Charming!

[Alex Atkin UK]

From what I can gather this is not recommended as cardboard cannot be digested and can cause blockages.  Plus while they're usually none-toxic, there is no way to be sure it hasn't bee contaminated in transit.

[Weaver]

I wonder about the pigments on them. Amazon boxes are especially favoured. I think the donkeys eat wood all the time, so maybe it’s their internal bacteria that do the digestion ? Don’t know. They’re of course desert animals and will eat bushes, scrub, stuff that is basically wood with a few leaves. I could ask the vet.

I hear what you say about contaminants, good point.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Yeah from a little Googling its common for animals to eat cardboard as to them its similar to stuff they would eat in the wild, but of course its a man-made product so doesn't react the same to the digestive system.

We got extra paranoid when we had Rabbits as one of them got a respiratory problem and died, likely from wood shavings as while they are commonly sold as bedding its a big no no as the sap vapour is toxic and we didn't know.

[Weaver]

God, I didn’t know that about rabbits and wood shavings. Living on a farm we had wood shavings for bedding for cattle, also used them for guinea pigs * 22 approx [!]. Had guinea pigs in Skye too when we first came here.

Is hay the right thing for rabbits then?

[Alex Atkin UK]

Straw and hay, but being careful about mould which is also highly toxic (well to everyone, but especially rabbits).

Some rabbits will eat a lot of straw which is no nutritional value for them, so we ended up giving ours only hay in the end.

Then there is the whole rabbit hole (pun intended) if WHAT hay, as some types are bad for them or can wrap around their feet and cut off their circulation.

Bottom line, Rabbits are much more tricky than people think if you want to keep them alive and healthy.

https://rabbit.org/care/shavings.html